If not born exactly on the Fourth of July, songwriter, playwright, actor, and producer George M. Cohan still created a Stars and Stripes persona that virtually re-invented Broadway in the first two decades of the 20th century. Cohan’s crowning achievement was to liberate the New York stage from the European bonds of operetta, and to forge a vital new all-American musical comedy based on vaudeville traditions, urban slang, and “old-fashioned patriotism.” No wonder songwriter Gene Buck hailed him as “the greatest single figure the American theatre has produced.”
Born into a vaudeville family on July 3 (according to his birth certificate) or 4 (according to legend), 1878, in Providence, Rhode Island, George Michael Cohan made his stage debut at the age of three, billed as “Master Georgie—Violin Tricks and Tinkling Tunes.” He toured with his parents and sister, Josephine (“Josie”), as “The Four Cohans,” and by the age of 13 was writing sketches and songs for the family act. In 1901, Cohan fleshed out one of these sketches into a moderately successful musical, The Governor’s Son. But his 1904 show Little Johnny Jones set the formula for the Cohan hits to come. It was a semi-autobiographical story of a plucky young hero who succeeds through swagger and sentimentality. Cohan starred in the musical as well as writing its book and score, which included “Yankee Doodle Boy” and “Give My Regards to Broadway.”
A short, cocky man who wore a bowler hat that was usually tilted down to his nose, Cohan reigned over Broadway for the next two decades. His top shows included George Washington, Jr., Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway, Fifty Miles from Boston, and Little Nelly Kelly. These musicals featured hit tunes such as “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” “Mary’s a Grand Old Name,” and “Harrigan.” In partnership with Sam H. Harris, he also produced musical comedies, revues, and straight dramas, ran a successful music publishing company, and owned several theatres. (The partnership broke up in 1920 when Cohan opposed the organisation of an actors’ union.) In all, Cohan wrote 40 plays, collaborated on 40 others, produced 150 musicals and plays for the stage, and composed more than 500 songs. During World War II, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his patriotic 1917 hit “Over There,” which had become the classic American war song.
In later years, Cohan’s greatest successes were as an actor in Eugene O’Neill’s comedy Ah, Wilderness! (1933) and Richard RODGERSand Lorenz Hart’s political satire, L'd Rather Be Right (1937). He also starred in a couple of films, The Phantom President (1932) and Gambling (1934). In 1940, he failed to recapture Broadway when his own play, The Return of the Vagabond, closed after only seven performances. As he lamented to a friend, “They don’t want me no more.” Cohan died on November 5, 1942, in New York City, not long after making a final tour of the Great White Way that he helped to create. His life story was told in the Academy Award-winning 1942 movie, Yankee Doodle Dandy, starring James Cagney, and in the Broadway musical George M! (1968).
Despite the huge number of songs he wrote, it is perhaps his life story more than his work that has endured—with the exception of a few memorable tunes. An example of how modern audiences have moved beyond the Cohan style was seen with the unsuccessful 1984 revival of Little Johnny Jones, starring Donny Osmond. It closed after one performance.
Michael R. Ross
SEE ALSO:
MUSICALS; POPULAR MUSIC.
FURTHER READING
McCabe, John. George M. Cohan: The Man Who Owned Broadway (New York: Da Capo Press, 1980);
McGilligan, Patrick. Yankee Doodle Dandy (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1981);
Morehouse, Ward. George M. Cohan (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1972).
SUGGESTED LISTENING
George M. Cohan: Yankee Doodle Dandy, This Is My Country.