- Born
- DiedSeptember 28, 1959 (brain hemorrhage)
- Gerard Hoffnung was born on March 22, 1925 in Berlin, Germany. He was a writer, known for Roommates (1961), Tales from Hoffnung (1965) and Music for You (1951). He was married to Annetta Hoffnung. He died on September 28, 1959.
- SpouseAnnetta Hoffnung(? - September 28, 1959) (his death, 2 children)
- His "Bricklayer's Story", aka "The barrel", which he told to students of Oxford University in 1958 was recently tested on MythBusters (2003)
- He masterminded a series of concerts of hilarious musical parodies at London's Royal Festival Hall. Famous composers including Malcolm Arnold, Aaron Copland, and William Walton were commissioned to write humourous works, sometimes involving unique musical instruments, such as a garden hose and vacuum cleaners.
- His Jewish family fled Germany during the 1930s, and his mother and he eventually settled in London in 1939. He became an artist, cartoonist, caricaturist, teacher, tuba player, and a much sought-after speaker. He became a Quaker in 1955.
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