David Shire

Highest Rated: 97% The Conversation (1974)

Lowest Rated: 7% Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009)

Birthday: Jul 3, 1937

Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA

A prolific composer who divides his time between theater, TV and film, David Shire began writing in earnest as an undergraduate at Yale in the late 1950s. Introduced to classmate Richard Maltby Jr., the pair soon formed a writing partnership that has continued on and off for nearly four decades. Their first collaborations were undergraduate shows ("Cyrano de Bergerac" in 1958 and "Grand Tour" in 1959). Following graduation, the pair's first professional show debuted in 1969, the short-lived "The Sap of Life" (1961). Over the years, they have collaborated on numerous songs, primarily lilting ballads, that have been recorded by artists ranging from Barbra Streisand to Andy Williams to Liz Callaway. Maltby and Shire have been the subject of two Off-Broadway revues, "Starting Here, Starting Now" (1977) and "Closer Than Ever" (1989). They have also written the scores for two Broadway musicals "Baby" (1983) and "Big" (1996), both of which earned them Tony Award nominations.