This page uses content from the Lorenz Hart biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.
Lorenz "Larry" Hart (May 2, 1895 - November 22, 1943) was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. His most memorable lyrics include, "Blue Moon", "The Lady is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Mountain Greenery", "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered", and "My Funny Valentine".
Biography
Hart was born in Harlem, New York, to Jewish immigrant parents. His mother was a kind and loving woman, and his relationship with her was very good. His father claimed to be a businessman whose business was anything at all. Hart had a strange relationship with his father, but enjoyed telling people that his father was a crook. This upbringing helped make Hart a very boisterous and fiery personality. He loved to throw parties, and had an insatiable taste for the 'high life.'
Hart attended Columbia University, where a mutual friend introduced him to composer Richard Rodgers in 1919, and the two wrote songs for a series of amateur and student productions. In 1919, the team landed their first song in a Broadway musical. The song was "Any Old Place With You" and it premiered in the musical comedy A Lonely Romeo. The smashing success of their score for the 1925 Theatre Guild production, The Garrick Gaieties, brought them great acclaim. They continued working together until Hart's death in 1943, along the way producing scores for a series of hit shows and making a substantial contribution to the Great American Songbook.
Hart struggled with his own homosexuality in an era when such a lifestyle was socially unacceptable and with alcoholism, which eventually contributed to his death. Hart also suffered great emotional turmoil toward the end of his life. His personal problems were often the cause of friction between him and Richard Rodgers, and in fact led to a brief breakup in 1943, at which time Rodgers started working with Oscar Hammerstein II, who was actually a school friend of Hart.
Rodgers and Hart teamed up one final time in the fall of 1943 for a revival of A Connecticut Yankee. Five days after this show opened, Hart died of pneumonia from exposure. He is believed to have died alone. He is buried in Mount Zion Cemetery in Queens County, New York.
Selected list of works
- 1920 Fly With Me
- 1925 The Garrick Gaieties
- 1926 The Girl Friend
- 1927 A Connecticut Yankee, based on the Mark Twain novel
- 1928 Present Arms
- 1935 Jumbo
- 1936 On Your Toes
- 1937 Babes in Arms
- 1938 The Boys from Syracuse, based on William Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors
- 1938 I Married an Angel
- 1938 Too Many Girls
- 1940 Pal Joey, based on John O'Hara's work
- 1942 By Jupiter
External links
References
- Nolan, Frederick. Lorenz Hart: A Poet on Broadway. New York: Oxford University Press (1994). ISBN 0-19-510289-4
de:Lorenz Hart
sv:Lorenz Hart
it:Lorenz Hart
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify the biographical information on this page under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.
11%
31%
76%
