Morton DaCosta (March 7, 1914 – January 26, 1989) was an American theatre and film director, film producer, writer, and actor.

Career

Born Morton Tecosky in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, DaCosta began his career as an actor in the Broadway production of

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' — a ...

's ''

The Skin of Our Teeth ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' is a play by Thornton Wilder that 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, ...

'' starring

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lif ...

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'' 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 r ...

'', ''

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 chro ...

'', ''

Auntie Mame ''Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade'' is a 1955 novel by American author Patrick Dennis chronicling the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his Aunt Mame Dennis, the sister of his dead father. The book is often desc ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''. Additional Broadway directing credits include ''

Sherry! ''Sherry!'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by James Lipton and music by Laurence Rosenthal. The musical is based on the 1939 George S. Kaufman-Moss Hart play ''The Man Who Came to Dinner''. In 1967, following a short run on Broadway and poo ...

'', '' The Women'', '' Saratoga'', and ''

Maggie Flynn ''Maggie Flynn'' is a 1968 musical with a book by Morton DaCosta and music and lyrics by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss. Based on an idea by John Flaxman, it was inspired by a true story set in the New York Draft Riots of 1 ...

''. He also wrote the book for the latter two productions. DaCosta produced and directed the films ''

'' (1958), ''

'' (1962), and '' Island of Love'' (1963).

Awards

The Broadway production of ''The Music Man'' earned DaCosta a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

nomination for Best Director of a Musical. For the film version, he received Best Director nominations from the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

Awards and the

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

. As the producer of the film version, he also received an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

nomination for Best Picture. His feature film directorial debut, the film version of ''

'', was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture. Both with ''Auntie Mame'' and 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 is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,765 at the 2020 census. History Early settlement and establishment At the time colonials began receiving grants for land within the boundaries of present-d ...

References

External links

* *
Morton DaCosta papers, 1929–1978
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dacosta, Morton American theatre directors American musical theatre librettists American male stage actors American film directors Film producers from Pennsylvania Male actors from Philadelphia 1914 births 1989 deaths 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American male writers