Vale – Larry Gelbart
A giant of the Hollywood writing fraternity is no longer with us. Larry Gelbart, the man who wrote, among other things, Tootsie, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Blame It On Rio, and Bedazzled, has passed away at his home in Beverley Hills yesterday. For the Tootsie screenplay with Barry Levinson, Elaine May and Murray Schisgal, Gelbart was nominated for an Academy Award.
But perhaps his most enduring legacy was his production of the TV series M*A*S*H, which he both wrote and produced for much of the series’ first four seasons. For this alone, we tip our hat to his comic genuis.
Larry Gelbart was 81.