As producer of M*A*S*H Larry Gelbart provided numerous contributions to one of television's most innovative and socially aware sitcoms. Beyond this accomplishment, he has been a dynamic force in broadcasting for more than 40 years. Gelbart has written for radio, television, film, and the stage. After leaving television in the early 1980s, Gelbart went on to produce feature films, including Oh, God! (1977) and Tootsie (1982). In the 1990s he returned to television to write a trio of notable made-for-cable movies for HBO: Mastergate (1992), an adaptation of his stage play parodying a congressional hearing about events reminiscent of the Iran-Contra scandal; Barbarians at the Gate (1993), which is based on the true story of F. Ross Johnson's attempt to purchase the Nabisco corporation and serves as a commentary on 1980s corporate culture; and Weapons of Mass Distraction (1997), a satire about media executives' greed as they battle to own a professional football team. Gelbart also served as executive producer for the latter project.

     During the 1940s Gelbart began working as a writer for Fanny Brice's radio show, and as a gag writer for Danny Thomas. After a brief stint in the U.S. Army, where he wrote for Armed Forces Radio, Gelbart joined the writing staff of Duffy's Tavern, a popular radio program. He also wrote for Bob Hope, whom he followed to television.

     In the early I950s Gelbart became part of the extraordinarily talented crew of writers on Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows. This group, which included Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, Mel Brooks, and Woody Allen, helped define the medium in its earlier days. Shortly after becoming head writer for The Pat Boone Show, Gelbart became disgusted by broadcasting's communist witch hunts and moved to England. While in London, he continued to work in British film and television.

     In the early 1970s Gene Reynolds, who was developing a television version of the film M*A*S*H, enticed Gelbart to write the pilot script. Gelbart was leery about returning to American television, but he became interested when he learned that CBS was willing to allow the series to depict the horrors of war realistically. When CBS picked up the series in 1972, Gelbart became its creative consultant. One year later, Gelbart joined Reynolds as co producer.

     Gelbart provided numerous innovations to an idea that had already been covered in a best-selling novel and a box office hit. Recalling a Lenny Bruce bit on draft dodgers, Gelbart created Corporal Klinger, a character who dressed in women's clothing in hopes of getting a "Section Eight" discharge. Written as a one­ time character, Gelbart's Klinger, played by Jamie Farr, became central to the long-running series. When actor McLean Stevenson decided to leave the series, Gelbart was involved in the decision to "kill off' Stevenson's character, Colonel Henry Blake. This was the first time a series regular had met such a fate. Fur­thermore, Gelbart is credited with "The Interview" episode, an innovative script in which journalist Clete Roberts, playing himself, interviews the doctors of the M*A*S*H unit. Produced with a cold opening (no teaser, lead-in, or commercial), filmed in black and white, and shot in documentary style, this episode paved the way for the numerous innovations carried out by later M*A*S*H producers. After four seasons with M*A*S*Gelbart became worried he would grow repetitive and left the series.

     In 1973 Gelbart and Reynolds created Roll Out, a disappointing series about an army trucking company set in World War II. Gelbart's last outing with series television, the highly touted United States, also failed to score with the public. One of television's first stabs at dramatic sitcoms (dramedy), it fizzled out two months after its March 1980 debut.