George M Cohan Stamp

This article features the US George M Cohan stamp from 1978. The stamp was a part of the Performing Arts Series from 1978-1987, which featured American musicians, actors, and writers. It began with a stamp depicting Jimmy Rodgers in 1978 and would include other musicians such as Duke Ellington, Jerome Kern, and Enrico Caruso. Learn more about this series. Of course, this series would be replaced by the important Legends of American Music Series in the 1990s.

The second stamp in the Performing Arts series depicted the actor, producer, director, lyricist, and composer George M. Cohan. It came out less than two months following the Jimmy Rodgers stamp, in part because during that short time the price of a first class stamp rose from 13 cents to 15 cents.

George M. Cohan

Despite his popular exhortation of being born on the “Fourth of July,” famous entertainer George M. Cohan came into the world on July 3, 1878. He was the son of vaudeville musicians and as soon as he could walk and talk he was on stage as a part of the show. As a violinist and dancer he was a performer at the age of 8, joining his parents and his older sister. They toured together from 1890 to 1901, during which time he had his Broadway debut in 1893. It was also during this early period that Cohan began writing, creating skits and songs for the family show while he was a teenager.

In 1901, his first Broadway musical The Governor’s Son was staged. A few years later he had a legitimate Broadway hit in 1904 with Little Johnny Jones. The show includes two of his greatest songs, “Give My Regards to Broadway,” and The Yankee Doddle Boy.” The success of this show and these songs made Cohan one of the leading tin pan alley songwriters. It is thought he published as many as 300 original songs during his life. Many are still well known including the two above as well as “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” and the World War One hit, “Over There.”

Broadway success

After Little Johnny Jones, Cohan was also a theatrical success. Between 1904 and 1920, he was the writer, director, or contributor to more than fifty shows Broadway stages. He collaborated often with his friend Sam. H. Harris to create these shows. As many as five of their shows were playing in Broadway houses at one time. His shows include The Talk of New York (1907), The Man Who Owns Broadway, (1916), and Elmer the Great (1928) among many others. His greatest successes were the shows Give My Regards to Broadway and Going Up. The latter was also a smash hit in London.

Later, Cohan earned serious acting cred by appearing in Eugene O’Neill’s comedy of 1933, Ah, Wilderness! He was also the star of I’d Rather Be Right, with music by Rodgers and Hart. In the show he played a singing/dancing Franklin Roosevelt. While Cohan had little success in Hollywood, he did appear in the 1930 The Song and Dance Man, which was a tribute to his father. However, he did not like Hollywood or the new film industry. Even so, in 1940, Judy Garland starred in Little Nellie Kelly based on his 1922 musical. His play Seven Keys to Baldpate was made into seven different movies between 1916 and 1983.

Then, in 1942, a biopic of Cohan titled Yankee Doodle Dandy after one of his most famous songs was made starring James Cagney. Although Cohan was able to view a screening of the film, he died a few months later in 1942 from abdominal cancer. The film was a massive success and was nominated for eight Academy Wards including Best Picture. Cagney won for best actor. In 1993, the movie was named to the National Film Registry’s list of movies that were “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Legacy

George M. Cohan is widely regarded as the father of American musical comedy. He was a pioneer in the creation of the “book musical,” where songs are interspersed through the narrative of a play. In addition, his songs and even the dancing in them were used to further the plot, a development that was decades ahead of his contemporaries. Franklin Roosevelt gave Cohan a Congressional Medal of Honor for his contributions to the World War One cause. He was the first artist to receive the award. Oscar Hammerstein later led an effort to get a bronze statue of Cohan installed in Times Square as a testimony to Cohan’s important contributions to the art form.

The Stamp

The George M. Cohan stamp was issued on the centennial of his birth, July 3rd (not 4th), 1978. It is unusual in that it features two portraits of this larger-than-life entertainer. On the left of the stamp Cohan sits, wearing a bow-tie and a non-descript expression, looking at the viewer. Then a smaller version of himself as a a vaudeville entertainer, complete with a straw hat and cane is on the right. The smaller figure is in a transparent light, almost ethereal, blue. Behind both figures sits a dark blue box with white stars. This recalls the patriotism of so many of Cohan’s songs, including his most famous, “Yankee Doodle Boy.” The title of that song, which Cohan often applied to himself, is written towards the top of the stamp. The stamp design was by Jim Sharpe of Westport, Connecticut.

Now just for fun, James Cagney’s performance of “Yankee Doodle Dandy” from the 1942 movie. Enjoy!