Morton DaCosta
Encyclopedia
Morton DaCosta was an American
theatre and film director
, film producer
, writer
, and actor
.
, DaCosta began his career as an actor in the Broadway
production of Thornton Wilder
's The Skin of Our Teeth
starring Tallulah Bankhead
in 1942 . A decade later he made his stage directing debut with The Grey-Eyed People.
DaCosta had a string of hit Broadway productions in the 1950s: Plain and Fancy
, No Time for Sergeants
, Auntie Mame
and The Music Man
.
Additional Broadway
directing credits include Sherry!
, The Women, Saratoga
, and Maggie Flynn
. He also wrote the book for the latter two productions.
DaCosta produced and directed the films Auntie Mame
(1958), The Music Man
(1962), and Island of Love (1963).
nomination for Best Director of a Musical. For the film version, he received Best Director nominations from the Directors Guild of America
Awards and the Golden Globe Awards. As the producer of the film version, he also received an Oscar nod for Best Picture.
His feature film directorial debut, the film version of Auntie Mame
, was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture. Like four years later with The Music Man, DaCosta was not nominated for Best Director despite both films receiving Best Picture nominations.
DaCosta, who was always known by his nickname Tec, died of heart failure in Redding, Connecticut
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theatre and film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Career
Born Morton Tecosky in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, DaCosta began his career as an actor in the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production of Thornton Wilder
Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
's The Skin of Our Teeth
The Skin of Our Teeth
The Skin of Our Teeth is a play by Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It opened on October 15, 1942 at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, before moving to the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway on November 18, 1942...
starring Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an award-winning American actress of the stage and screen, talk-show host, and bonne vivante...
in 1942 . A decade later he made his stage directing debut with The Grey-Eyed People.
DaCosta had a string of hit Broadway productions in the 1950s: Plain and Fancy
Plain and Fancy
Plain and Fancy is a musical comedy with a book by Joseph Stein and Will Glickman, lyrics by Arnold Horwitt, and music by Albert Hague. One of the first depictions of an Amish community in American pop culture, it includes a traditional barn-raising and an old-fashioned country...
, No Time for Sergeants
No Time for Sergeants
No Time for Sergeants is a 1954 best-selling novel by Mac Hyman, which was later adapted into a teleplay on The United States Steel Hour, a popular Broadway play and 1958 motion picture, as well as a 1964 television series. The book chronicles the misadventures of a country bumpkin named Will...
, Auntie Mame
Auntie Mame
Auntie Mame is a 1955 novel by Patrick Dennis that chronicles the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his deceased father's eccentric sister, Mame Dennis. The book is a work of fiction inspired by the author's eccentric aunt, Marion Tanner, whose life and outlook in many...
and The Music Man
The Music Man
The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...
.
Additional Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
directing credits include Sherry!
Sherry!
Sherry! is a musical with a book and lyrics by James Lipton and music by Laurence Rosenthal. The musical is based on the George S. Kaufman-Moss Hart play The Man Who Came to Dinner....
, The Women, Saratoga
Saratoga (musical)
Saratoga is a musical with a book by Morton DaCosta, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and music by Harold Arlen.Based on Edna Ferber's sprawling novel Saratoga Trunk, it focuses on Clio Dulaine, an "illegitimate" Creole woman who seeks revenge on the New Orleans family who exiled her mother when she became...
, and Maggie Flynn
Maggie Flynn
Maggie Flynn is a musical with a book by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss and music and lyrics by Peretti, Creatore, and Weiss....
. He also wrote the book for the latter two productions.
DaCosta produced and directed the films Auntie Mame
Auntie Mame (film)
Auntie Mame is a 1958 film based on the novel by Patrick Dennis and its theatrical adaptation by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee. This film version stars Rosalind Russell and was directed by Morton DaCosta...
(1958), The Music Man
The Music Man (1962 film)
The Music Man is a 1962 musical film starring Robert Preston as Harold Hill and Shirley Jones as Marian Paroo. The film is based on the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name by Meredith Willson...
(1962), and Island of Love (1963).
Awards
The Broadway production of The Music Man earned DaCosta a Tony AwardTony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination for Best Director of a Musical. For the film version, he received Best Director nominations from the Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
Awards and the Golden Globe Awards. As the producer of the film version, he also received an Oscar nod for Best Picture.
His feature film directorial debut, the film version of Auntie Mame
Auntie Mame (film)
Auntie Mame is a 1958 film based on the novel by Patrick Dennis and its theatrical adaptation by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee. This film version stars Rosalind Russell and was directed by Morton DaCosta...
, was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture. Like four years later with The Music Man, DaCosta was not nominated for Best Director despite both films receiving Best Picture nominations.
DaCosta, who was always known by his nickname Tec, died of heart failure in Redding, Connecticut
Redding, Connecticut
Mark Twain, a resident of the town in his old age, contributed the first books for a public library which was eventually named after him.-Government:...
.