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Biography
redirect|Seymour Kaufman|the fictional principal|Room 222Infobox musical artist| name = Cy Coleman| image = Cy1.jpg| caption =| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist| birth_name = Seymour Kaufman| birth_date = birth date|1929|6|14| birth_place = New York City, New York | death_date = death date and age|2004|11|18|1929|6|14| genre = Jazz , Pop music|pop | occupation = songwriter , composer , jazz pianist | years_active = Cy Coleman (June 14, 1929 - November 18, 2004) was an American composer , songwriter , and jazz pianist .
Life and career
He was born Seymour Kaufman on June 14, 1929, in New York City to Ashkenazi|Eastern European Jewish parents, and was raised in the Bronx . His mother, Ida (née Prizent) was an apartment landlady and his father was a brickmason.Berkvist, Robert. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/20/theater/20coleman.html? "Cy Coleman, Composer Whose Jazz-Fired Musicals Blazed on Broadway, Dies at 75", The New York Times , November 20, 2004 He was a child prodigy who gave piano recitals at Steinway Hall, Town Hall , and Carnegie Hall between the ages of six and nine.Jones, Kenneth. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/89700.html "Cy Coleman, a Master of the Show Tune, Is Dead at 75", playbill.com, November 19, 2004 Before beginning his fabled Broadway career, he led the Cy Coleman Trio, which made many recordings and was a much-in-demand club attraction.
Despite the early classical and jazz success, he decided to build a career in popular music. His first collaborator was Joseph McCarthy (lyricist)|Joseph Allen McCarthy , but his most successful early partnership, albeit a turbulent one, was with Carolyn Leigh . The pair wrote many pop hits, including " Witchcraft (song)|Witchcraft " and " The Best Is Yet To Come (song)|The Best Is Yet To Come ." One of his instrumentals, "Playboy's Theme," became the signature music of the regular TV shows and specials presented by Playboy magazine|Playboy , and remains synonymous with the magazine and its creator, Hugh Hefner .
Coleman's career as a Broadway theatre|Broadway composer began when he and Leigh collaborated on Wildcat (musical)|Wildcat (1960), which marked the Broadway debut of comedienne Lucille Ball . The score included the hit tune "Hey Look Me Over," which was later adapted into one of Louisiana State University|LSU's school songs, " Louisiana State University Tiger Marching Band#"Hey, Fightin’ Tigers"|Hey, Fightin' Tigers ." When Ball became ill, she left the show, and it closed. Next for the two was Little Me , with a book by Neil Simon based on the novel of the same name by Patrick Dennis . The show introduced " Real Live Girl " and " I've Got Your Number (1962 song)|Little Me ," which became popular standards.
In 1964, Coleman met Dorothy Fields at a party, and when he asked if she would like to collaborate with him, she is reported to have answered, "thank God somebody asked."Furia, Phillip and Lasser, Michael, ''America's Songs:The Stories Behind the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley (2006), CRC Press, ISBN 0-415-97246-9, p. 287 Fields was revitalised by working with the much younger Coleman, and by the contemporary nature of their first project, which was Sweet Charity , again with a book by Simon, starring Gwen Verdon , and introducing the songs If My Friends Could See Me Now , I'm a Brass Band and Hey, Big Spender . The show was a major success and Coleman found working with Fields much easier than with Leigh. The partnership was to work on two more shows & ndash; an aborted project about Eleanor Roosevelt , and Seesaw (musical)|Seesaw '' which reached Broadway in 1973 after a troubled out-of-town tour. Despite mixed reviews, the show enjoyed a healthy run. The partnership was cut short by Fields' death in 1974.
Coleman remained prolific in the late 1970s. He collaborated on I Love My Wife (1977) with Michael Stewart (playwright)|Michael Stewart , On The Twentieth Century (1978) with Betty Comden and Adolph Green , and Home Again, Home Again with Barbara Fried, although the latter never reached Broadway.
In 1980, Coleman served as producer and composer for the circus-themed Barnum (musical)|Barnum , which co-starred Jim Dale and Glenn Close . Later in the decade, he collaborated on Welcome to the Club (1988) with A.E. Hotchner , and City of Angels (musical)|City of Angels (1989) with David Zippel . In the latter, inspired by the hard-boiled detective film noir of the 1930s and '40s, he returned to his jazz roots, and the show was a huge critical and commercial success. The 1990s brought more new Coleman musicals to Broadway: The Will Rogers Follies (1991), again with Comden and Green, The Life (musical)|The Life (1997), a gritty look at pimps, prostitutes, and assorted other lowlife in the big city, with Ira Gasman, and a revised production of Little Me .
Coleman's film scores include Father Goose (film)|Father Goose , The Art of Love , Garbo Talks , Power (1986 film)|Power , and Family Business (film)|Family Business . http://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/coleman_c.html PBS biography pbs.org, accessed March 30, 2009 In addition, he wrote memorable television specials for Shirley MacLaine , If My Friends Could See Me Now and Gypsy in My Soul . http://feinsteinsattheregency.com/bio.php? id=24 Biography feinsteinsattheregency.com, accessed March 30, 2009 Coleman has been the only composer to win consecutive Tony awards for Best Score at the same time that the corresponding musicals won for Best Musical: City of Angels and ''Will Rogers' Follies . Coleman was on the ASCAP Board of Directors for many years and also served as their Vice Chairman Writer. http://www.ascap.com/press/2004/coleman_111904.html ASCAP listing ascap.com, accessed March 30, 2009
Death
He died of cardiac arrest on November 18, 2004 at the age of 75. He is survived by his wife, Shelby Coleman and their adopted daughter, Lily Cye Coleman (born in 2000). To the very end, he was part of the Broadway scene - just prior to his death,clarify|date=January 2012 he had attended the premiere of Michael Frayn 's new play Democracy . One final musical with a Coleman score played in Los Angeles in 2004 under the title Like Jazz, presumably as a Broadway tryout.
Awards, nominations and honors
;Awards and nominations
1997 Tony Award Best Book of a Musical The Life (nominee)
1997 Tony Award Best Musical The Life (nominee)
1997 Tony Award Best Original Score The Life (nominee)
1990 Tony Award Best Musical City of Angels (winner)
1990 Tony Award Best Original Score City of Angels (winner)
1980 Tony Award Best Musical Barnum (nominee)
1980 Tony Award Best Original Score Barnum (nominee)
1978 Tony Award Best Musical On the Twentieth Century (nominee)
1978 Tony Award Best Original Score On the Twentieth Century (winner)
1977 Tony Award Best Musical I Love My Wife (nominee)
1977 Tony Award Best Original Score I Love My Wife (nominee)
1974 Tony Award Best Musical Seesaw (nominee)
1974 Tony Award Best Original Score Seesaw (nominee)
1966 Tony Award Best Composer and Lyricist Sweet Charity (nominee)
1966 Tony Award Best Musical Sweet Charity (nominee)
1963 Tony Award Best Composer and Lyricist Little Me (nominee)
1963 Tony Award Best Musical Little Me (nominee)
He also won three Emmy Awards http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0170990/awards Awards listing at Internet Movie Database accessed March 30, 2009 and two Grammy Awards .
;Honors
Among his many honors and awards, he was elected to the Songwriter's Hall of Fame (1981), and was the recipient of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame Johnny Mercer Award (1995) http://songwritershalloffame.org/ceremony/entry/C3107/5055 Song Writers Hall of Fame Mercer Award, 1995 songwritershalloffame.org, accessed March 30, 2009 and the ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers Award for lifetime achievement in American musical theatre . He was elected to the American Theatre Hall of Fame http://www.bestplaysonline.com/HOF2008.pdf List of members, American Theater Hall of Fame bestplaysonline.com, accessed March 30, 2009 and received an Honorary Doctorate from Hofstra University in 2000. http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/18756/ Hofstra University: Speakers for Commencement 2000, newswise.com, May 10, 2000
References
reflist
External links
IMDb name|0170990
IBDB name|4929
iobdb|Cy|Coleman
Cy ColemanEmmyAward ComedyVarietyMusicWriting 1975-2000DramaDesk Music 1976–2000TonyAward MusicalScore 1976–2000 Persondata | NAME = Coleman, Cy | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = June 14, 1929 | PLACE OF BIRTH = New York City, New York | DATE OF DEATH = November 18, 2004 | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Cy Category:American jazz pianists Category:American musical theatre composers Category:American Theatre Hall of Fame inductees Category:Drama Desk Award winners Category:Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:1929 births Category:2004 deaths Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Jubilee Records artists Category:Jewish American composers and songwriters Category:People from New York City Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
