George Furth, an actor and playwright wHO wrote the book for the forward-looking Stephen Sondheim musical "Company," died Monday. He was 75.
Furth died at a hospital in Santa Monica, Calif., said Dennis Aspland, his agent, who didn't know the cause of death.
Furth's quislingism with Sondheim started with 1970's "Company," an unconventional, revuelike musical which followed the tribulations of a thirtysomething New York unmarried man and his inability to commit to a relationship. Furth won a Tony for his book of the point, which was directed by Harold Prince and featured the choreography of Michael Bennett.
"Company" has had deuce Broadway revivals since so - in 1995 and again in 2006 in a production where the actors as well served as the show's musicians.
"Merrily We Roll Along," based on a play by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, was the duo's second musical collaboration. The 1981 show, which told its showbiz story in reverse chronology, closed in two weeks. Yet Sondheim's score remains a favourite of musical buffs, and revised versions of "Merrily" have been done in various regional theaters as well as in London.
Furth and Sondheim also collaborated on "Getting Away with Murder," a comedy thriller that had a little Broadway run in 1996.
Furth began his career as an worker, appearing on Broadway in such transient productions as 1961's "A Cook for Mr. General" and the Judy Holliday musical "Hot Spot" in 1963.
As a playwright, Furth had respective solo Broadway productions, most notably "Twigs" (1971), a comedy which won its star, Sada Thompson, a best-actress Tony. Directed by Michael Bennett, it told the story of quatern women, all members of the same family and all played by Thompson.
Among Furth's former Broadway efforts were the book for the John Kander-Fred Ebb musical "The Act" leading Liza Minnelli (1977) and two other plays, "The Supporting Cast" (1981) and "Precious Sons" (1986).
Furth too acted in movies including "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "Myra Breckenridge," "Airport '77" and "Shampoo," as well as numberless TV comedies.
There were no immediate survivors.
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