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George
M. Cohan
1878-1942
Song &
Dance, Composer, Theatre
This great American song and dance man  spent
56 of his 64 years on the stage. He became, as one of his
songs would proclaim, "The Man Who Owned Broadway."
He wrote 40 plays and shared production of 150 other plays.
He acted in over 1000 performances and wrote over 500 songs.
Many of these songs became major national hits.
He was born George Michael Cohan in Providence,
Rhode Island. Contrary to his own songs and beliefs Cohan's
birth certificate states that he was born on July 3, 1878.
Even his mother would later state that she was sure he was
born on Independence Day. He was born into a true Irish family.
His paternal side had emigrated from Co. Cork, Ireland. The
name had originally been O'Caomhan in Ireland and when they
entered the states it was changed to Keohane, which eventually
became Cohan. His mother's side also had Irish ancestry with
his grandmother being a Breen. George would later work with
many Jewish people in the entertainment industry and because
his name closely resembled Cohen, a common Jewish name, many
people thought that he was Jewish. Any look beyond his name
would tell you different.
Both of his parents Jerry and Nellie Cohan
were already established in the Vaudeville circuit when George
was born. In those days Vaudeville shows were sometimes called
Hibernicon's or Grand Hibernica's stating the hold the Irish
had on theater in those days. His older sister Josephine would
be his only sibling. As an infant he was sometimes used as
a prop during his parents performances. By the time George
was ten the family was working sketches and shows together
and they billed themselves "The Four Cohans." By
age 13 George was writing songs, lyrics and plays for their
act. By 1894 George was selling his songs to publishers and
The Four Cohans were commanding $1,000 a week, a tremendous
sum in those days. George had a famous line at the end of
each show that became his trademark; "Ladies and gentlemen,
my mother thanks you, my father thanks you, my sister thanks
you, and I thank you!"
 In
1899 George married Ethel Levy who was a popular singing comedienne
who joined the Cohan's act. In 1904 George Cohan and Sam Harris
formed a partnership that ruled Broadway for fifteen years.
He also had his first smash hit with the play "Little
Johnny Jones." In this play two of his songs became household
and vaudeville favorites; The Yankee Doodle Boy and
Give My Regards To Broadway. In 1906 another major
hit was You're a Grand Old Rag. Some folks objected
to the title of the song and it was changed to You're
a Grand Old Flag. By 1907 George M. Cohan was a name
known nationwide. He divorced Ethel and married Agnes Nolan,
an Irish-American whose sister was married to Sam Harris.
Besides being a composer, lyricist, actor
and song-and-dance man, Cohan was a great businessman. In
1911 Cohan and Harris had 6 hit shows on Broadway and controlled
7 theaters. He was also an avid fan of baseball and was active
in the Lambs Club and Friars Club. In 1917 George composed
one of America's greatest hit songs. America had just entered
the war and on the train going into New York he penned the
song Over There. It was an instant success and 25
years later President Roosevelt would present to him the Congressional
Medal of Honor for this war song.
In 1919 an actors strike closed Broadway.
Cohan took this personally, dissolved  his
partnership with Harris and retired from show business. But
it was inevitable that he would comeback as the theater was
in his blood. He would write fifteen more plays and musicals
but none would be as successful as his earlier efforts. In
1933 he played Nat Miller in Eugene O'Neill's nostalgic comedy
"Ah Wilderness" to much critical success. In his
final years Cohan was sick and in seclusion. Warner Brothers
approached him to do a movie on his life. Cohan approved the
choice of James Cagney for the role and later, against doctor's
orders, he snuck out of his apartment to catch a screening
of the movie at New York's Hollywood Theatre. Sitting in the
backrow unknown to the audience Cohan heard the audience laughing
and cheering and then returned to his apartment. He died quietly
on November 5, 1942.
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