More Info on Frank LoesserSimilar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = Frank Loesser| image =| background = non_performing_personnel| birth_name = Frank Henry Loesser| Born = birth date|1910|6|29 New York City, New York , United States|USA | Died = death date and age|1969|7|28|1910|6|29 New York City, New York , United States|USA | genre = Musical theatre | occupation = composer, lyricist, screenwriter| years_active = 1936–1969| spouse = Lynn Garland (m.1936) Jo Sullivan (m.1959) Frank Henry Loesser (June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the lyrics and music to the Broadway theatre|Broadway hits Guys and Dolls (musical)|Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying , among others. He won separate Tony Awards for the music and lyrics in both shows, as well as sharing the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the latter. He also wrote numerous songs for films and Tin Pan Alley , many of which have become standards, and was nominated for five Academy Awards for best song, winning once, for " Baby, It's Cold Outside (song)|Baby, It's Cold Outside ".
Early years
Loesser was born in New York City to Henry Loesser, a pianist, and Julia Ehrlich. He left City College of New York in 1925 after one year. After trying various jobs, by 1935 he was performing in a club with singer Lynn Blankenbaker Garland, whom he married in 1936. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/loesser_f.html Frank Loesser biography, pbs.org, accessed December 5, 2008
After signing with Universal Pictures in 1936 he moved to Hollywood, and then worked for Paramount Pictures . He wrote the lyrics for many songs during this period, including " Two Sleepy People " and “ I Hear Music .” He stayed in Hollywood until World War II , when he joined the Army Air Force.
One of the early films he worked on was Destry Rides Again (1939), for which he wrote the lyrics to " See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have ", sung by Marlene Dietrich .
WWII era
During World War II , while enlisted as a song writer, Loesser wrote the popular war songs Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition (1942) and The Ballad of Rodger Young (1943), among others. Loesser had started out his career writing lyrics for other composers, and Praise the Lord was the first song for which he wrote the melody as well as the lyrics.
In 1944, Loesser worked as the lyricist on a little known musical intended to be performed by and for US soldiers abroad, titled Hi Yank! , the music for which was composed by Alex North . Hi Yank! was produced by the U.S. Army Office of Special Services as a "blueprint special" to boost the morale of soldiers located where USO shows could not visit. The "blueprint" was a book containing a musical script with instructions for staging the show, using materials locally available to deployed soldiers. A document located at the US Army Centre for Military History states, "A touring company has been formed in Italy to tour a production of Hi, Yank! ". http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/pdf/610_blueprint.pdf PBS History Detectives; "Blueprint Special", 2008, show transcript, PDF pbs.org
This unique Hi Yank! show, without stars or a conventional theater run, was generally forgotten until 2008, when the Public Broadcasting Service|PBS History Detectives TV show researched the case of a long-saved radio transcription disc . http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigations/610_blueprintspecial.html PBS History Detectives; "Blueprint Special" Aired: Season 6, Episode 10; 2008 pbs.org The disc has two songs and a promotional announcement for the show's Fort Dix premiere in August 1944, when the disc was broadcast there. http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigations/610_blueprintspecial.html Click on player at the bottom to listen to the recording of the Hi Yank soldier musical. (7m37s) pbs.org
Career
In 1948, Broadway producers Cy Feuer and Ernest Martin asked Loesser to write both music and lyrics to George Abbott 's book for an adaptation of the Brandon Thomas play '' Charley's Aunt . That musical, Where's Charley? (1948), starred Ray Bolger , and ran for a successful 792 performances. This led to his next musical, Guys and Dolls (musical)|Guys and Dolls (1950), based on the stories of Damon Runyon , and again produced by Feuer and Martin. Guys and Dolls became a hit and earned Loesser two Tony Awards . http://www.mtishows.com/biography.asp? writerid=3286 Loesser biography, mtishows.com, accessed August 4, 2009
He wrote the book, music and lyrics for his next two musicals, The Most Happy Fella (1956) and Greenwillow (1960). He wrote the music and lyrics for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961), which ran for 1,417 performances and won the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and for which he received two more Tonys.
The last musical that he worked on, Pleasures and Palaces (1965), closed during out-of-town tryouts.
Another unproduced musical, Señor Discretion Himself , premiered after his death. He started working on a musical version of the Budd Schulberg short story Señor Discretion Himself in 1966, but stopped working on it after 2 years. A version was presented in 1985 at the New York Musical Theatre Works. With the support of Jo Loesser, a completed version was presented at the Arena Stage , Washington, DC, in 2004, reworked by the group Culture Clash (performance troupe)|Culture Clash and director Charles Randolph-Wright.Riis, Thomas Laurence. Frank Loesser (2008), Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-11051-0, p,219-223
Personal life
Loesser divorced his first wife, Lynn, in 1957. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp? spid=115467& apid=53682 Frank Loesser biography tcm.com, accessed December 5, 2008 They had two children together: John Loesser and Susan Loesser, an author who wrote her father's biography A Most Remarkable Fella: Frank Loesser and the Guys and Dolls in His Life: A Portrait by His Daughter (1993, 2000).
He married his second wife Jo Sullivan (born Elizabeth Josephine Sullivan) on April 29, 1959.NPR Weekend Saturday Edition interview by Scott Simon with Jo Loesser on May 1, 2010) May 1, 2010 Loesser was introduced to Jo by his first wife Lynn. Jo Sullivan had played a lead in The Most Happy Fella . They had two children, Hannah and Emily. Emily is a performer who is married to Don Stephenson . http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html? res=9D0CEED8113FF936A35756C0A967958260 "Emily Loesser, Actress, Marries", The New York Times , May 5, 1991
Loesser died of lung cancer at age 59 in New York City.Krebs, Alvin, "Frank Loesser, Composer, Dead," The New York Times , July 29, 1969, p. 1
Notable songs
category see also|Musicals by Frank Loesser listen |filename=The Ballad of Rodger Young (West Point Cadet Glee Club 1959).ogg |title=The Ballad of Rodger Young |description=Performed by the West Point West Point Cadet Glee Club|Cadet Glee Club , 1959. Loesser was the lyricist of over 700 songs. http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp? isbn=0300110510 Review of book "Frank Loesser", Thomas L. Riis, Dec 17, 2007, yalepress.yale.edu, accessed December 5, 2008
;War songs:
" Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition " (1942)
" The Ballad of Rodger Young " (1943)
;Broadway musicals:
"Once in Love With Amy" from '' Where's Charley?
" A Bushel and a Peck ", " Fugue for Tinhorns ", "I'll Know", " If I Were A Bell " (a favorite of Miles Davis , featured in recordings with John Coltrane ), " Luck Be a Lady Tonight " and " Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat " from Guys and Dolls (musical)|Guys and Dolls
" Standing on the Corner (show tune)|Standing on the Corner " from The Most Happy Fella
" Never Will I Marry " from Greenwillow
"I Believe In You" and "The Brotherhood of Man" from How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
;Films and Tin Pan Alley :
" Baby, It's Cold Outside " from the M-G-M picture "Neptune's Daughter" (1949). This was originally a song which Loesser and his wife Lynn performed at parties for the private entertainment of friends. They also recorded the song for Mercury Records . Under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to supply a full score for ''Neptune's Daughter , Loesser included this song which he had created in 1944, originally for their housewarming party.
" Heart and Soul (1938 song)|Heart and Soul " (from the Paramount short subject A Song is Born ) – lyrics
" I Don't Want to Walk Without You " from the Paramount picture Sweater Girl (film)|Sweater Girl (1942), performed on screen by Betty Jane Rhodes
"Let's Get Lost" from Happy Go Lucky (1943) This song inspired the title to the documentary film Let's Get Lost (film)|with the same title about jazz trumpeter Chet Baker .
" On a Slow Boat to China " (1948)
" Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year " from the Universal picture Christmas Holiday (1944)
" Inchworm (song)|Inch Worm ", "Thumbelina" and "Wonderful Copenhagen" (which is now the official song of the city of Copenhagen) from the Samuel Goldwyn picture Hans Christian Andersen (film)|Hans Christian Andersen (1952)
" Two Sleepy People " (music by Hoagy Carmichael ) from the Paramount picture "Thanks for the Memory" (1938)
" What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? " (written in 1947)
Awards and legacy
Loesser received Tony Award s for music and lyrics for each of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Guys and Dolls . He was nominated for the Tony Award for book, music and lyrics for The Most Happy Fella and as Best Composer for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying . Loesser was awarded a Grammy Award in 1961 for Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album|Best Original Cast Show Album for How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying .
He won the 1949 Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song, "Baby, It's Cold Outside". He was nominated four more times: :"Dolores" from Las Vegas Nights (1941) :"They're Either Too Young or Too Old" from Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943) :"I Wish I Didn't Love You So" from The Perils of Pauline (1947) :"Thumbelina" (1953)
In 2006 the PBS documentary, Heart & Soul: The Life and Music of Frank Loesser was released. http://www.loessermovie.org/ "Heart & Soul, The Life and Music of Frank Loesser" www.loessermovie.org, accessed July 30, 2009
http://freshair.npr.org/day_fa.jhtml? display=day& todayDate=12/29/2003 Interview with daughter Susan Loesser
http://songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/C230 Frank Loesser entry at the Songwriters Hall of Fame
http://www.americanmusicpreservation.com/FrankLoesserCentennial.htm A Centennial Tribute to Frank Loesser
AcademyAwardBestOriginalSong 1941–1950PulitzerPrize DramaAuthors 1951-1975Frank Loesser Persondata | NAME = Loesser, Frank | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = June 29, 1910 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = July 28, 1969 | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Loesser, Frank Category:1910 births Category:1969 deaths Category:American lyricists Category:American musical theatre composers Category:American musical theatre librettists Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:Songwriters from New York Category:American Theatre Hall of Fame inductees Category:Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters Category:Cancer deaths in New York Category:Deaths from lung cancer Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Pulitzer Prize for Drama winners Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:Tony Award winners Category:American Jews
