Lorenz Milton Hart

Lorenz Milton Hart 1895-1943, American lyricist, b. New York City, studied at Columbia. Hart began collaborating with Richard Rodgers in 1919; their initial success was The Garrick Gaieties (1925). Thereafter, the team of Rodgers and Hart produced such popular musicals as Connecticut Yankee (1927), The Boys from Syracuse (1938), Pal Joey (1940), and By Jupiter (1942). Their many famous songs include "Manhattan," "Blue Moon," and "The Lady Is a Tramp." Hart was noted for his witty, literate, but always expressive lyrics; his rhymes were distinctly original. He was the first popular-song lyricist to receive equal billing with the composer.

Bibliography: See D. Hart and R. Kimball, ed., The Complete Lyrics of Lorenz Hart (1986, rev. ed. 1995); F. Nolan, Lorenz Hart: A Poet on Broadway (1994).

Hart, Lorenz [Milton] (1895–1943), lyricist. Born in New York, he was educated at Columbia, where he wrote lyrics for college shows. Hart left college to accept a job as translator for the Messrs. Shubert, then Broadway first heard his lyrics when Lew Fields interpolated “Any Old Place with You” in A Lonely Romeo (1919). Working with composer Richard Rodgers, the team had songs heard in Poor Little Ritz Girl (1920) but did not find recognition until the 1925 and 1926 editions of the Garrick Gaieties, introducing such hits as “Manhattan” and “Mountain Greenery.” Subsequent successes included Dearest Enemy (1925), The Girl Friend (1926), Peggy‐Ann (1926), A Connecticut Yankee (1927), Present Arms (1928), Spring Is Here (1929), and Simple Simon (1930). After a stint in Hollywood, Rodgers and Hart returned to New York to create a series of even more memorable shows: Jumbo (1935), On Your Toes (1936), Babes in Arms (1937), I'd Rather Be Right (1937), I Married an Angel (1938), The Boys from Syracuse (1938), Too Many Girls (1939), Higher and Higher (1940), Pal Joey (1940), and By Jupiter (1942). Hart also collaborated on the books for On Your Toes, Babes in Arms, and I Married an Angel. He was a master at polysyllabic and internal rhymes and at innovative lyric forms. His work was pervaded with his essentially misanthropic view of the world. Although personal problems, especially alcoholism, beset his later years, Hart's gifts never waned. His lyric for “To Keep My Love Alive,” which was added to the 1943 revival of A Connecticut Yankee just before his death, was the equal in wit and style to anything he had written earlier. Biography: Lorenz Hart: A Poet on Broadway, Frederick Nolan, 1994.