Bob Merrill
Encyclopedia
Bob Merrill was an American
songwriter
, theatrical
composer
, lyricist
, and screenwriter
.
Merrill was born Henry Merrill Levan in Atlantic City, New Jersey
and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. Following a stint with the Army
during World War II
, he moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a dialogue director for Columbia Pictures
. He began his songwriting career writing tunes for Dorothy Shay
. One of his first major hits was the 1950 novelty song
"If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake
", co-written with Al Hoffman
and Clem Watts and recorded by Eileen Barton. He also co-wrote the 1950 Moon Mullican
country song "You Don't Have To Be a Baby To Cry".
His three most famous songs were "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?
", a hit for Patti Page
, "Mambo Italiano
" recorded by Rosemary Clooney, and "The Kid's Last Fight
" recorded by Frankie Laine
.
Merrill wrote a string of chart hits including "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania"
, "Love Makes the World Go 'Round"
, and "Honeycomb"
, as recorded by Jimmy Rodgers. In addition, he wrote "Tina Marie
" for Perry Como and "Make Yourself Comfortable" as recorded by Sarah Vaughan.
Guy Mitchell
recorded many of Merrill's songs including "Sparrow in the Tree Top", She Wears Red Feathers
, and "My Truly, Truly Fair
".
Merrill made his Broadway
debut in 1957 with New Girl in Town
, a musical adaptation of Eugene O'Neill
's Anna Christie
. His greatest theatrical success was the Barbra Streisand
vehicle Funny Girl, which introduced the standard
"People" and "Don't Rain on My Parade
". When the stage show was adapted for the screen, he and songwriting partner Jule Styne
were asked to write a title tune, which eventually garnered them both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Song entitled "Funny Girl
". Producer David Merrick
employed Merrill to write additional songs for the musical Hello, Dolly/ Merrill contributed two songs, "Motherhood March" and "Elegance", and some additional lyrics to Jerry Herman
's It Takes a Woman . Merrill did not accept billing or credit for his additions to the score.
Merrill's other Broadway credits include Take Me Along
(1959), Carnival!
(1961), Breakfast at Tiffany's
(1966), Henry, Sweet Henry
(1967), Sugar
(1972) (reworked as Some Like It Hot for a 1992 production in London's West End
starring Tommy Steele
and a 2002-03 United States
national tour starring Tony Curtis
as Osgood Fielding, Jr.), and The Red Shoes
(1993). He also wrote the book and lyrics for the Angela Lansbury
vehicle Prettybelle
(1971) and the music and lyrics for the Robert Preston musical The Prince of Grand Street (1978), both of which closed during their Boston
tryouts. He was nominated for the Tony Award
eight times, but never won.
Merrill's screenwriting credits include Mahogany
(1975), W.C. Fields and Me
(1976), and the television movie
s Portrait of a Showgirl (1982) and The Animated Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1998).
Among Merrill's television
credits were two holiday specials, the classic Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol and The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood, written specifically for Liza Minnelli
.
He is the second most successful songwriter of the 1950s on the U.K. charts.
Merrill became progressively ill in the mid-1990s and took his own life on February 17, 1998 at the age of 76.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, theatrical
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
, and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
.
Merrill was born Henry Merrill Levan in Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. Following a stint with the Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a dialogue director for Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. He began his songwriting career writing tunes for Dorothy Shay
Dorothy Shay
Dorothy Shay was an American popular comedic recording artist in the late 1940s and early 1950s, who later became a character actress. She was known as the "Park Avenue Hillbillie."-Early life:...
. One of his first major hits was the 1950 novelty song
Novelty song
A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...
"If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake
If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake
"If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake" is a popular song written by Al Hoffman, Bob Merrill, and Clem Watts and published in 1950.The big hit version in 1950 was recorded by Eileen Barton in January 1950. The recording was released by National Records as catalog number 9103...
", co-written with Al Hoffman
Al Hoffman
Al Hoffman , a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame since 1984, was a hit songwriter active in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, usually co-writing with others and responsible for number one hits through each decade, many of which are still sung and recorded today...
and Clem Watts and recorded by Eileen Barton. He also co-wrote the 1950 Moon Mullican
Moon Mullican
Aubrey Wilson Mullican , known as Moon Mullican, was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and pianist. However, he also sang and played jazz, rock 'n' roll and the blues...
country song "You Don't Have To Be a Baby To Cry".
His three most famous songs were "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?
(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?
" That Doggie in the Window?" is a popular novelty song written by Bob Merrill and Ingrid Reuterskiöld in 1952. The best-known version of the song was recorded by Patti Page on December 18, 1952 and released by Mercury Records as catalog number 70070, with the flip side being "My Jealous Eyes". It...
", a hit for Patti Page
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
, "Mambo Italiano
Mambo Italiano (song)
"Mambo Italiano" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill in 1954 and recorded by Rosemary Clooney. Merrill actually wrote it on deadline, scribbled hastily on a paper napkin in an Italian restaurant in New York, United States using the wall pay-phone to dictate the melody, rhythm and lyrics to the...
" recorded by Rosemary Clooney, and "The Kid's Last Fight
The Kid's Last Fight
The Kid's Last Fight was a song written by Bob Merrill and first recorded by Frankie Laine in the early 1950s at Columbia Records. The recording by Laine reached #20 on the Billboard charts.The song was eventually covered by The Statler Brothers for their 10th Anniversary album, released in 1980 on...
" recorded by Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
.
Merrill wrote a string of chart hits including "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania"
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (song)
"Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill in 1952.The best known version was recorded by Guy Mitchell on January 15, 1952...
, "Love Makes the World Go 'Round"
Love Makes the World Go 'Round (1961 song)
"Love Makes the World Go 'Round" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill for the 1961 for the musical Carnival! which debuted on Broadway in 1961....
, and "Honeycomb"
Honeycomb (song)
"Honeycomb" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill in 1954. The best-selling version was recorded by Jimmie Rodgers and charted at number one on the Billboard Top 100 in 1957. "Honeycomb" also reached number one on the R&B Best Sellers chart and number seven on the Country & Western Best Sellers...
, as recorded by Jimmy Rodgers. In addition, he wrote "Tina Marie
Tina Marie
"Teena Marie" is a popular song. It was written by Bob Merrill and was published in 1955.This record reached position #5 on the Billboard chart.deOn June 21, 1955, Perry Como recorded the song...
" for Perry Como and "Make Yourself Comfortable" as recorded by Sarah Vaughan.
Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell, born Albert George Cernik, was an American pop singer, successful in his homeland, the U.K. and Australia...
recorded many of Merrill's songs including "Sparrow in the Tree Top", She Wears Red Feathers
She Wears Red Feathers
"She Wears Red Feathers" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill in 1952....
, and "My Truly, Truly Fair
My Truly, Truly Fair
"My Truly, Truly Fair" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill. It was published in 1951. The song was one of a number of Bob Merrill songs popularized by Guy Mitchell. Mitchell recorded it with Mitch Miller and his orchestra on April 30, 1951. The song was released by Columbia Records as catalog...
".
Merrill made his Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut in 1957 with New Girl in Town
New Girl in Town
New Girl in Town is a musical with a book by George Abbott and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill based on Eugene O'Neill's 1921 gloomy play Anna Christie, about a prostitute who tries to live down her past. New Girl, unlike O'Neill's play, focuses on the jealousy of the character Marthy and on...
, a musical adaptation of Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
's Anna Christie
Anna Christie
Anna Christie is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his work.-Plot summary:...
. His greatest theatrical success was the Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
vehicle Funny Girl, which introduced the standard
Traditional pop music
Traditional pop or classic pop or standards music denotes, in general, Western popular music that either wholly predates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s, or to any popular music which exists concurrently to rock and roll but originated in a time before the appearance of rock and roll,...
"People" and "Don't Rain on My Parade
Don't Rain on My Parade
"Don't Rain On My Parade" is a popular song from the 1964 musical Funny Girl. It was also featured in the 1968 movie version of the musical. The song was written by Bob Merrill and Jule Styne. Both the movie and stage versions feature Barbra Streisand performing the song. It has since become one of...
". When the stage show was adapted for the screen, he and songwriting partner Jule Styne
Jule Styne
Jule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...
were asked to write a title tune, which eventually garnered them both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Song entitled "Funny Girl
Funny Girl
Funny Girl is a musical with a book by Isobel Lennart, music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The semi-biographical plot is based on the life and career of Broadway, film star and comedienne Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein...
". Producer David Merrick
David Merrick
David Merrick was a prolific Tony Award-winning American theatrical producer.-Life and career:Born David Lee Margulois to Jewish parents in St. Louis, Missouri, Merrick graduated from Washington University, then studied law at the Jesuit-run Saint Louis University School of Law...
employed Merrill to write additional songs for the musical Hello, Dolly/ Merrill contributed two songs, "Motherhood March" and "Elegance", and some additional lyrics to Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman is an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway musical theater. He composed the scores for the hit Broadway musicals Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage aux Folles. He has been nominated for the Tony Award five times, and won twice, for Hello, Dolly! and La Cage...
's It Takes a Woman . Merrill did not accept billing or credit for his additions to the score.
Merrill's other Broadway credits include Take Me Along
Take Me Along
Take Me Along is a musical based on the Eugene O'Neill play Ah, Wilderness, with music and lyrics by Bob Merrill and book by Joseph Stein and Robert Russell.-Background:...
(1959), Carnival!
Carnival!
Carnival is a 1961 musical with the book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The musical is based on the 1953 film Lili.-Background:...
(1961), Breakfast at Tiffany's
Breakfast at Tiffany's (musical)
Breakfast at Tiffany's is a legendary flop in Broadway musical history. The musical is based on the Truman Capote novella and 1961 film of the same name about a free spirit named Holly Golightly...
(1966), Henry, Sweet Henry
Henry, Sweet Henry
Henry, Sweet Henry is a musical with a book by Nunnally Johnson and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill.Based on the novel The World of Henry Orient by Johnson's daughter Nora and the subsequent film of the same name, the plot focuses on Valerie and Marian, two wealthy, love-struck teenagers who stalk...
(1967), Sugar
Sugar (musical)
Sugar is a musical with a book by Peter Stone, music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Bob Merrill. It is based on the film Some Like It Hot, which was adapted by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond from a story by Robert Thoeren and Michael Logan...
(1972) (reworked as Some Like It Hot for a 1992 production in London's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
starring Tommy Steele
Tommy Steele
Tommy Steele OBE , is an English entertainer. Steele is widely regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star.-Singer:...
and a 2002-03 United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
national tour starring Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
as Osgood Fielding, Jr.), and The Red Shoes
The Red Shoes (musical)
The Red Shoes is a musical with a book by Marsha Norman, lyrics by Norman and Bob Merrill and music by Jule Styne...
(1993). He also wrote the book and lyrics for the Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
vehicle Prettybelle
Prettybelle
Prettybelle is a musical with a book and lyrics by Bob Merrill and music by Jule Styne.Adapted from the Jean Arnold novel of the same name, its central character is a Southern woman who, long abused by her recently deceased law officer husband, turns to alcohol for comfort, becomes a nymphomaniac...
(1971) and the music and lyrics for the Robert Preston musical The Prince of Grand Street (1978), both of which closed during their Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
tryouts. He was nominated for the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
eight times, but never won.
Merrill's screenwriting credits include Mahogany
Mahogany (1975 film)
Mahogany is a 1975 feature film, produced by Motown Productions and released to theaters by Paramount Pictures on October 8, 1975. Directed by Motown founder Berry Gordy , Mahogany stars Diana Ross as Tracy Chambers, a poor African-American woman who rises to become a popular fashion designer in Rome...
(1975), W.C. Fields and Me
W.C. Fields and Me
W.C. Fields and Me is a 1976 American biographical film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Rod Steiger and Valerie Perrine. The screenplay by Bob Merrill is based on a memoir by Carlotta Monti, mistress of W.C. Fields for the last 14 years of his life....
(1976), and the television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
s Portrait of a Showgirl (1982) and The Animated Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1998).
Among Merrill's television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
credits were two holiday specials, the classic Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol and The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood, written specifically for Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
.
He is the second most successful songwriter of the 1950s on the U.K. charts.
Merrill became progressively ill in the mid-1990s and took his own life on February 17, 1998 at the age of 76.
Compositions recorded by Guy Mitchell
- Chicka BoomChicka Boom"Chicka Boom" is a popular song was written by Bob Merrill. The song was published in 1953. It appeared in the 1953 movie, Those Redheads From Seattle....
- Feet Up (Pat Him on the Po-Po)Feet Up (Pat Him on the Po-Po)"Feet Up " is a popular song written by Bob Merrill in 1952. Its best-known version was recorded by Guy Mitchell in 1952. The song reached #18 on the Cashbox charts in August 1952...
- Look At That GirlLook at That Girl"Look at That Girl" is a 1953 popular song. It was written by Bob Merrill and produced by Mitch Miller. The song was recorded by Guy Mitchell and it gave him his second #1 hit on the UK Singles Chart where it spent six weeks at the top....
- My Truly, Truly FairMy Truly, Truly Fair"My Truly, Truly Fair" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill. It was published in 1951. The song was one of a number of Bob Merrill songs popularized by Guy Mitchell. Mitchell recorded it with Mitch Miller and his orchestra on April 30, 1951. The song was released by Columbia Records as catalog...
- Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh, Pennsylvania (song)"Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill in 1952.The best known version was recorded by Guy Mitchell on January 15, 1952...
- She Wears Red FeathersShe Wears Red Feathers"She Wears Red Feathers" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill in 1952....
- Sparrow in the TreetopSparrow in the Treetop"Sparrow in the Treetop" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill. The song was published in 1951.Charting versions of the song were made by Guy Mitchell , Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters , and Rex Allen...