The two deliberately avoided Broadway later in their careers and formed the American Playwrights Theater in 1963 to help promote their plays.

Lawrence's father, Samuel Schwartz, operated a printing press, while his mother Sarah (née Rogen) wrote poetry and did volunteer work.

With his writing partner, Robert E. Lee, Lawrence worked for Armed Forces Radio while serving together in the U.S. Army during World War II.

In all, they collaborated on 39 works, including a 1956 musical adaptation of James Hilton's Lost Horizon, entitled Shangri-La, with the author himself.

Less successful was the Lawrence and Lee collaboration with Herman, also starring Lansbury, Dear World, a musical adaptation of Giraudoux's The Madwoman of Chaillot.

[7] Several of Lawrence and Lee's plays draw on events from United States history to speak to contemporary issues.

Inherit the Wind (1955) addressed intellectual freedom and McCarthyism through a fictionalized version of the Scopes Monkey Trial.