Frank Loesser

American songwriter (1910–1969)

Frank Loesser

Frank Loesser in a 1936 Paramount studio headshot.

Background information
Birth name| Frank Henry Loesser
Born| (1910-06-29)June 29, 1910
Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Died| July 28, 1969(1969-07-28) (aged 59)
East Harlem, New York, U.S.
Genres| Musical theatre
Occupation(s)| Composer, lyricist, librettist
Years active| 1931–1968
Spouse(s)|

Lynn Garland

(m. 1936; div. 1957)​

Jo Sullivan

(m. 1959)​

Website| frankloesser.com

Musical artist

Frank Henry Loesser (/ˈlɛsər/ "lesser"; June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won a Tony Award for Guys and Dolls and shared the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for How to Succeed. He also wrote songs for over 60 Hollywood 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".

## Early years[edit]

Frank Henry Loesser was born to a Jewish family[1] in New York City, the son of Henry Loesser, a pianist,[2] and Julia Ehrlich.[3][4] He grew up in a house on West 107th Street in Manhattan.[5]

His father had moved to America to avoid German military service and work in his family's banking business. He married Bertha Ehrlich; their son, Arthur Loesser, was born on August 26, 1894. Bertha's younger sister Julia arrived in America in 1898, marrying Henry in 1907 after Bertha died in childbirth. Grace, their first child, was born in December of that year. Their son Frank was born on June 29, 1910.[6]

Loesser's parents, secular German Jews, prized high intellect and culture, and educated him musically in the vein of European composers.[4] But although Henry was a full-time piano teacher, he never taught his son. In a 1914 letter to Arthur, Henry wrote that the four-year-old Frank could play by ear "any tune he's heard and can spend an enormous amount of time at the piano."[7] (Frank Loesser later collaborated with musical secretaries to ensure that his written scores reflected the music as he conceived it.)[8]

Loesser disliked his father's refined taste in music and resisted by writing his own music and taking up the harmonica. He was expelled from Townsend Harris High School, and from there went to City College of New York.[6] He was expelled from the CCNY in 1925 after one year for failing every subject except English and gym.[4]

After his father died suddenly on July 20, 1926, Loesser was forced to seek work to support his family.[9] His jobs included restaurant reviewer, process server, classified ad salesman for the New York Herald Tribune, political cartoonist for The Tuckahoe Record, sketch writer for Keith Vaudeville Circuit, knit-goods editor for Women's Wear Daily, press representative for a small movie company, and city editor for a short-lived newspaper in New Rochelle, New York, titled New Rochelle News.[4][6]

## Early career as lyricist[edit]

Loesser's first song credit was "In Love with the Memory of You," with music by William Schuman, published in 1931.[9] Other early lyrical credits included two hit songs of 1934, "Junk Man" and "I Wish I Were Twins", both with music by Joe Meyer and the latter with co-lyric credit to Eddie DeLange. "Junk Man" was first recorded that year by Benny Goodman with singer Mildred Bailey on vocals.[10]

In the mid-1930s, he performed at The Back Drop, a night spot on east 52nd Street, along with composer Irving Actman, while by day working on the staff of Leo Feist Inc. writing lyrics to Joseph Brandfon's music at $100 per week. After a year, Feist had not published any of them. Loesser fared only slightly better collaborating with the future classical composer Schuman, selling their 1931 song to Feist that would flop. Loesser described his early days of learning the craft as having "a rendezvous with failure." While he dabbled in other trades, he inevitably returned to the music business.[4][11]

Loesser's work at the Back Drop led to his first Broadway musical, The Illustrator's Show, a 1936 revue written with Back Drop collaborator Irving Actman, which lasted only four nights. The year before while performing at the Back Drop, Loesser met an aspiring singer, Lynn Garland (born Mary Alice Blankenbaker). He proposed in a September 1936 letter that included funds for a railroad ticket to Los Angeles where Loesser's contract to Universal Pictures had just ended. The couple married in a judge's office.[12] Loesser was offered a contract by Paramount Pictures. His first song credit there was "Moon of Manakoora", written with Alfred Newman for Dorothy Lamour in the film The Hurricane.[4] He wrote the lyrics for many popular songs during this period, including "Two Sleepy People" and "Heart and Soul" with Hoagy Carmichael and "I Hear Music" with Burton Lane. He also collaborated with composers Arthur Schwartz and Joseph J. Lilley.

One of his notable efforts was "See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have", with music by Friedrich Hollaender and sung by Marlene Dietrich in Destry Rides Again. In 1941, Loesser wrote "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" with Jule Styne, included in the 1942 film Sweater Girl and sung by Betty Jane Rhodes.[4] Irving Berlin was a huge fan of the song and once played it repeatedly, telling Loesser why he believed it was the greatest song he wished he'd written.[13]

Members of the Western Writers of America chose the 1942 song "Jingle Jangle Jingle", for which Loesser wrote the lyrics, as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.[14]

He stayed in Hollywood until World War II, when he joined the Army Air Force.[2]

## World War II era[edit]

During World War II, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces and continued to write lyrics for films and single songs.[2] Loesser created the popular war song "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" (1942) inspired by words of navy chaplain Howell Forgy.[15] Loesser wrote other songs at the request of the armed forces, including "What Do You Do in the Infantry?" and "The Ballad of Rodger Young" (1943).[2] He also wrote "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" for the 1943 film Thank Your Lucky Stars.[4]

In 1944, Loesser worked as the lyricist on the little-known musical Hi Yank!, performed by and for U.S. soldiers abroad, with music by Alex North.[16] 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. According to a document at the U.S. Army Centre for Military History, a touring company formed in Italy was slated to produce the musical.[17] Hi Yank! was generally forgotten until 2008 when the PBS History Detectives researched the case of a long-saved radio transcription disc.[18] 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.[19]

## Broadway and later film career[edit]

Guys and Dolls, Libretto and Vocal book, printed by Music Theatre International, 1978

In 1948, Broadway producers Cy Feuer and Ernest H. Martin asked Loesser to write music and lyrics to George Abbott's book for an adaptation of the Brandon Thomas play Charley's Aunt. The musical, Where's Charley? (1948), starred Ray Bolger and ran for 792 performances. A film version released in 1952.

Also in 1948, Loesser sold to MGM the rights to "Baby, It's Cold Outside", a song he wrote in 1944 and performed informally at parties with his then wife Lynn Garland. The studio included it in the 1949 movie Neptune's Daughter, and the song became a huge hit. While Garland was mad at Loesser for selling what she considered "their song",[20] it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

His next musical, Guys and Dolls (1950), based on the stories of Damon Runyon, was again produced by Feuer and Martin. Guys and Dolls became a hit and earned Loesser a Tony Award.[21] Bob Fosse called Guys and Dolls "the greatest American musical of all time".[4] A film version was released in 1955, starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, and Vivian Blaine.

In 1950, Loesser started Frank Music Corporation. Initially created as a means of controlling and publishing his work, the company eventually supported other writers, including Richard Adler, Jerry Ross, and Meredith Willson.[9] Loesser also started the theatrical licensing company Music Theatre International in 1952. Frank Music and MTI were sold to CBS Music in 1976.[22] CBS in turn sold Frank Music to Paul McCartney's MPL Communications holding company in 1979.[23]

Also in 1952, Loesser wrote the score for the film Hans Christian Andersen. The movie's songs included "Wonderful Copenhagen", "Anywhere I Wander", "Thumbelina", and "Inchworm".[9]

He wrote the book, music, and lyrics for his next two musicals, The Most Happy Fella (1956) and Greenwillow (1960). Around the beginning of 1957, Garland and Loesser divorced, and Loesser began a relationship with Jo Sullivan, who had played the character of Rosabella in Fella. He wrote the music and lyrics for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961), which ran for 1,417 performances, won the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and received another Tony and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.[24]

Pleasures and Palaces (1965), the last Loesser musical produced during his lifetime, closed during out-of-town tryouts.

## Later life and death[edit]

From 1965 until 1968, Loesser was composing the book, music and lyrics for Señor Discretion Himself, a musical version of a Budd Schulberg short story. A version was presented in 1985 at the New York Musical Theatre Works. With the support of his widow Jo Loesser, a completed version was presented at the Arena Stage, Washington, D.C., in 2004, reworked by the group Culture Clash and director Charles Randolph-Wright.[25]

When he was asked why he did not write more shows, Loesser responded that "I don't write slowly. It's just that I throw out fast." The New York Times confirmed his hard working habits and wrote that Loesser "was consumed by nervous energy and as a result slept only four hours a night, spending the rest of the time working."[4]

Loesser, a heavy cigarette smoker, died on July 28, 1969, of lung cancer at age 59 at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan's East Harlem neighborhood.[26]

## Personal life[edit]

Lynn Garland and Frank Loesser divorced around the beginning of 1957 after 21 years of marriage.[27] They had two children together: John Loesser, who works in theatre administration,[28] 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, ISBN 0634009273).

He married his second wife Jo Sullivan (born Elizabeth Josephine Sullivan) on April 29, 1959[29] after being introduced to her by Lynn. Jo Sullivan had played a lead in The Most Happy Fella.[2] They had two children, Hannah and Emily. Emily is a performer who is married to actor Don Stephenson.[30] Hannah was an artist in oils, pastels and mixed media; she died of cancer on January 25, 2007.[31] Jo died on April 28, 2019, at age 91.[32]

## Notable songs[edit]

See also: Category:Musicals by Frank Loesser

The Ballad of Rodger Young

Performed by the West Point Cadet Glee Club, 1959.

* * *

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Loesser was the lyricist of over 700 songs.[33]

War songs

* "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" (1942)
* "The Ballad of Rodger Young" (1943)

Broadway musicals

* "A Bushel and a Peck", "Fugue for Tinhorns", "If I Were A Bell" (a favorite of Miles Davis, featured in recordings with John Coltrane), "Luck Be a Lady Tonight", "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" and "I'll Know" from Guys and Dolls
* "Standing on the Corner" and "Joey, Joey, Joey" from The Most Happy Fella
* "Never Will I Marry" from Greenwillow

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" (from the Paramount short subject A Song is Born) – lyrics
* "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" from the Paramount picture 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 1988 documentary film with the same title about jazz trumpeter and singer Chet Baker, who recorded it several times.
* "On a Slow Boat to China" (1948)
* "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" from the Universal picture Christmas Holiday (1944)
* "Inch Worm", "Thumbelina", "The Ugly Duckling" and "Wonderful Copenhagen" from the Samuel Goldwyn picture 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[edit]

Loesser received the 1951 Tony Award for Best Musical for his Guys and Dolls music and lyrics. 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.[34] Loesser was awarded a Grammy Award in 1962[35] for Best Original Cast Show Album for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Loesser is regarded as one of the more talented writers of his era, noted for writing witty lyrics and clever musical devices. He also introduced a complex artistic style that challenged shaped the compositional approach of Broadway musicals. He was also noted for using classical forms, such as imitative counterpoint (Fugue for Tinhorns in Guys and Dolls).[9]

Loesser won the 1950 Academy Award for Best Original Song for "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) (a hit that year for both Vaughn Monroe and the film's star Betty Hutton)
"Thumbelina" from the movie musical Hans Christian Andersen (1953)

The PBS documentary Heart & Soul: The Life and Music of Frank Loesser was released in 2006.[36]

42nd Street Moon artistic director Greg MacKellan developed Once in Love with Loesser in 2013 as one of his musical tributes dedicated to exploring and celebrating the work of some of Broadway's great songwriters. The performance was built around the three stages of Loesser's career: Tin Pan Alley, Hollywood, and Broadway. Jason Graae performed "Once in Love with Amy" and The King's New Clothes; Emily Skinner sang Cleo's "Ooh! My Feet", and Rosabella's "Somebody, Somewhere" (from The Most Happy Fella); Ashley Jarrett performed "If I Were a Bell"; and Ian Leonard provided a tongue-in-cheek rendition of "Sing a Tropical Song".[37]

Loesser, contrasted to his brother Arthur (1894-1969) in a humorous wordplay on the principle of "the lesser of two evils", was reportedly once referred to as "the evil of two Loessers". The two half-brothers died less than seven months apart in 1969.[38]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Bloom, Nate (December 22, 2014). "All those Holiday/Christmas Songs: So Many Jewish Songwriters!". Jewish World Review.
2. ^ a b c d e Frank Loesser biography, pbs.org, accessed December 5, 2008
3. ^ Loesser, Susan (1993). A Most Remarkable Fella: Frank Loesser and the Guys and Dolls in His Life. New York: Donald I Fine, Inc. p. 1\. ISBN 1-55611-364-1.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cogdill 2010, p. 1
5. ^ Loesser, Susan (1993). A Most Remarkable Fella: Frank Loesser and the Guys and Dolls in his Life. United States: ISBN. pp. 4–7.
6. ^ a b c Lasser, Michael (2002). "Francis Henry Loesser" American Song Lyricists, 1920-1960. Gale. ISBN 978-0-7876-6009-3.
7. ^ Loesser 1993, p. 8-10
8. ^ Loesser 1993, p. 154-156
9. ^ a b c d e Maiers 2009, pp. 1–3
10. ^ Riis, Thomas Laurence (January 2008). Junk Man 1934. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300110517. OCLC 297548294.
11. ^ Loesser 1993, p. 13-15
12. ^ Loesser 1993, p. 24-25
13. ^ Vallance, Tom (January 30, 2012). "Betty Jane Rhodes: Actress and singer who charmed the US as a wartime sweetheart". The Independent. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
14. ^ Western Writers of America (2010). "The Top 100 Western Songs". American Cowboy. Archived from the original on October 19, 2010.
15. ^ "Howell Forgy - Oxford Reference". www.oxfordreference.com. doi:10.1093/acref/9780191843730.001.0001/q-oro-ed5-00004516 (inactive January 31, 2024). Retrieved August 31, 2019.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link)
16. ^ Wertheim, Albert (2004). Staging the War: American Drama and World War II. Indiana University Press. p. 146.
17. ^ PBS History Detectives; "Blueprint Special", 2008, show transcript, PDF pbs.org
18. ^ PBS History Detectives; "Blueprint Special" Aired: Season 6, Episode 10; 2008 pbs.org
19. ^ Click on player at the bottom to listen to the recording of the Hi Yank soldier musical. (7m37s) pbs.org
20. ^ Loesser, Susan (1993). A Most Remarkable Fella: Frank Loesser and the Guys and Dolls in His Life; A Portrait by His Daughter. Hal Leonard. pp. 8–10. ISBN 1-55611-364-1.
21. ^ Loesser biography, mtishows.com, accessed August 4, 2009
22. ^ "CBS Buys Show Tuner Frank Music". Billboard. September 11, 1976. p. 4.
23. ^ "Inside Track". Billboard. February 17, 1979 - via Google Books.
24. ^ "Best Original Cast Album". grammy.com. May 29, 1962. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
25. ^ Riis, Thomas Laurence. Frank Loesser (2008), Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-11051-0, p,219-223
26. ^ Krebs, Alvin, "Frank Loesser, Composer, Dead," The New York Times, July 29, 1969, p. 1
27. ^ Frank Loesser biography tcm.com, accessed December 5, 2008
28. ^ Genz, Michelle (April 17, 2014). "'How to Succeed' playright's [sic] son now lives in Castaway Cove". VeroNews.com. Archived from the original on December 7, 2014.
29. ^ NPR Weekend Saturday Edition interview by Scott Simon with Jo Loesser on May 1, 2010
30. ^ "Emily Loesser, Actress, Marries", The New York Times, May 5, 1991
31. ^ Simonson, Robert (January 26, 2007). "Hannah Loesser, Daughter of Frank Loesser, Is Dead at 44". Playbill. Archived from the original on July 2, 2014.
32. ^ Evans, Greg. "Jo Sullivan Loesser Obituary" deadline.com, April 29, 2019
33. ^ Review of book "Frank Loesser", Thomas L. Riis, Dec 17, 2007, yalepress.yale.edu, accessed December 5, 2008
34. ^ "Frank Loesser Tony Awards Info". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
35. ^ "Frank Loesser - Wins* 1 Nominations* 1". www.grammy.com. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
36. ^ "Heart & Soul, The Life and Music of Frank Loesser" Archived January 10, 2013, at the Wayback Machine www.loessermovie.com, accessed January 11, 2013
37. ^ Heymont, George (June 26, 2013). "Some Like It Shot". Huffington Post. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
38. ^ Dillon-Malone, Aubrey (Summer 2007). "Obiter dicta". Books Ireland. Wordwell Ltd. (295): 141–143. JSTOR 20633039. Retrieved September 12, 2020. "My favourite, though, has to be Michael McDowell's comment on Gay Mitchell: 'He is the evil of two lessers' even if this witticism is culled from a comment once made even more piquantly about Frank Loesser and his brother." Note: Michael McDowell was comparing Gay Mitchell to his brother Jim.

Sources

* Cogdill, John L. (2010). American National Biography.
* Maiers, Claire D. (2009). Musicians and Composers of the Twentieth Century.

## External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Frank Loesser.

* Free scores by Frank Loesser at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
* frankloesser.net
* Frank Loesser at the Internet Broadway Database
* Frank Loesser at IMDb
* Interview with daughter Susan Loesser
* Frank Loesser entry at the Songwriters Hall of Fame
* A Centennial Tribute to Frank Loesser Archived March 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
* Harold Fielding, Ltd. contracts and correspondence for productions of Frank Loesser's Hans Andersen, 1974-1978 at Isham Memorial Library, Harvard University
* Frank Loesser discography at Discogs

* v
* t
* e

Musicals by Frank Loesser

* Where's Charley?
* Guys and Dolls
* The Most Happy Fella
* Greenwillow
* How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
* Pleasures and Palaces
* Señor Discretion Himself

Awards for Frank Loesser

* v
* t
* e

Academy Award for Best Original Song

1934–1940|

* "The Continental"
* Music: Con Conrad
* Lyrics: Herb Magidson (1934)
* "Lullaby of Broadway"
* Music: Harry Warren
* Lyrics: Al Dubin (1935)
* "The Way You Look Tonight"
* Music: Jerome Kern
* Lyrics: Dorothy Fields (1936)
* "Sweet Leilani"
* Music and lyrics: Harry Owens (1937)
* "Thanks for the Memory"
* Music: Ralph Rainger
* Lyrics: Leo Robin (1938)
* "Over the Rainbow"
* Music: Harold Arlen
* Lyrics: E. Y. Harburg (1939)
* "When You Wish Upon a Star"
* Music: Leigh Harline
* Lyrics: Ned Washington (1940)

1941–1950|

* "The Last Time I Saw Paris"
* Music: Jerome Kern
* Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II (1941)
* "White Christmas"
* Music and lyrics: Irving Berlin (1942)
* "You'll Never Know"
* Music: Harry Warren
* Lyrics: Mack Gordon (1943)
* "Swinging on a Star"
* Music: Jimmy Van Heusen
* Lyrics: Johnny Burke (1944)
* "It Might as Well Be Spring"
* Music: Richard Rodgers
* Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II (1945)
* "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe"
* Music: Harry Warren
* Lyrics: Johnny Mercer (1946)
* "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah"
* Music: Allie Wrubel
* Lyrics: Ray Gilbert (1947)
* "Buttons and Bows"
* Music: Jay Livingston
* Lyrics: Ray Evans (1948)
* "Baby, It's Cold Outside"
* Music and lyrics: Frank Loesser (1949)
* "Mona Lisa"
* Music and lyrics: Ray Evans and Jay Livingston (1950)

1951–1960|

* "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening"
* Music: Hoagy Carmichael
* Lyrics: Johnny Mercer (1951)
* "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin')"
* Music: Dimitri Tiomkin
* Lyrics: Ned Washington (1952)
* "Secret Love"
* Music: Sammy Fain
* Lyrics: Paul Francis Webster (1953)
* "Three Coins in the Fountain"
* Music: Jule Styne
* Lyrics: Sammy Cahn (1954)
* "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing"
* Music: Sammy Fain
* Lyrics: Paul Francis Webster (1955)
* "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)"
* Music and lyrics: Jay Livingston and Ray Evans (1956)
* "All the Way"
* Music: Jimmy Van Heusen
* Lyrics: Sammy Cahn (1957)
* "Gigi"
* Music: Frederick Loewe
* Lyrics: Alan Jay Lerner (1958)
* "High Hopes"
* Music: Jimmy Van Heusen
* Lyrics: Sammy Cahn (1959)
* "Never on Sunday"
* Music and lyrics: Manos Hatzidakis (1960)

1961–1970|

* "Moon River"
* Music: Henry Mancini
* Lyrics: Johnny Mercer (1961)
* "Days of Wine and Roses"
* Music: Henry Mancini
* Lyrics: Johnny Mercer (1962)
* "Call Me Irresponsible"
* Music: Jimmy Van Heusen
* Lyrics: Sammy Cahn (1963)
* "Chim Chim Cher-ee"
* Music and lyrics: Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman (1964)
* "The Shadow of Your Smile"
* Music: Johnny Mandel
* Lyrics: Paul Francis Webster (1965)
* "Born Free"
* Music: John Barry
* Lyrics: Don Black (1966)
* "Talk to the Animals"
* Music and lyrics: Leslie Bricusse (1967)
* "The Windmills of Your Mind"
* Music: Michel Legrand
* Lyrics: Alan and Marilyn Bergman (1968)
* "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"
* Music: Burt Bacharach
* Lyrics: Hal David (1969)
* "For All We Know"
* Music: Fred Karlin
* Lyrics: Robb Royer and Jimmy Griffin (1970)

1971–1980|

* "Theme from Shaft"
* Music and lyrics: Isaac Hayes (1971)
* "The Morning After"
* Music and lyrics: Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn (1972)
* "The Way We Were"
* Music: Marvin Hamlisch
* Lyrics: Alan and Marilyn Bergman (1973)
* "We May Never Love Like This Again"
* Music and lyrics: Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn (1974)
* "I'm Easy"
* Music and lyrics: Keith Carradine (1975)
* "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)"
* Music: Barbra Streisand
* Lyrics: Paul Williams (1976)
* "You Light Up My Life"
* Music and lyrics: Joseph Brooks (1977)
* "Last Dance"
* Music and lyrics: Paul Jabara (1978)
* "It Goes Like It Goes"
* Music: David Shire
* Lyrics: Norman Gimbel (1979)
* "Fame"
* Music: Michael Gore
* Lyrics: Dean Pitchford (1980)

1981–1990|

* "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)"
* Music and lyrics: Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross and Peter Allen (1981)
* "Up Where We Belong"
* Music: Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie
* Lyrics: Will Jennings (1982)
* "Flashdance... What a Feeling"
* Music: Giorgio Moroder
* Lyrics: Keith Forsey and Irene Cara (1983)
* "I Just Called to Say I Love You"
* Music and lyrics: Stevie Wonder (1984)
* "Say You, Say Me"
* Music and lyrics: Lionel Richie (1985)
* "Take My Breath Away"
* Music: Giorgio Moroder
* Lyrics: Tom Whitlock (1986)
* "(I've Had) The Time of My Life"
* Music: Franke Previte, John DeNicola and Donald Markowitz
* Lyrics: Franke Previte (1987)
* "Let the River Run"
* Music and lyrics: Carly Simon (1988)
* "Under the Sea"
* Music: Alan Menken
* Lyrics: Howard Ashman (1989)
* "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)"
* Music and lyrics: Stephen Sondheim (1990)

1991–2000|

* "Beauty and the Beast"
* Music: Alan Menken
* Lyrics: Howard Ashman (1991)
* "A Whole New World"
* Music: Alan Menken
* Lyrics: Tim Rice (1992)
* "Streets of Philadelphia"
* Music and lyrics: Bruce Springsteen (1993)
* "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"
* Music: Elton John
* Lyrics: Tim Rice (1994)
* "Colors of the Wind"
* Music: Alan Menken
* Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz (1995)
* "You Must Love Me"
* Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
* Lyrics: Tim Rice (1996)
* "My Heart Will Go On"
* Music: James Horner
* Lyrics: Will Jennings (1997)
* "When You Believe"
* Music and lyrics: Stephen Schwartz (1998)
* "You'll Be in My Heart"
* Music and lyrics: Phil Collins (1999)
* "Things Have Changed"
* Music and lyrics: Bob Dylan (2000)

2001–2010|

* "If I Didn't Have You"
* Music and lyrics: Randy Newman (2001)
* "Lose Yourself"
* Music: Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto
* Lyrics: Eminem (2002)
* "Into the West"
* Music and lyrics: Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox (2003)
* "Al otro lado del río"
* Music and lyrics: Jorge Drexler (2004)
* "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp"
* Music and lyrics: Juicy J, Frayser Boy and DJ Paul (2005)
* "I Need to Wake Up"
* Music and lyrics: Melissa Etheridge (2006)
* "Falling Slowly"
* Music and lyrics: Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová (2007)
* "Jai Ho"
* Music: A. R. Rahman
* Lyrics: Gulzar (2008)
* "The Weary Kind"
* Music and lyrics: Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett (2009)
* "We Belong Together"
* Music and lyrics: Randy Newman (2010)

2011–2020|

* "Man or Muppet"
* Music and lyrics: Bret McKenzie (2011)
* "Skyfall"
* Music and lyrics: Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth (2012)
* "Let It Go"
* Music and lyrics: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (2013)
* "Glory"
* Music and lyrics: John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn (2014)
* "Writing's on the Wall"
* Music and lyrics: James Napier and Sam Smith (2015)
* "City of Stars"
* Music: Justin Hurwitz
* Lyrics: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (2016)
* "Remember Me"
* Music and lyrics: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (2017)
* "Shallow"
* Music and lyrics: Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt (2018)
* "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again"
* Music: Elton John
* Lyrics: Bernie Taupin (2019)
* "Fight for You"
* Music: D'Mile and H.E.R.
* Lyrics: H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas (2020)

2021–present|

* "No Time to Die"
* Music and lyrics: Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell (2021)
* "Naatu Naatu"
* Music: M. M. Keeravani
* Lyrics: Chandrabose (2022)

* v
* t
* e

Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Authors

* Jesse Lynch Williams (1918)
* Eugene O'Neill (1920)
* Zona Gale (1921)
* Eugene O'Neill (1922)
* Owen Davis (1923)
* Hatcher Hughes (1924)
* Sidney Howard (1925)
* George Kelly (1926)
* Paul Green (1927)
* Eugene O'Neill (1928)
* Elmer Rice (1929)
* Marc Connelly (1930)
* Susan Glaspell (1931)
* George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind and Ira Gershwin (1932)
* Maxwell Anderson (1933)
* Sidney Kingsley (1934)
* Zoe Akins (1935)
* Robert E. Sherwood (1936)
* Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman (1937)
* Thornton Wilder (1938)
* Robert E. Sherwood (1939)
* William Saroyan (1940)
* Robert E. Sherwood (1941)
* Thornton Wilder (1943)
* Mary Chase (1945)
* Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay (1946)
* Tennessee Williams (1948)
* Arthur Miller (1949)
* Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan (1950)
* Joseph Kramm (1952)
* William Inge (1953)
* John Patrick (1954)
* Tennessee Williams (1955)
* Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich (1956)
* Eugene O'Neill (1957)
* Ketti Frings (1958)
* Archibald MacLeish (1959)
* Jerome Weidman, George Abbott, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (1960)
* Tad Mosel (1961)
* Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows (1962)
* Frank D. Gilroy (1965)
* Edward Albee (1967)
* Howard Sackler (1969)
* Charles Gordone (1970)
* Paul Zindel (1971)
* Jason Miller (1973)
* Edward Albee (1975)
* Michael Bennett, Nicholas Dante, James Kirkwood Jr., Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban (1976)
* Michael Cristofer (1977)
* Donald L. Coburn (1978)
* Sam Shepard (1979)
* Lanford Wilson (1980)
* Beth Henley (1981)
* Charles Fuller (1982)
* Marsha Norman (1983)
* David Mamet (1984)
* James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim (1985)
* August Wilson (1987)
* Alfred Uhry (1988)
* Wendy Wasserstein (1989)
* August Wilson (1990)
* Neil Simon (1991)
* Robert Schenkkan (1992)
* Tony Kushner (1993)
* Edward Albee (1994)
* Horton Foote (1995)
* Jonathan Larson (1996)
* Paula Vogel (1998)
* Margaret Edson (1999)
* Donald Margulies (2000)
* David Auburn (2001)
* Suzan-Lori Parks (2002)
* Nilo Cruz (2003)
* Doug Wright (2004)
* John Patrick Shanley (2005)
* David Lindsay-Abaire (2007)
* Tracy Letts (2008)
* Lynn Nottage (2009)
* Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (2010)
* Bruce Norris (2011)
* Quiara Alegría Hudes (2012)
* Ayad Akhtar (2013)
* Annie Baker (2014)
* Stephen Adly Guirgis (2015)
* Lin-Manuel Miranda (2016)
* Lynn Nottage (2017)
* Martyna Majok (2018)
* Jackie Sibblies Drury (2019)
* Michael R. Jackson (2020)
* Katori Hall (2021)
* James Ijames (2022)
* Sanaz Toossi (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows's Guys and Dolls (1950)

Inspiration|

* Damon Runyon's "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure"

Adaptations|

* Guys and Dolls (1955 film)

Songs|

* "A Bushel and a Peck"
* "Adelaide's Lament"
* "Fugue for Tinhorns"
* "If I Were a Bell"
* "I've Never Been in Love Before"
* "Luck Be a Lady"
* "More I Cannot Wish You"
* "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat"
* "A Woman in Love" (film only)

Albums|

* Guys and Dolls Like Vibes (1958)

Authority control databases

International|

* FAST
* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* Norway
* Spain
* France
* BnF data
* Germany
* Italy
* Israel
* Finland
* Belgium
* United States
* Japan
* Czech Republic
* Korea
* Netherlands
* Poland

Academics|

* CiNii

Artists|

* Grammy Awards
* MusicBrainz

People|

* Deutsche Biographie
* Trove

Other|

* SNAC
* IdRef

*[m.]: married
*[div.]: divorced
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