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29-732: Arthur Schwartz (November 25, 1900 – September 3, 1984) was an American composer and film producer, widely noted for his songwriting collaborations with Howard Dietz . Schwartz was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn , New York City, on November 25, 1900. He taught himself to play the harmonica and piano as a child, and began playing for silent films at age 14. He earned a B.A. in English at New York University and an M.A. in Architecture at Columbia . Forced by his father, an attorney, to study law, Schwartz graduated from NYU Law School with

58-650: A Broadway show, The New Yorkers (March 10, 1927). By 1928, he had closed his law office and convinced Dietz to write with him. Their first songs together were used in the Broadway revue The Little Show (April 30, 1929) and included "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan", which belatedly became a hit three years later when it was recorded by Rudy Vallée . Schwartz's career was launched, and in 1930 he contributed songs to six shows, three in London and three in New York,

87-694: A Juris Doctor and was admitted to the bar in 1924. While studying law, he supported himself by teaching English in the New York school system. He also worked on songwriting concurrently with his studies and published his first song ("Baltimore, Md., You're the Only Doctor for Me", with lyrics by Eli Dawson) by 1923. Acquaintances such as Lorenz Hart and George Gershwin encouraged him to stick with composing. He attempted to convince Howard Dietz , an MGM publicist who had collaborated with Jerome Kern , to work with him, but Dietz initially declined. As Artist Direct documents: Schwartz placed his first songs in

116-464: A professional songwriter took off in 1928 when Jimmy McHugh , who had seen some of her early work, invited her to provide some lyrics for him for Blackbirds of 1928 . The show, starring Adelaide Hall , became a Broadway hit. Fields and McHugh teamed up until 1935. Songs from this period include " I Can't Give You Anything But Love " (1928), " Exactly Like You " (1930), and " On the Sunny Side of

145-403: A project before finally returning to her regular 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily work routine. Fields died of a heart attack on March 28, 1974, at the age of 69. The New York Times reported "Dorothy Fields, the versatile songwriter whose career spanned nearly 50 years, died of a heart attack last night at her home here." She was the sister of writers Herbert and Joseph Fields . She

174-533: Is a selection of songs composed by Arthur Schwartz. Howard Dietz Dietz was born in New York City . He attended Columbia College and then studied journalism at Columbia University . He also served as publicist/director of advertising for Goldwyn Pictures and later MGM and is often credited with creating Leo the Lion , its lion mascot, and choosing their slogan Ars Gratia Artis . In 1942, he

203-504: The 1940s, she teamed up with her brother Herbert Fields , with whom she wrote the books for three Cole Porter shows, Let's Face It! , Something for the Boys , and Mexican Hayride . In 1945, Fields approached Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II with her idea for a new musical based on the life of famous female sharpshooter Annie Oakley . They liked the idea and agreed to produce

232-431: The 1950s, her biggest success was the show Redhead (1959), which won five Tony Awards , including Best Musical. When she started collaborating with Cy Coleman in the 1960s, her career took a new turn. Their first work together was Sweet Charity . Her last hit was from their second collaboration in 1973, Seesaw . The show began on Broadway on March 18, 1973, and ended its run on December 8, 1973. Its signature song

261-740: The American musical theater, including Jerome Kern , Cy Coleman , Irving Berlin , and Jimmy McHugh . Along with Ann Ronell , Dana Suesse , Bernice Petkere , and Kay Swift , she was one of the first successful Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood female songwriters. Fields was born in Allenhurst, New Jersey , and grew up in New York City. In 1923, Fields graduated from the Benjamin School for Girls in New York City. At school, she

290-568: The Fields/Kern team an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. She wrote the lyrics for the songs in the 1936 movie The King Steps Out , based on the early years of Empress Elisabeth of Austria , directed by Josef von Sternberg . Fields returned to New York and worked again on Broadway shows, but now as a librettist, first with Arthur Schwartz on Stars In Your Eyes . (They reteamed in 1951 for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn .) In

319-499: The London Metropole, followed by further appearances in "Tell me More" at London's Winter Gardens and "The Whole Town's Talking" [1] [2] In 1926, Fields met the popular song composer J. Fred Coots , who proposed that the two begin writing songs together. Nothing actually came out of this interaction and introduction; however, Coots introduced Fields to another composer and song plugger, Jimmy McHugh. Fields's career as

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348-503: The Street " (1930). During the later 1920s, she and McHugh wrote specialty numbers for the various Cotton Club revues, many of which were recorded by Duke Ellington . In the mid-1930s, Fields started to write lyrics for films and collaborated with other composers, including Jerome Kern . With Kern, she worked on the movie version of Roberta and also on their greatest success, Swing Time . The song " The Way You Look Tonight " earned

377-720: The U.S. Treasury Department with the publicity and promotion of War Bonds , and created stage shows for the Coast Guard with composer Vernon Duke . Dietz saved copies of every document relating to his career, as well as relating to the publicity campaigns of every MGM film he publicized. After his death, this vast trove of artifacts was donated to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The archive on Dietz constitutes its single largest archive on any person or subject. In 1972, Howard Dietz

406-709: The first in 1944 for "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" in the film Thank Your Lucky Stars ; the second in 1948 for "A Gal in Calico" from the film The Time, the Place and the Girl . In 1972, Schwartz was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame . In 1981, he was inducted in 1981 into the American Theater Hall of Fame . In 1990, Schwartz's hit, "That's Entertainment" from the film The Band Wagon ,

435-450: The most influential theater producers of his time. From 1904 until 1916, he produced about 40 Broadway shows, and was nicknamed "The King of Musical Comedy" because of his achievements. Her mother was Rose Harris. She had two older brothers, Joseph and Herbert , who also became successful on Broadway: Joseph as a writer and producer and Herbert as a writer who later became Dorothy's collaborator. Despite her natural familial connections to

464-461: The most successful of which was Three's a Crowd (October 15, 1930), which featured the same cast as The Little Show and featured the hit "Something to Remember You By". Schwartz also started contributing songs to motion pictures, beginning with "I'm Afraid of You" (lyrics by Ralph Rainger and Edward Eliscu ) in Queen High (1930). Among other Broadway musicals for which Schwartz wrote

493-604: The music are: The Band Wagon (1931), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1951), By the Beautiful Sea (1954), The Gay Life (1961), and Jennie (1963). His films include the MGM musical The Band Wagon (1953) with lyrics by Dietz. Schwartz also worked as a producer, for Columbia Pictures . His work includes the musical Cover Girl (1944) and the Cole Porter biographical film Night and Day (1946). Schwartz

522-411: The show conjointly. Kern and Fields were signed on to write the songs in the show. Kern died before the two were able to begin working on the project, and Irving Berlin was hired to replace him. Together, she and her brother Herbert wrote the book for Annie Get Your Gun , while Berlin provided all the music. The show, starring Ethel Merman , was a huge success, running for 1,147 performances. In

551-452: The task of fitting lyrics to melodies. Fields' professional longevity was rare at the time for a songwriter; it was underpinned by her imagination and her willingness to adapt to changing trends in American musical theater. Fields is a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame , inducted posthumously in 1988. Fields had highly disciplined work habits. She was known to spend about eight weeks researching, discussing, and making notes on

580-623: The theatre via her father, he disapproved of her choice to pursue acting and did everything he could to prevent her from becoming a serious actress. This began when he refused to let her take a job with a stock company in Yonkers . Hence, Dorothy began working as a teacher and a laboratory assistant while secretly submitting work to magazines. Early in her career Fields appeared on stage with English actress and socialite Sylvia Ashley —who subsequently married Douglas Fairbanks Sr and Clark Gable —as "Silly and Dotty" in "Midnight Follies" at

609-399: Was "It's Not Where You Start, It's Where You Finish". Throughout her 48-year career, Fields cowrote more than 400 songs and worked on 15 stage musicals and 26 movies. Her lyrics were known for their strong characterization, clarity in language, and humor. She was an amateur pianist and a lifelong lover of classical music; the awareness of melodic lines that this fostered in her was of value in

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638-617: Was a member of the far-left terrorist organization Weather Underground ; Wilkerson's associates were assembling a bomb in the basement in 1970 when it exploded and destroyed the townhouse . Dietz married Tanis Guinness Montagu on January 25, 1937, and had a daughter; they divorced 14 years later, in 1951. Later that year, he married the costume designer Lucinda Ballard . He died in July 1983, in New York City of Parkinson's disease , from which he had suffered from 1954. Dorothy Fields Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974)

667-531: Was an American librettist and lyricist . She wrote more than 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include " The Way You Look Tonight " (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), " On the Sunny Side of the Street " (1930), " Don't Blame Me " (1948), " Pick Yourself Up " (1936), " I'm in the Mood for Love " (1935), " You Couldn't Be Cuter " (1938) and " Big Spender " (1966). Throughout her career, she collaborated with various influential figures in

696-512: Was awarded the ASCAP Award for Most Performed Feature Film Standard. Schwartz collaborated with some of the best lyricists of his day, including Dietz, Dorothy Fields , Ira Gershwin , Oscar Hammerstein II , Edward Heyman , Frank Loesser , Johnny Mercer , Leo Robin , and Al Stillman . See the section Arthur Schwartz (1900–1984) in List of musicals by composer: M to Z#S . The following

725-636: Was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame . And, in 1981, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame . Dietz was married three times. He married Elizabeth Bigelow Hall in 1917. They divorced in 1936. In 1930, the couple had bought a townhouse on 18 West 11th Street in Greenwich Village from stockbroker Charles E. Merrill , founder of Merrill Lynch . The townhouse was later bought by advertising executive James Platt Wilkerson, whose daughter Cathlyn Platt Wilkerson

754-590: Was introduced to Eli Lahm by his close friend Herbert Sondheim, the father of Stephen Sondheim , who affectionately referred to her as Aunt Dorothy growing up. Fields married Lahm in 1939, and they had two children, David and Eliza. Lahm died in 1958. Thirty-five years after her death, President Barack Obama , in his inauguration speech as 44th president of the United States on January 20, 2009, echoed lyrics by Fields when he said, "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again

783-667: Was made MGM's Vice President in Charge of Publicity. He held that position until his retirement in 1957. He began a long association with composer Arthur Schwartz , when they teamed up for the Broadway revue The Little Show in 1929. They would continue to work on and off over the next 30 or so years. Dietz served in the US Navy in World War I and became editor of their magazine, Navy Life . During World War II, he assisted

812-531: Was married to 1930s Broadway ingénue Kay Carrington, until her death when their first son, Jonathan Schwartz (born 1938), was 14. Jonathan is now a radio personality and sometime musician. Schwartz's younger son, Paul Schwartz (born 1956), with actress/dancer Mary Schwartz, is a composer, conductor, pianist, and producer. Arthur Schwartz died September 3, 1984, in Kintnersville, Pennsylvania . Schwartz received two Academy Award nominations for Best Song:

841-418: Was outstanding in the subjects of English, drama, and basketball. Her poems were published in the school's literary magazine. Her family was deeply involved in show business. Her father, Lew Fields , was a Jewish immigrant from Poland who partnered with Joe Weber as one of the most popular comedy vaudeville duos near the end of the nineteenth century. When the duo separated in 1904, Lew Fields became one of

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