My report is about George M. Cohan, the Congressional Medal of Honor, and his impact on World War I. George Michael Cohan, American singer, dancer, songwriter, producer, lyricist, actor, playwright, composer or simply an entertainer, impacted World War I in many ways. George Michael Cohan, known professionally as George M. Cohan, was born on July 3, 1878. Cohan published more than three hundred songs in his lifetime. Some of these songs included "The Yankee Doodle Boy", "You're a Grand Old Flag" and others. Before World War I, George M. Cohan was also known as “the man who owned Broadway.” George M. Cohan He is considered the father of American musical comedy. George M. Cohan's life was depicted in the Academy Award-winning film "Yankee Doodle Dandy" in 1942 and in the 1968 musical George M. George M. Cohan has a statue in Times Square in New York City commemorating his contributions to American musical theater. He appeared in films until the 1930s and continued to perform as a lead artist until 1940. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Early Career George M. Cohan was born in 1878 in Providence, Rhode Island, to Irish Catholic parents. A birth certificate from St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church said Cohan was born on July 3, but his parents had always said Cohan was born on the "4th of July." George M. Cohan's parents were traveling vaudeville performers, and Cohan joined them on stage when he was a child. While Cohan was on stage with his parents as a child, he started out as a prop, and eventually learned to walk and talk and soon after learned to sing and dance. George M. Cohan began as a stage performer at the age of 8. At the age of 8 George M. Cohan began playing the violin on stage and eventually transitioned to dance. He was the fourth person in the family vaudeville show called The Four Cohans, which included his father Jeremiah Cohan, his mother Helen Costigan Cohan, his sister Josephine Cohan and himself. The Cohan Four primarily toured together from 1890 to 1901. George M. Cohan toured as the star of a show called "Peck's Bad Boy." George M. Cohan and his sister both made their Broadway debuts in 1893 in a skit called "The Lively Bootblack." Cohan began writing original skits over 150 family skits and songs in both vaudeville and minstrel shows while he was a teenager. He soon began writing professionally and eventually began selling his first songs to a national publisher in 1893. In 1901 he wrote, produced and directed his own Broadway musical entitled "The Governor's Son", for The Four Cohans. His first Broadway success was in 1904 in the show "Little Johnny Jones," which introduced his songs "Give My Regards to Broadway" and "The Yankee Doodle Boy." Cohan soon became one of Tin Pan Alley's leading songwriters, releasing over 300 original songs known for their clever lyrics and catchy melodies. His most successful songs included "You're a Grand Old Flag", "Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway", "Mary Is a Grand Old Name". “The warmest kid of the bunch,” “Life is a funny proposition after all,” “I wanna hear a Yankee Doodle tune,” “You ain't gonna get no business if you ain't got a band,” “The Small Town Gal,” “I 'm Mighty Glad I'm Living, That's All", "That Haunting Melody", "Always Leave Them Laughing When You Say Goodbye" and the most popular American song of the First World War "Over There", which was recorded by Enrico Caruso and others.The latter song became very popular among troops and shipyard workers so much so that a ship was named "Costigan" in honor of Cohan's grandfather, Dennis Costigan. "Over There" was played during the baptism. From 1904 to 1920, Cohan made and published over 50 musicals, revues, and Broadway plays with his friend Sam H. Harris. Some of these songs included "Give My Regards to Broadway" and the popular "Going Up" in 1917, which became a hit in London the following year. His shows aired simultaneously in five theaters. One of Cohan's most creative works was the 1913 dramatization of the mystery “Seven Keys to Baldpate,” which perplexed audiences and critics but nevertheless became a success. Cohan eventually adapted it into a film in 1917, and it was adapted for film six more times, as well as for TV and radio. He eventually abandoned acting for a couple of years after his 1919 argument with the Actors' Equity Association. In 1925 he published his autobiography, "Twenty Years on Broadway and the Years It Took to Get There." Career Cohan next appeared in 1930 in a revival of his tribute to vaudeville and his father, "The Song and Dance Man." In 1932, Cohan played dual roles as a cold, corrupt politician and his charming, idealistic campaign stand-in in the Hollywood musical film "The Phantom President." The film co-starred Claudette Colbert and Jimmy Durante, with songs by Rodgers and Hart. , and was distributed by Paramount Pictures. He appeared in a few earlier silent films, but disliked Hollywood production methods and made only one more sound film, "Gambling" in 1934, based on his 1929 play and filmed in New York City. One critic called "Gambling" a "boring adaptation of a decidedly dated play directed with an obsolete theatrical technique." It is considered a lost film. In 1940, Judy Garland played the title role in a film version of her 1922 musical "Little Nellie Kelly." Cohan's mystery comedy “Seven Keys to Baldpate” was first filmed in 1916 and has been remade seven times, most recently as “House of Long Shadows” in 1983, starring Vincent Price. In 1942, a musical biopic of Cohan, "Yankee Doodle Dandy," was released, and James Cagney's performance in the title role earned him the Oscar for best actor. The film was screened privately for Cohan as he battled the last stages of abdominal cancer, Cohan's comment on Cagney's performance was, "My God, what a show to watch!". Cohan's 1920 play "The Meanest Man In The World" was filmed in 1943 starring Jack Benny. Although Cohan is best remembered for his songs, he became an early pioneer in the development of the "Book Musical," using his compelling librettos to bridge the gap between drama and music more than three decades before Agnes de Mille choreographed Oklahoma!, Cohan he used dance not only for entertainment, but to advance the plot. Cohan's main characters were "Average Joes and Janes" who appealed to a broad American audience. In 1914, Cohan became a founding member of ASCAP. Although Cohan was known as extremely generous to his fellow actors in need, in 1919 he unsuccessfully opposed a historic Actors' Equity Association strike, for which many in the theatrical professions did not they never forgave him because, in addition to being an actor in his productions, he was also the producer of the musical who established the terms and conditions of the actors' work. During the strike, he donated $100,000 to fund the "Actors' Retirement Fund" in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Cohan has written numerous Broadway musicals and plays, as well as contributed material to shows.