George M. Cohan wrote one of Broadway’s greatest hits in 1904 with Little Johnny Jones, featuring the song, I’m a Yankee Doodle Boy.
James Cagney starring as George M. Cohan.
He was only 25 years old, but he already had his share of flops behind him.
At 22, George M. Cohan produced The Governor’s Son, a play with energy and speed. It opened on Feb. 25, 1901 featuring exuberant characters who spoke like Americans. Unlike most theatrical productions of the time, it was not a rehash of European operettas.
Then came I’m a Yankee Doodle Boy (now known as Yankee Doodle Dandy). It marked the first of many successful patriotic and show tunes, including Over There, You’re A Grand Old Flag and Give My Regards to Broadway. But it flopped at first.
George M. Cohan
Cohan was an actor, singer, producer, director, composer and lyricist. He had a reputation as ‘the man who owned Broadway’ and ‘the father of musical comedy.’ New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia praised him for putting the symbols of American life into American music.
George M. Cohan was born in a small theatrical hotel on July 3, 1878 in Providence, R.I., a few hours before midnight. He always insisted his birthday was on the Fourth of July. As soon as he learned to talk and walk he was performing on the vaudeville circuit. Along with his parents, Jerry and Helen, and sister, Josie, they formed The Four Cohans.
As a child, Cohan spent summers with his relatives in Podunk, Mass., now part of East Brookfield. He became friends with Cornelius McGillicuddy, better known as Connie Mack, who grew up nearby.
He loved Podunk and what he called its ‘hayseed hicks,’ making them famous in his shows. Other entertainers picked up the word Podunk to mean a small, dull town.
George M. Cohan takes an at-bat as Connie Mack catches in North Brookfield, Mass, July 10, 1934. Photo courtesy Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.
Jaunty and Dapper
On stage, he had a swaggering, energetic persona, characterized by The New York Times.
An old trouper and hoofer, whose dapper costumes, derby or straw hat cocked jauntily over one eye, wisecracks from the corner of the mouth, and lively caper across the stage with his fast-swinging cane, were nationally known trademarks, he was regarded for years as just a Broadway vaudeville performer, but astonished the theatrical world by developing into a serious actor and dramatist whose work won praise even from the intellectuals who had previously ignored him.
One of his favorite theatrical devices was to close a show with a flag-waving finale that usually brought down the house. For his inspirational patriotic songs – particularly You’re a Grand Old Flagand Over There – Congress awarded him a gold medal under a special act. President Franklin Roosevelt, who Cohan had impersonated in the play I’d Rather Be Right, presented the medal to him.
George M. Cohan
Soft Touch
He became a very rich man, but he lived simply and gave away a great deal of money. As a soft touch, he replied ‘Okay, kid,’ to anyone who approached him for money. He gave allowances to many people he and his family knew in the theater and had fallen on hard times. Cohan once loaned several hundred thousand dollars to a friend who lost money in the stock market.
He died in New York City on Nov. 5, 1942 at the age of 64, but not before a biopic about him was made. Yankee Doodle Dandy starred James Cagney, another Irish-American song-and-dance man. Cohan wasn’t impressed by the film, which was the biggest box office hit in Warner Brothers’ history and won several Academy Awards. It is preserved in the National Film Registry because of its significance. You can see a great clip from the movie here.
A statue of Cohan stands in Times Square in New York City.
This story was updated in 2021.
