Samuel Spewack

Samuel Spewack (1899-1971) and Bella Spewack (1899-1990) met while working as journalists and married in 1922. Bella’s youth was chronicled in Streets: A Memoir of the Lower East Side (1995, Feminist Press). Their first play, Solitaire Man, premiered in 1926. Clear All Wires (1932) became Leave It To Me! (1938), their first collaboration with Cole Porter. They collaborated on 20 films, including My Favorite Wife (1940) and Weekend at the Waldorf (1945). Kiss Me, Kate (1948) won the Spewacks the first Tony® Award ever for the book of a musical. Their other theatre projects included Boy Meets Girl (1935), Two Blind Mice (1949), My Three Angels (1953), and Once There Was a Russian (1961).