Find more facts and information on our topic page about
Frank Loesser
Loesser, Frank (Henry)
The Oxford Companion to American Theatre
|
2004
|
|
© The Oxford Companion to American Theatre 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information)
Copyright
Loesser, Frank [Henry] (1910–69), composer and lyricist. Although he was born into a musical New York family, his father, a piano teacher, disapproved of popular music, so young Loesser was largely self‐taught. His earliest professional work was writing lyrics and sketches for vaudeville and radio, and Broadway first heard of him solely as a lyricist when he set words to some Irving Actman melodies for
The Illustrators' Show (1936). By the time he returned to the theatre in 1948 as both composer and lyricist for
Where's Charley?, he had long since established himself as a songwriter in films and what was left of Tin Pan Alley. The versatile songwriter provided colorful, urban numbers for
Guys and Dolls (1950); Italianate opera melodies and brassy Broadway ditties for
The Most Happy Fella (1956); delicate, rural songs for
Greenwillow (1960); and sassy, satirical musical numbers for
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961). In a trade notoriously jealous of its fame and success, Loesser was known for his generosity to other songwriters and gave important boosts to the Broadway careers of Richard Adler, Jerry
Ross, and Meredith
Willson. Biography:
A Most Remarkable Fella, Susan Loesser (his daughter), 1993.
Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.
|
Jo Sullivan Loesser On Her 'Guy', Frank Loesser
Transcript from: NPR Fresh Air; 3/6/2009; ; 700+ words
; ...BIANCULLI NPR Fresh Air 03-06-2009 Jo Sullivan Loesser On Her 'Guy', Frank Loesser Host: DAVID BIANCULLI Time 12:00-13:00...GROSS: Me too. Let's hear it. This is Frank Loesser singing one of his songs from "Guys and Dolls...
|
|
Wall to Wall Frank Loesser, CBS
Transcript from: CBS News Sunday Morning; 4/18/1999; ; 700+ words
; ...Stephen Sondheim, and the great Frank Loesser. Yes, Frank Loesser, whose musical legacy was honored...Moss Hart, collaborated with Frank Loesser on the film Hans Christian...two performers who know Frank Loesser's work best of all, his daughter...
|
 "Weekend Edition - Saturday (NPR)")
|
American songwriter Frank Loesser, who composed the score for `Guys and Dolls,'...
Transcript from: Weekend Edition - Saturday (NPR); 2/27/1993; 700+ words
; ...STAMBERG: And the man who set them all to music was Frank Loesser. FRANK LOESSER: [From a recording, sings] `For the people...fun to listen to. Mrs. Loesser, you married Frank Loesser during the run of Most Happy Fella. You were the...
|
|
The 'Heart and Soul' of Frank Loesser
Transcript from: NPR Weekend Edition - Saturday; 12/2/2006; ; 700+ words
; ...Heart and Soul' of Frank Loesser Time 12:00-13:00...SIMON, host: Frank Loesser was once called Cole...A documentary about Frank Loesser will debut on...SUSAN LOESSER (Frank Loesser's Daughter): My pleasure...
|
 "Portland Press Herald (Maine)")
|
A WORLD PREMIERE ; Bowdoin's Pickard Theater will showcase Frank Loesser's lyrics
Newspaper article from: Portland Press Herald (Maine); 6/4/2003; ; 700+ words
; ...Pickard Theater will showcase Frank Loesser's lyrics Byline: BOB KEYES...time, and that is the music of Frank Loesser's 'Hans Christian Andersen...just the beginning." Jo and Frank Loesser were married a decade. They met...
|
 "Albany Times Union (Albany, NY)")
|
BENEFIT CONCERT BRINGS BACK COMEDY OF FRANK LOESSER.(Local)
Newspaper article from: Albany Times Union (Albany, NY); 4/24/1990; 700+ words
; ...First Time," with her daughter, Emily Loesser. The daughter's last name is a key. Frank Loesser was her father and a man who represents...1940s and '50s. It will be these echoes of Loesser's music which Sullivan and her daughter...
|
 "The Record (Bergen County, NJ)")
|
Would Frank Loesser approve? Just ask his wife
Newspaper article from: The Record (Bergen County, NJ); 2/22/2009; ; 635 words
; ...County, NJ) 02-22-2009 Would Frank Loesser approve? Just ask his wife...Column: ONSTAGE Songwriter Frank Loesser died 40 years ago, but when one...the director knows he'll have a Loesser at his side. That would be Jo Sullivan...
|
|
Frank Loesser musical receives a resurrection
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 4/11/2004; 455 words
; ...WASHINGTON -- Composer and lyricist Frank Loesser, creator of the Broadway smash...when the Pulitzer Prize-winning Loesser died in 1969, received its world...Himself" is set in a Mexican town. Loesser based the book on a short story...
|
|
A Most Remarkable Fella: Frank Loesser and the Guys and Dolls in His Life. (book reviews)
Magazine article from: American Theatre; 1/1/1994; ; 700+ words
; ...the times than Coward or Porter. Frank Loesser, admired for a small number of...remembrance by his daughter, Susan Loesser, is the first biography devoted...his own output. By the time of Loesser's heydey in the '50s, Broadway...
|
|
Love Song; Frank Loesser's Widow Brings His Last Musical to Life at Arena Stage
Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 4/15/2004; ; 700+ words
; ...before she'd even met the great Frank Loesser. She got a job at Lord & Taylor...to lose the part of Rosabella in Loesser's "The Most Happy Fella" earlier...in the conversation, Jo Sullivan Loesser interrupts herself. "I'm just...
|
|
Loesser, Frank
Book article from: Contemporary Musicians
Frank Loesser Composer, lyricist First...When Broadway legend Frank Loesser died in 1969, he left behind...Daughter, Red, Hot And Blue (Loesser made his only on-screen...the late 1940s, he formed Frank Music Corp. through which...
|
|
Frank Loesser
Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of World Biography
Frank Loesser Frank Loesser (1910-1969) is one on America's major lyricists, having written...Business Without Really Trying. Precocious From the Start Francis Henry Loesser was born on June 29, 1910 in New York, New York. His father Henry...
|
|
Loesser, Frank (Henry)
Book article from: The Oxford Companion to American Theatre
Loesser, Frank [Henry] (1910–69), composer...disapproved of popular music, so young Loesser was largely self‐taught...notoriously jealous of its fame and success, Loesser was known for his generosity to other...
|
|
Theater: Musicals
Book article from: American Decades
...the last decade of the century. Frank Loesser's Guys and Dolls had a three...were also profitable revivals of Loesser's How To Succeed in Business Without...Mary Phagan and the arrest of Leo Frank, manager of the pencil factory where...
|
|
|
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Book article from: The Oxford Companion to American Theatre
...Burrows , Jack Weinstock, Willie Gilbert (book), Frank Loesser (music, lyrics). [46th Street Theatre, 1,417...gay and exhilarating evening.” It was Loesser's last show; and it made Morse a Broadway star...
|
