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 a television show, 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 acce ...

Biography

Career

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Lewine attended Columbia College 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

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

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'' 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 eight decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...

and ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

'' 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 Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

. Lewine also produced the

Young People's Concerts The Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic are the longest-running series of family concerts of classical music in the world. Symphony concerts for young people in New York City (before 1924) On November 26, 1898, conductor F ...

telecasts on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

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, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

. After fellow composer

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers wa ...

' 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 ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

References

External links

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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, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...

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