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What can you say about a man who brought America such incredible hits as You're A Grand Old Flag, Yankee Doodle Boy, Give My Regards to Broadway and Over There? How about, thank you.
Indeed, America owes a huge thank you for the contributions of George M. Cohan, the greatest writer, producer, composer, actor and dancer Broadway has ever known. If the musical theater is one of America's greatest gifts to world culture, then Cohan is the greatest gift to musical theater.
Cohan never knew a life outside the theater. Virtually from the day he was born, Cohan sang, danced and acted with his family in the Vaudeville act "The Four Cohans." By his teens, Cohan was the driving force behind the act, handling the bulk of the writing, comedy and dancing responsibilities.
Cohan began writing songs at the age of 13 and had written his first musical at the age of 23. By the time he was done, Cohan had written more than 40 plays, written over 500 songs and had made over 1,000 stage appearances.
Cohan's defining musical, Little Johnny Jones, premiered in 1904 and featured Yankee Doodle Boy and Give My Regards to Broadway. His music reflected the unprecedented level of optimism in America. There were fortunes to be made, seemingly by anyone with a dream and willingness to work, and Cohan's music captured that feeling perfectly.
Cohan's life was immortalized forever in the movie Yankee Doodle Dandy, where the role of Cohan was played brilliantly by James Cagney. Cohan saw the film just weeks before his death in 1942.
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