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Prolific Hollywood wordsmith turned tunesmith who crossed over from Tin Pan Alley to Shubert Alley. As a Hollywood songwriter during the 1930s and 40s, Loesser penned the breezy lyrics for such standards as "The Boys in the Backroom" (with composer Frederick Hollander), "Small Fry" and "Two Sleepy People" (with Hoagy Carmichael), "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" (with Jule Styne) and "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" (with Arthur Schwartz). On Broadway from the late 1940s through the 60s, he displayed a knack for conveying characters and their vernacular by writing both the clever words and tuneful music for classic shows of Broadway's golden age: the 1948 Ray Bolger vehicle "Where's Charley" (filmed in 1952), the colorful 1950 Damon Runyon gambling fantasy, "Guys and Dolls" (filmed in 1955), and the Pulitzer prize-winning satire "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (1967)....
Full Bio , Awards & Milestones

Filmography

Reign Over Me - ( Song / 2007 / Released / )
The Savages - ( Song / 2007 / Released / )
American Dreamz - ( Song / 2006 / Released / )
Jackass: Number Two - ( Song / 2006 / Released / )
Superman Returns - ( Song / 2006 / Released / )
A League of Their Own - ( Song / 2003 / Released / )
Elf - ( Song / 2003 / Released / )
Mona Lisa Smile - ( Song / 2003 / Released / )
September - ( Song / 2003 / Released / )
Under the Tuscan Sun - ( Song / 2003 / Released / )
Domestic Disturbance - ( Song / 2001 / Released / )
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion - ( Song / 2001 / Released / Village Roadshow Pictures Worldwide )
8 1/2 Women - ( Song / 2000 / Released / )
Man on the Moon - ( Song / 1999 / Released / )
Payback - ( Song / 1999 / Released / )
Snow Falling on Cedars - ( Song / 1999 / Released / )
The Love Letter - ( Song / 1999 / Released / )
Celebrity - ( Song / 1998 / Released / )
Dance With Me - ( Song / 1998 / Released / )
The Big Lebowski - ( Song / 1998 / Released / Bontonfilm )
The Faculty - ( Song / 1998 / Released / )
The Slums of Beverly Hills - ( Song / 1998 / Released / )
A Bronx Tale - ( Song / 1993 / Released / )
Manhattan Murder Mystery - ( Song / 1993 / Released / CTS/TriStar )
Mrs. Doubtfire - ( Song / 1993 / Released / )
Rich in Love - ( Song / 1993 / Released / )
Searching for Bobby Fischer - ( Song / 1993 / Released / )
The Long Day Closes - ( Composer(- music composer) / 1993 / Released / Alliance Releasing )
Leap of Faith - ( Song / 1992 / Released / )
School Ties - ( Song / 1992 / Released / )
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle - ( Composer(- song composer) / 1992 / Released / )
All I Want For Christmas - ( Song(- songs) / 1991 / Released / )
Bugsy - ( Song / 1991 / Released / )
Company Business - ( Song / 1991 / Released / Shochiku-Fuji Company Ltd/Kuzui Enterprises )
For the Boys - ( Song / 1991 / Released / )
Stepping Out - ( Song / 1991 / Released / )
The Marrying Man - ( Song / 1991 / Released / Jadran )
The Freshman - ( Song / 1990 / Released / Matlon )
Crimes and Misdemeanors - ( Song(- songs) / 1989 / Released / MGM/UA Home Video )
Let It Ride - ( Song / 1989 / Released / )
Let's Get Lost - ( Song / 1989 / Released / Kuzui Enterprises )
Big - ( Song / 1988 / Released / )
Radio Days - ( Song(- songs) / 1987 / Released / )
Heartburn - ( Song / 1986 / Released / )
Rebel - ( Song / 1986 / Released / Village Roadshow Pictures Worldwide )
Lost in America - ( Song / 1985 / Released / Columbia-EMI-Warner )
Summer Rental - ( Song / 1985 / Released / )
Racing With the Moon - ( Song(- songs) / 1984 / Released / )
Raggedy Man - ( Song / 1981 / Released / )
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying - ( Song(- songs) / 1967 / Released / )
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying - ( Play as Source Material / 1967 / Released / )
Guys and Dolls - ( Music(- music and lyrics) / 1955 / Released / )
Money From Home - ( Song / 1953 / Released / Paramount Pictures )
Let's Dance - ( Song(- songs) / 1950 / Released / )
Variety Girl - ( Song(- songs) / 1947 / Released / )
Thank Your Lucky Stars - ( Song(- songs) / 1943 / Released / )
Priorities on Parade - ( Screenplay / 1942 / Released / Paramount Pictures )
Priorities on Parade - ( Song(- songs) / 1942 / Released / Paramount Pictures )
Seven Days Leave - ( Song(- songs) / 1942 / Released / )
This Gun For Hire - ( Song(- songs) / 1942 / Released / Paramount Pictures )
Manpower - ( Song(- songs) / 1941 / Released / Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution )
Seven Sinners - ( Song(- songs) / 1940 / Released / )
Destry Rides Again - ( Song(- songs) / 1939 / Released / Universal )
Some Like It Hot - ( Song(- songs) / 1939 / Released / )
Zaza - ( Song(- songs) / 1939 / Released / Paramount Pictures )
College Swing - ( Song(- songs) / 1938 / Released / )
Thanks For the Memory - ( Song(- songs) / 1938 / Released / )
Hurricane - ( Song(- songs) / / Released / )
Vogues of 1938 - ( Song(- songs) / / Released / United Artists Pictures Inc. )
TV Credits
The Most Happy Fella ( 1980 / Released ): Book as Source Material
Full Biography (Back to top)

Prolific Hollywood wordsmith turned tunesmith who crossed over from Tin Pan Alley to Shubert Alley. As a Hollywood songwriter during the 1930s and 40s, Loesser penned the breezy lyrics for such standards as "The Boys in the Backroom" (with composer Frederick Hollander), "Small Fry" and "Two Sleepy People" (with Hoagy Carmichael), "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" (with Jule Styne) and "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" (with Arthur Schwartz). On Broadway from the late 1940s through the 60s, he displayed a knack for conveying characters and their vernacular by writing both the clever words and tuneful music for classic shows of Broadway's golden age: the 1948 Ray Bolger vehicle "Where's Charley" (filmed in 1952), the colorful 1950 Damon Runyon gambling fantasy, "Guys and Dolls" (filmed in 1955), and the Pulitzer prize-winning satire "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (1967).

Loesser's musicals which did not make it to Hollywood include the near-operatic "The Most Happy Fella" (1956) and the whimsical "Greenwillow" (1960). One his richest scores was an original musical written directly for film, the charming fictional biography "Hans Christian Anderson" (1952) which introduced such classics as "Thumbelina", "Anywhere I Wander" and "Wonderful Copenhagen."


Profession(s):
composer, lyricist, songwriter, librettist, nightclub performer, knit-goods editor, political cartoonist, city editor, process server, press agent
Sometimes Credited As:
Francis Henry Loesser
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Family
daughter:Emily Loesser (mother, Jo Sullivan)
daughter:Hannah Loesser (mother, Jo Sullivan)
daughter:Susan Loesser (mother, Lynn Garland)
father:Henry Loesser (German-born; married to Bertha Ehrlich from 1892 until her death in 1906; married her sister Julia in 1906; died on July 20, 1926)
half-brother:Arthur Loesser (older; became the head of the piano division of the Cleveland Institute of Music; born in 1894; mother Bertha Ehrlich)
sister:Grace Loesser (older; born in December 1906)
son:John Loesser (mother, Lynn Garland)
wife:Lynn Garland (married in 1935; divorced in 1957; produced Loesser's musical, "The Most Happy Fella" (1956))
wife:Jo Sullivan (married from April 29, 1958 until his death in 1969; starred as Rosabella/Amy in original production of "The Most Happy Fella" (1956))
Awards (Back to top)
Outer Critics Circle Citation 1967
Pulitzer Prize in Drama "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" 1962
Tony Best Musical "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" 1962
Grammy Best Original Cast Show Album "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" 1961
New York Drama Critics Circle Award Best Musical "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" 1961 - 1962
New York Drama Critics Circle Award Best Musical "The Most Happy Fella" 1956 - 1957
Tony Best Musical "Guys and Dolls" 1951
New York Drama Critics Circle Award Best Musical "Guys and Dolls" 1950 - 1951
Oscar Music--Best Song "Baby It's Cold Outside" 1949

Milestones (Back to top)
1956 Co-wrote first libretto for "The Most Happy Fella" (also wrote music and lyrics)
1950 Formed Frank Music publishing company (date approximate)
1949 Film acting debut, as Hair-Do Lempke, a piano-loving racketeer in "Red, Hot and Blue" (also wrote songs)
1948 Wrote first Broadway score (both words and music) for "Where's Charley?"
1941 Wrote lyrics for song, "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle" for Paramount film, "Forest Rangers" (composer Joe Lilley)
1941 Composed music for first time for song, "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" after which he enlisted in the Army
1937 Went to Hollywood; wrote first song, "The Moon of Manakoora" (music by Alfred Newman) which Dorothy Lamour sang in "The Hurricane"
1936 Contributed lyrics to Broadway revue, "The Illustrators Show" (music by Irving Actman); show ran only five performances
1934 First hit song, "I Wish I Were Twins" (music by Joseph Meyer and Edgar De Lange)
1931 First published lyric, for pop song "In Love With the Memory of You" (music by William Schuman)
Worked at odd jobs including as a process server, knit-goods editor, political cartoonist for the "Tuckahoe Record", city editor for the "New Rochelle News" and press agent for Tiffany Pictures
Sold special lyrics to vaudevillians
Hired as staff lyricist for the Leo Feist song publishing company; fired after a year during which time none of his lyrics was published
Took odd jobs to support widowed mother during Depression: put caps on bottles of insecticide; was a spotter for a restaurant chain, checking on food and service and getting free meals
Sang and played piano in nightclubs
Wrote lyrics for special material to music by Irving Actman
Wrote music (as well as lyrics) for "Skirts" for the Air Force Special Services show performed in London during WWII; wrote over 100 songs for Army shows

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