Moss Hart (1904-1961) was a playwright and director of plays and musical theater. His youth and early career are detailed in his autobiography, Act One , a highly fictitious account of his breakthrough into fame. Hart was also a successful director. He directed the original Broadway productions of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's My Fair Lady, helping transform a young Julie Andrews into a powerful stage presence and keep the difficult star Rex Harrison under control. Hart also directed the original production of the musical Camelot, but died of a heart attack while the show was in out-of-town tryouts in Toronto. Moody, irritable, and often depressed, he was married to Kitty Carlisle, but the well-dressed and longtime bachelor was regarded as homosexual by many of his friends and reportedly spent much time in therapy regarding his attraction to men. (Carlisle did ask Hart if he was gay before they married and he responded that he was not.) Among his reported amours was the actor turned writer Gordon Merrick .
