Jule Styne was a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-born
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
songwriterA 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...
especially famous for a series of
BroadwayBroadway 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...
musicalsMusical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.
Early life
Styne was born in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
as
Julius Kerwin Stein of Jewish immigrants from
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. At the age of eight he moved with his family to
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where at an early age he began taking
pianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
lessons. He proved to be a
prodigyA child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
and performed with the Chicago,
St. LouisSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, and
DetroitDetroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
Symphonies before he was ten years old.
Career
Styne attended Chicago Musical College, but before then he had already attracted attention of another teenager,
Mike ToddMichael Todd was an American theatre and film producer, best known for his 1956 production of Around the World in Eighty Days, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture...
, later a successful film producer, who commissioned him to write a song for a musical act that he was creating. It would be the first of over 1,500 published songs Styne would compose in his career.
Styne established his own dance band, which brought him to the notice of Hollywood, where he was championed by
Frank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and where he began a collaboration with lyricist
Sammy CahnSammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
, with whom he wrote many songs for the movies, including "It's Been a Long, Long Time," "Five Minutes More," and the Oscar-winning "
Three Coins in the Fountain"Three Coins in the Fountain" is a popular song which received the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1954.The melody was written by Jule Styne, the lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was written for the romance film, Three Coins in the Fountain and refers to the act of throwing a coin into the Trevi...
". He collaborated on the score for the 1955 musical film
My Sister EileenMy Sister Eileen originated as a series of short stories by Ruth McKenney that eventually evolved into a book, a play, a musical, a radio play , two films, and a CBS television series in the 1960-1961 season....
with
Leo RobinLeo Robin was an American composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Oscar-winning song "Thanks for the Memory," sung by Bob Hope in the film The Big Broadcast of 1938.-Biography:Robin was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and...
. Ten of his songs were nominated for the Oscar, many written with Cahn, including "
I've Heard That Song Before"I've Heard That Song Before" is a 1942 popular song with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was introduced by Martha O'Driscoll in the 1942 film Youth on Parade....
" (#1 for 13 weeks for
Harry JamesHenry Haag “Harry” James was a trumpeter who led a jazz swing band during the Big Band Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.-Biography:He was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a...
and his orchestra in 1943), "
I'll Walk Alone"I'll Walk Alone" is a 1944 popular song with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. The song, like others that came out during the World War II years such as "Till Then," reflects the enforced separation of couples caused by the war...
", "
It's Magic"It's Magic" is a popular song.The music was written by Jule Styne, the lyrics by Sammy Cahn. The song was introduced by Doris Day in her film debut, Romance on the High Seas, and was published in 1947....
", and "
I Fall in Love Too Easily"I Fall in Love Too Easily" is a 1944 song composed by Jule Styne with lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was introduced by Frank Sinatra in the 1945 film Anchors Aweigh...
".
In 1947, Styne wrote his first score for a
BroadwayBroadway 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...
musical,
High Button ShoesHigh Button Shoes is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sammy Cahn and book by George Abbott and Stephen Longstreet. It was based on the semi-autobiographical 1946 novel The Sisters Liked Them Handsome by Longstreet...
with Cahn, and over the next several decades wrote the scores for many Broadway shows, most notably
Gentlemen Prefer BlondesGentlemen Prefer Blondes is a musical with a book by Joseph Fields and Anita Loos, lyrics by Leo Robin, and music by Jule Styne, based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Loos...
,
Peter PanPeter Pan is a musical adaptation of J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan and Barrie's own novelization of it, Peter and Wendy. The music is mostly by Mark "Moose" Charlap, with additional music by Jule Styne, and most of the lyrics were written by Carolyn Leigh, with additional lyrics by Betty...
(additional music),
Bells Are RingingBells Are Ringing is a musical with a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne. The story revolves around Ella, who works at an answering service and the characters that she meets there. The main character was based on Mary Printz, who worked for Green's answering...
,
GypsyGypsy is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Gypsy is loosely based on the 1957 memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous striptease artist, and focuses on her mother, Rose, whose name has become synonymous with "the ultimate show business...
,
Do Re MiDo Re Mi is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and a book by Garson Kanin, who also directed the original 1960 Broadway production. The plot centers on a minor-league con man who decides to go straight by going into the business of juke boxes and music...
,
Funny Girl,
SugarSugar 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...
(with a story based on the movie
Some Like It HotSome Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I....
, but all new music), and the Tony-winning
Hallelujah, Baby!Hallelujah, Baby! is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Adolph Green and Betty Comden, and a book by Arthur Laurents. The show is "a musical chronicle of the African American struggle for equality during the [first half of the] 20th century."...
.
His collaborators included, among others,
Sammy CahnSammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
,
Leo RobinLeo Robin was an American composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Oscar-winning song "Thanks for the Memory," sung by Bob Hope in the film The Big Broadcast of 1938.-Biography:Robin was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and...
,
Betty ComdenBetty Comden was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, libretti, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century...
and
Adolph GreenAdolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...
,
Stephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
, and
Bob MerrillBob 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...
.
Styne wrote original music for the short-lived, themed
amusement parkthumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
Freedomland U.S.A.Freedomland U.S.A. was a short-lived, U.S. history-themed amusement park in the Baychester area in the northeastern part of the Borough of The Bronx, New York City. Its slogan was "The World's Largest Entertainment Center" .Freedomland opened on June 19, 1960...
which opened on June 19, 1960.
Styne was elected to the
Songwriters Hall of FameThe Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...
in 1972 and the
American Theatre Hall of FameThe American Theatre Hall of Fame in New York City was founded in 1972. Earl Blackwell was the first head of the Executive Committee. In an announcement at a luncheon meeting on March 1972, he said that the new Theater Hall of Fame would be located in the Uris Theatre . James M...
in 1981, and he was a recipient of a
Drama Desk Special AwardThe Drama Desk Special Award is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee comprising New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors. It is a non-competitive award that honors an individual or an organization that has made a significant contribution to Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway,...
and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1990.
Songs
A selection of the many songs that Styne wrote:
- "The Christmas Waltz"
- "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...
"
- "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend
"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" is a song introduced by Carol Channing in the original Broadway production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , which was written by Jule Styne and Leo Robin...
"
- "Everything's Coming Up Roses
"Everything's Coming Up Roses" is a song from the 1959 Broadway musical Gypsy: A Musical Fable, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and music by Jule Styne in which it was introduced by Ethel Merman....
"
- "Every Street's a Boulevard in Old New York"
- "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry
"Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" is a 1945 song, with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was introduced on stage by film star Jane Withers in the 1944 flop, Glad to See You, which closed in Philadelphia and never made it to Broadway...
"
- "How Do You Speak To An Angel"
- "I Fall In Love Too Easily"
- "I Still Get Jealous"
- "I've Heard That Song Before
"I've Heard That Song Before" is a 1942 popular song with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was introduced by Martha O'Driscoll in the 1942 film Youth on Parade....
"
- "Just In Time
"Just in Time" is a popular song with the melody written by Jule Styne and the lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. The song was published in 1956....
"
- "Let Me Entertain You"
- "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"
- "Long Before I Knew You"
- "Make Someone Happy"
- "Neverland"
- "Papa, Wont You Dance with Me?"
- "The Party's Over
"The Party's Over" is a popular song composed by Jule Styne with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. It was introduced in the 1956 musical comedy Bells Are Ringing by Judy Holliday. Nat King Cole, Smoking Popes and Lonnie Donegan recorded popular versions. Shirley Bassey recorded the song for...
"
- "People"
- "Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week)
"Saturday Night " is a popular song.The music was written by Jule Styne, the lyrics by Sammy Cahn. The song was published in 1944....
" sung by Frank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
- "Sunday" with Ned Miller
Nathan 'Ned' Miller was a British-born American songwriter, composer, music publisher, and actor who wrote the hit songs, "Why Should I Cry Over You", in 1922, "Sunday" in 1926, and "Little Joe" in 1931...
- "Time After Time
"Time After Time" is a jazz standard written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne in 1947.It was introduced by Frank Sinatra in the film It Happened in Brooklyn.-Cover versions:...
"
Credits
- Ice Capades of 1943 (1942) - Styne contributed one song
- Glad to See You! (1944) - closed in Philadelphia PA during tryout
- High Button Shoes
High Button Shoes is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sammy Cahn and book by George Abbott and Stephen Longstreet. It was based on the semi-autobiographical 1946 novel The Sisters Liked Them Handsome by Longstreet...
(1947)
- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a musical with a book by Joseph Fields and Anita Loos, lyrics by Leo Robin, and music by Jule Styne, based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Loos...
(1949)
- Michael Todd's Peep Show (1950) - Styne contributed 2 numbers
- Two on the Aisle
Two on the Aisle is a musical revue with a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne.The project marked Comden and Green's return to Broadway following their successful reign at MGM and their first teaming with composer Styne...
(1951)
- Hazel Flagg
Hazel Flagg is a musical with a book by Ben Hecht, lyrics by Bob Hilliard, and music by Jule Styne. The musical is based on the 1937 screwball comedy film Nothing Sacred...
(1953)
- Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a musical adaptation of J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan and Barrie's own novelization of it, Peter and Wendy. The music is mostly by Mark "Moose" Charlap, with additional music by Jule Styne, and most of the lyrics were written by Carolyn Leigh, with additional lyrics by Betty...
(1954) (additional music)
- My Sister Eileen
My Sister Eileen is a 1955 American CinemaScope musical film directed by Richard Quine. It stars Janet Leigh, Betty Garrett and Jack Lemmon....
(1955)
- Bells Are Ringing
Bells Are Ringing is a musical with a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne. The story revolves around Ella, who works at an answering service and the characters that she meets there. The main character was based on Mary Printz, who worked for Green's answering...
(1956)
- Say, Darling
Say, Darling is a three-act comic play by Abe Burrows and Marian and Richard Bissell about the creation of a Broadway musical. Although the play featured nine original songs with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne, all of the songs were presented as either rehearsal or...
(1958)
- Gypsy
Gypsy is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Gypsy is loosely based on the 1957 memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous striptease artist, and focuses on her mother, Rose, whose name has become synonymous with "the ultimate show business...
(1959)
- Do Re Mi
Do Re Mi is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and a book by Garson Kanin, who also directed the original 1960 Broadway production. The plot centers on a minor-league con man who decides to go straight by going into the business of juke boxes and music...
(1960)
- Subways Are For Sleeping
Subways Are for Sleeping is a musical with a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne. The original Broadway production played in 1961-62....
(1961)
- Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol
Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol is a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous short story A Christmas Carol starring the character Mr. Magoo...
(1962)
- Arturo Ui (1963) - Styne contributed incidental music to this Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
play
- Funny Girl (1964)
- Wonderworld
Wonderworld is a musical with lyrics by Stanley Styne and music by Jule Styne written specifically for presentation at the 1964 New York World's Fair's huge 11,000-seat amphitheatre. The large-scale "aqua-stage spectacle" used 250 performers and starred Chita Rivera...
(1964) - lyrics by Styne's son, Stanley
- Fade Out - Fade In
Fade Out - Fade In is a musical with a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne. The story involves the movie industry in the 1930s...
(1964)
- Something More!
Something More! is a musical with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Marilyn Bergman and Alan Bergman. The book by Nate Monaster is based on the 1962 novel Portofino P.T.A. by Gerald Green...
(1964) -directed by Styne
- The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood (1965)
- Hallelujah, Baby!
Hallelujah, Baby! is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Adolph Green and Betty Comden, and a book by Arthur Laurents. The show is "a musical chronicle of the African American struggle for equality during the [first half of the] 20th century."...
(1967)
- Darling of the Day
Darling of the Day is a musical with a book by Nunnally Johnson, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, and music by Jule Styne. It is based on Arnold Bennett's novel Buried Alive and his play The Great Adventure...
(1968)
- Look to the Lilies
Look to the Lilies is a musical with a book by Leonard Spigelgass, lyrics by Sammy Cahn, and music by Jule Styne.Based on the novel and 1963 film Lilies of the Field, it tells the story of an impoverished group of German nuns, headed by dauntless Mother Superior Maria, who coerce on-the-lam African...
(1970)
- The Night the Animals Talked
The Night the Animals Talked is an animated children's Christmas special first shown on ABC television on December 9, 1970. It was broadcast only four times on ABC, from 1970 through 1973.-Production notes:...
(1970)
- 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) - closed in Boston
- Sugar
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)
- Lorelei
Lorelei is a musical with a book by Kenny Solms and Gail Parent, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and music by Jule Styne. It is a revision of the Joseph Fields-Anita Loos book for the 1949 production Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and includes many of the Jule Styne-Leo Robin songs written for...
(1974) - essentially a sequel/revival of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
- Hellzapoppin'! (1976) - closed in Baltimore during pre-Broadway tryout
- Bar Mitzvah Boy
Bar Mitzvah Boy is a musical with a book by Jack Rosenthal, lyrics by Don Black, and music by Jule Styne.Based on Rosenthal's award-winning 1976 BBC1 teleplay of the same name, it focuses on young Eliot Green who, filled with apprehension, escapes from the synagogue where he is about to make his...
(1978)
- One Night Stand
One Night Stand is a musical with a book and lyrics by Herb Gardner and music by Jule Styne. Its plot centers on a songwriter who feels he's past his prime....
(1980) - closed during preview period
- Pieces of Eight (1985)
- The Red Shoes
The Red Shoes is a musical with a book by Marsha Norman, lyrics by Norman and Bob Merrill and music by Jule Styne...
(1993)
External links