Frank Loesser
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Notes
There is an official Web site located at www.frankloesser.com
Biography
Prolific Hollywood wordsmith turned tunesmith who crossed over from Tin Pan Alley to Shubert Alley. As a Hollywood songwriter during the 1930s and 40s, Loesser penned the breezy lyrics for such standards as "The Boys in the Backroom" (with composer Frederick Hollander), "Small Fry" and "Two Sleepy People" (with Hoagy Carmichael), "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" (with Jule Styne) and "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" (with Arthur Schwartz). On Broadway from the late 1940s through the 60s, he displayed a knack for conveying characters and their vernacular by writing both the clever words and tuneful music for classic shows of Broadway's golden age: the 1948 Ray Bolger vehicle "Where's Charley" (filmed in 1952), the colorful 1950 Damon Runyon gambling fantasy, "Guys and Dolls" (filmed in 1955), and the Pulitzer prize-winning satire "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (1967).
Loesser's musicals which did not make it to Hollywood include the near-operatic "The Most Happy Fella" (1956) and the whimsical "Greenwillow" (1960). One his richest scores was an original musical written directly for film, the charming fictional biography "Hans Christian Anderson" (1952) which introduced such classics as "Thumbelina," "Anywhere I Wander" and "Wonderful Copenhagen."
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Writer (Special)
Music (Special)
Special Thanks (Special)
Music (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1931
First published lyric, for pop song "In Love With the Memory of You" (music by William Schuman)
1934
First hit song, "I Wish I Were Twins" (music by Joseph Meyer and Edgar De Lange)
1936
Contributed lyrics to Broadway revue, "The Illustrators Show" (music by Irving Actman), show ran only five performances
1937
Went to Hollywood; wrote first song, "The Moon of Manakoora" (music by Alfred Newman) which Dorothy Lamour sang in "The Hurricane"
1941
Wrote lyrics for song, "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle" for Paramount film, "Forest Rangers" (composer Joe Lilley)
1941
Composed music for first time for song, "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" after which he enlisted in the Army
1948
Wrote first Broadway score (both words and music) for "Where's Charley?"
1949
Film acting debut, as Hair-Do Lempke, a piano-loving racketeer in "Red, Hot and Blue" (also wrote songs)
1950
Formed Frank Music publishing company (date approximate)
1956
Co-wrote first libretto for "The Most Happy Fella" (also wrote music and lyrics)
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
There is an official Web site located at www.frankloesser.com