Marshall Barer (born Marshall Louis Barer; February 19, 1923 in

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to four other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Queens, Long Island C ...

– August 25, 1998 in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

) was a lyricist, librettist, singer, songwriter and director.

Early career

Barer began his career as a lyricist and songwriter in the late 1940s while working as a commercial artist/designer in New York. His most-heard song is the

Mighty Mouse Mighty Mouse is an American animated character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. He is an anthropomorphic superhero mouse, originally called Super Mouse, and made his debut in the 1942 short ''The Mouse of Tomorrow''. Th ...

theme song.

Career

He had his greatest Broadway success came in 1959 with ''

Once Upon a Mattress ''Once Upon a Mattress'' is a musical theater, musical comedy with music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer. It opened off-Broadway in May 1959, and then moved to Broadway theat ...

'', for which he was lyricist and a book writer. In 1972 he wrote 7 songs for '' Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers'', a low-budget movie starring Holly Woodlawn.

Death

Marshall died aged 75 in

, at his home, after living many years in

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, whe ...

Popular songs

*''River Run'' *''La Ronde (This Is Quite a Perfect Night)'' *''Scratch My Back'' *''Roller Coaster Blues'' *''Intoxication'' *''In a Little While'' *''Shy'' *''Normandy'' *''Very Soft Shoes'' *''Song of Love (I'm In Love With A Girl Named Fred)'' *''Christmas long Ago'' *''What'll I Do With All the Love I Was Savin' for You?'' *''Warm Winter'' *''On Such A Night As This''

Musicals/stage

*''Walk Tall'' (1954) *''New Faces of 1956'' (1956) *''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1957 starring Beatrice Lillie) *''Once Upon a Mattress'' (1959) *''Dancing on the Air'' (an adaptation of Shaw's The Devil's Disciple) with Dean Fuller *''Around the World in Eighty Days'' with music by Michel Legrand *''A Little Night Music'' (never produced) *''Pousse-Café'' Music by Duke Ellington

External links

Obituary, The independent

Unofficial site about Lorenz Hart and Marshall Barer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barer, Marshall 1923 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American composers American musical theatre composers Broadway composers and lyricists Jewish American songwriters American LGBTQ composers American LGBTQ songwriters American male musical theatre composers People from Astoria, Queens 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American LGBTQ people