George Furth
George Furth inThe Boston Strangler (1968)
Born	George Schweinfurth (1932-12-14)December 14, 1932 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	August 11, 2008(2008-08-11) (aged 75) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Education	Northwestern University Columbia University
Occupations	Librettist playwright actor
Years active	1961–1998
Notable work	Company Merrily We Roll Along

George Furth (bornGeorge Schweinfurth; December 14, 1932 – August 11, 2008) was an Americanlibrettist, playwright, and actor.

Furth was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of George and Evelyn (née Tuerk) Schweinfurth.^[1] He was of German and Irish ancestry, and was raised as a Christian Scientist. He received a Bachelor of Science in speech atNorthwestern University in 1954 and received his master's degree fromColumbia University.^[2]

A life member of theActors Studio,^[3] Furth made his Broadway debut as an actor in the 1961 playA Cook for Mr. General, followed by the musicalHot Spot two years later. He was also known for his collaborations withStephen Sondheim: the highly successfulCompany, the ill-fatedMerrily We Roll Along, and the equally ill-fated dramaGetting Away with Murder.^[4] Furth wrote the playsTwigs,The Supporting Cast, andPrecious Sons as well as the book for theKander and Ebb musicalThe Act.

One of Furth's latter writing projects was a foray into an area where he had not previously explored. He wrote the lyrics for a musical revue, with music by Doug Katsaros. Furth and Katsaros shaped the work with San Francisco director Mike Ward intoThe End-a new musical revue. The piece was performed at San Francisco's New Conservatory Theatre Center during the summer of 2004 and was billed as a "Pre-U.S. Tour Workshop Production". The piece was reworked twice, with the title changing toLast Call andHappy Hour, respectively.^{[citation needed]}

He began working in television in 1962, and was frequently cast as an ineffectual milquetoast or a nervous functionary. He was a fixture in situation comedies of the 1960s, making guest appearances in such popular shows asI Dream of Jeannie,That Girl,Green Acres,The Monkees,Batman;Tammy,The Odd Couple;Love, American Style; andF Troop. Furth's performance in an episode ofMcHale's Navy was noticed by the show's producer,Edward Montagne. This landed him a regular featured role in Montagne'sMcHale's Navy spinoffBroadside, as the commander's ambitious adjutant. His other continuing sitcom role was in the short-lived 1976 seriesThe Dumplings.

He also played character roles inBonanza,Adam-12, andLittle House on the Prairie. In the 1980 TV movieThe Scarlett O'Hara War, concerning the casting forGone with the Wind, he portrayed directorGeorge Cukor.

He adapted his playTwigs as a 1975 television production, starringCarol Burnett.^[5]

Furth appeared in many motion pictures, most memorably inThe Boston Strangler,Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (as a devoted railroad employee traveling in the car that contains the safe that Butch and his gang rob twice),Myra Breckinridge,Blazing Saddles (as one of the agitated townspeople),Shampoo (as a bank officer dealing with Warren Beatty's character's loan request),Oh, God! (as a newspaper editor who refuses to publicize John Denver's character's claims that God has communicated with him),The Cannonball Run (as Arthur J. Foyt, confused with auto-racing starA. J. Foyt),The Man with Two Brains, andBulworth.

Furth continued working into the late 1990s, and was seen inMary Hartman, Mary Hartman;Murphy Brown,L.A. Law,Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; andMurder, She Wrote, among other shows. In 1990 he worked as a voice actor in several episodes of the animated television seriesThe Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda forHanna-Barbera Productions.^{[citation needed]}

Furth was gay,^[6][7] and was guarded about sharing details of his private life: "I just don't do interviews. That's why I have so many friends."

He and Stephen Sondheim both repeatedly refused to updateCompany to give it a gay slant.^[6]

Furth died at a hospital inSanta Monica, California, on August 11, 2008, at age 75.^[8]

Furth won both the Tony andDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical forCompany and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play forPrecious Sons.

• George Furth at theInternet Broadway Database
• George Furth atIMDb
• George Furth papers, 1932-2008, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

• 1932 births
• 2008 deaths
• 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
• 20th-century American male actors
• 20th-century American male singers
• 20th-century American singers
• American male film actors
• American male musical theatre actors
• American male television actors
• American male voice actors
• American musical theatre librettists
• American people of German descent
• American people of Irish descent
• Columbia University alumni
• Northwestern University School of Communication alumni
• Writers from Chicago

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from December 2013
• IBDB name template using Wikidata