Richard Lewine (July 28, 1910 – May 19, 2005) was an American composer and songwriter on Broadway as well as

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon a ...

Biography

Career

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, Lewine attended

Columbia College Columbia College may refer to one of several institutions of higher education in North America: Canada * Columbia College (Alberta), in Calgary * Columbia College (British Columbia), a two-year liberal arts institution in Vancouver * Columbia In ...

before beginning his career as a composer and songwriter. In 1934, he wrote songs for the Broadway revue ''Fools Rush In''. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Lewine served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. After the war, he wrote the music for the

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own du ...

" Make Mine Manhattan" (1948). In the 1950s and 1960s, Lewine produced musicals for television including ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' starring

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy ...

and ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part o ...

'' featuring music by

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

. Lewine also produced the Young People's Concerts telecasts on CBS and, in 1965, won an Emmy Award for producing the television special '' My Name Is Barbra'' starring

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

. After fellow composer

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American ...

' death in 1979, Lewine was the managing director of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization.

Personal life and death

Lewine was married twice; he married first wife Mary Haas in 1945 with whom he had two children, Cornelia and Peter. After Haas' death in 1968, Lewine married Elizabeth Rivers. On May 19, 2005, Lewine died of natural causes at his home in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

References

External links

* *
Richard Lewine papers, 1897-2004 (bulk 1925-1984)
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

New York Public Library Blog on Richard Lewine's Make Mine Manhattan
1910 births 2005 deaths American male composers American musical theatre composers United States Army personnel of World War II American television producers Columbia College (New York) alumni People from Manhattan Songwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians United States Army soldiers American male songwriters {{US-composer-20thC-stub