Trivia

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 696-698. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998.

Won the 1932 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the musical "Of Thee I Sing" collaborating with George S. Kaufman, Ira Gershwin, and George Gershwin.

He was the son of Russian immigrants. His father operated a cigar store in Washington Heights, Manhattan.

Was expelled from Columbia University in 1917 (six weeks before his graduation), when he wrote an editorial in the collegiate magazine 'The Jester', in which he called the university's president 'Czar Nicholas'.

Best known for his collaborations with George S. Kaugman and the Gershwins on Broadway plays, and, from 1935, on Hollywood screenplays.

He held very conservative political views. In 1947, he testified to Communist infiltration of the Screenwriter's Guild before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Turning away from film work -- after claiming to be shunned by Hollywood -- he later concentrated on writing political columns for The National Review, The Los Angeles Times Syndicate and the Los Angeles Examiner. He retired in 1978.