GEORGE M!
Original Air Date
September 12, 1970
Original Network
NBC
Starring
Red Buttons
Jack Cassidy
Blythe Danner
Nanette Fabray
Anita Gillette
Joel Grey
Bernadette Peters
George M! is a Broadway musical based on the life of George M. Cohan, the biggest Broadway star of his day who was known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway." The book for the musical was written by Michael Stewart, John Pascal, and Francine Pascal. Music and lyrics were, of course, by George M. Cohan himself, with revisions for the musical by Cohan's daughter, Mary Cohan.
The story covers the period from the late 1880s until 1937 and focuses on Cohan's life and show business career from his early days in vaudeville with his parents and sister to his later success as a Broadway singer, dancer, composer, lyricist, theater director and producer. The show includes such Cohan hit songs as "Give My Regards To Broadway", "You're A Grand Old Flag", and "Yankee Doodle Dandy."
A television adaptation, presented as a staged reading of the musical with the performers discussing Cohan's life and work between rehearsal-style song-and-dance routines, was broadcast by NBC on September 12, 1970. Grey and Peters were joined by Jack Cassidy, Nanette Fabray, Anita Gillette, and Blythe Danner.