GEORGE M.

COHAN
T H E V O I C E O F A G E N E R AT I O N

EARLY LIFE AND NOT SO HUMBLE

BEGINNINGS
George Michael Cohan born July 3rd 1878
Parents were Jeremiah (Jere) and Helen (Nellie) Cohan
Spent many summers with his grandparents around North Brookfield, Mass.
Spent the majority of his young life on the vaudeville circuit
Received little formal schooling
Made Broadway debut at 15
Very opinionated and hard to work with in his younger days.
Entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer, producer

COHENS IMDB
1901-The Governors Son (CADS) - (32 performances)
1903-Running for Office (CADS) 4 Cohans (48 performances)
1904-Little Johnny Jones (CAPDS) (52 performances)
1906-Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway (CAD) - (90 performances)
1906-George Washington Jr. (CAPDS) - (81 performances) Popularity (APD) - (24
performances)
1907- Little Johnny Jones (CAPDS) - (16 performances) The Honeymooners (CAPDS) - (72
performances) The Talk of New York (CAPD) (157 performances)
1908-Fifty Miles From Boston (CAPD) (32 performances) The Yankee Prince (CAPDS) - (28
performances)
1909-The Cohan & Harris Minstrels (CAPD)- (16 performances) The Fortune Hunter (PD) (345 performances) The American Idea (PD) The Man Who Owns Broadway (128
performances)

CONTINUED

1910-Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (APD) (424 performances) The Aviator (P) - (44 performances)
1911-The Little Millionaire (CAPDS) - (192 performances) The Only Son (P) - Wallace Eddinger
starred. (32 performances) The Red Widow (P) - (128 performances)
1912-Officer 666 (P) - (198 performances) Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway (CAPDS) (36
performances) Broadway Jones (CAPDS) -(176 performances) Hawthorne of the USA (P) (72
performances) Stop Thief (P) - (149 performances)
1913-Nearly Married (P) - (123 performances) Seven Keys to Baldpate (APD) - (320
performances)
1914-The Beauty Shop (P) - (88 performances) It Pays to Advertise (P) - (399 performances) The
Miracle Man (APD) - (97 performances) Hello, Broadway (CAPDS) -(123 performances)
1915-Young America (P) - Otto Kruger and Peggy Wood starred. (105 performances) The House
of Glass (APD) -(245 performances) Hit-the-Trail Holliday (APD) - (336 performances

STILL GOING
1916-Cohan Revue of 1916 (CAPD) - (165 performances) The Intruder (P) - (31 performances) Captain Kidd Jr. (P) -(108
performances)
1917-The Willow Tree (P) - (103 performances) A Tailor-Made Man (P). (398 performances) The King (P) - (127
performances) Going Up (P) -. (351 performances) He wrote Over there
1918-Cohan Revue of 1918 (CAPD). (96 performances) The Little Teacher (P) - (128 performances) Once Upon a Time (P) Chauncey Olcott starred. (24 performances) Out There (A). Three Faces East (P). (335 performances) The Matinee Hero (P) (64 performances)A Prince There Was (APD) (159 performances) The Voice of McConnell (APD) (30 performances)
1919-Mis'Nelly of N'Orleans (P) - Mrs. Fiske starred. (127 performances) The Royal Vagabond (CAPD) - (208 performances)
1920-The Acquittal (APD) - (138 performances) Genius and the Crowd (P) - (24 performances) The Tavern (APD) - (252
performances) The Meanest Man in the World (APDS) (212 performances) Mary (P) - (219 performances)
1921-Nemesis (P) (56 performances) The Tavern (Revival) (APDS) - (27 performances) The O'Brien Girl (P) -(164
performances)
1922-Madeline and the Movies (CAPDS) - (AP) - (343 performances) Little Nellie Kelly (CAPD) (248 performances)
1923-Two Fellows and a Girl (AP) - (132 performances) (APD) - (87 performances) The Song and Dance Man
1925-American Born (APDS) - (88 performances)
1926-The Home Towners (APDS) - (64 performances) Yellow (P) - (135 performances)

THE DUDE WAS WERKING

1927-The Baby Cyclone (APD) (184 performances) The Merry Malones (CAPDS) (208 performances)
Los Angeles (P) - (16 performances)
1928-Whispering Friends (APD) - (112 performances) Elmer the Great (P) (40 performances) By Request
(P) - (28 performances) Billie (APD) - (112 performances)
1929-Vermont (P) - (15 performances) Gambling (APDS) - (152 performances)
1930-The Tavern (Revival) (APDS) (32 performances) Song and Dance Man (APDS) - (16 performances)
The Rhapsody (P) - (16 performances)
1931-Friendship (APDS) - (24 performances)
1933-Pigeons and People (APDS) - (70 performances) Ah, Wilderness (S) (289 performances)
1935-Seven Keys to Baldpate (Revival) (PA)
1936-Dear Old Darling (APDS) - (16 performances)
1937-Fulton of Five Oaks (APDS) - (37 performances) I'd Rather Be Right (S) (290 performances)
1940-The Return of the Vagabond (APDS) (7 performances)

INFLUENCES AND RELATIONSHIPS

He was an influencer and learned a lot by doing and traveling with his family. Refused to
change with the times.

Worked with all manners of artists later such as O'Neill, Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Harbach, Louis
Hirsch, Sam Harris, Max Marcin, Frank Mandel, Vincent Lawrence, George Kauffman, Moss
Hart

STYLE
Had grown up in the theatre and was a jack of all trades.
Heavily patriotic influence and WW1 led to international fame
Fusion of styles from vaudeville to comic opera
Refusal of Unionization led to a decline in popularity.

IMPACT
Cohan shaped the American musical
Increased propaganda and war bond sales for US military
Gained Congressional Gold medal
Helped many others on Broadway with money during depression

BIBLIOGRAPHY
"George M. Cohan; Father of musical comedy." SUNDAY TELEGRAM (Massachusetts). (February 1, 2009 Sunday ):
799 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2016/11/27.
Furia, Philip. Poets of Tin Pan Alley : A History of America's Great Lyricists. Cary, US: Oxford University Press (US),
1992. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 27 November 2016.
"George M. Cohan, 64, Dies at Home Here." New York Times [New York City] 1942: n. pag. The New York Times. Web.
Patinkin, Sheldon. No Legs, No Jokes, No Chance: A History of the American Musical Theater. 1st ed. N.p.:
Northwestern UP, 2008. Print.
Hurwitz, Nathan. "THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN IDENTITY DEFINED BY THE OUTSIDER IN THE
AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATRE." International Journal of Arts & Sciences 8.3 (2015): 33-9. ProQuest. Web. 27
Nov. 2016