Stephen Sondheim

Writing

Born: 1930-03-22
Died: 2021-11-26
From: New York City, New York, USA
Gender: Male
Popularity: 0.4

Biography

Stephen Joshua Sondheim (/ˈsɒndhaɪm/; March 22, 1930 – November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theatre, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. With his frequent collaborators Harold Prince and James Lapine, Sondheim's Broadway musicals tackled unexpected themes beyond the genre's traditional subjects while addressing darker elements of the human experience. His music and lyrics are tinged with complexity, sophistication, and ambivalence about various aspects of life. Sondheim's interest in musical theatre began at a young age, and Oscar Hammerstein II mentored him. He started his career by writing the lyrics for West Side Story (1957) and Gypsy (1959). He transitioned to writing both music and lyrics for the theatre, with his best-known works including A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), and Into the Woods (1987). Sondheim's numerous awards and nominations include eight Tony Awards, an Academy Award, eight Grammy Awards, an Olivier Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. He also was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 1993 and a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. A theatre is named after him both on Broadway and in London's West End. Film adaptations of his works include West Side Story (1961), Gypsy (1962), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), A Little Night Music (1977), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street(2007), Into the Woods (2014), and West Side Story (2021). Description above from the Wikipedia article Stephen Sondheim, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Photos3

Awards & Nominations24 won · 6 nominated

🏆 Won

Carl Sandburg Literary Award

2016
🏆 Won

Presidential Medal of Freedom

2015
🏆 Won

Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature

2012
🏆 Won

Grammy Trustees Award

2007
🏆 Won

Library of Congress Living Legend

2000
🏆 Won

Praemium Imperiale

2000
🏆 Won

Johnny Mercer Award

1999
🏆 Won

Tony Award for Best Original Score

Passion

1994
🏆 Won

Academy Award for Best Original Song

Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)

1991
🏆 Won

Tony Award for Best Original Score

Into the Woods

1988
🏆 Won

Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Sunday in the Park with George

1985
Nominated

Tony Award for Best Original Score

Sunday in the Park with George

1984
Nominated

Tony Award for Best Original Score

Merrily We Roll Along

1982
🏆 Won

Tony Award for Best Original Score

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

1979
Nominated

Tony Award for Best Original Score

Pacific Overtures

1976
🏆 Won

Edgar Awards

1974
🏆 Won

Tony Award for Best Original Score

A Little Night Music

1973
🏆 Won

Tony Award for Best Original Score

Follies

1972
🏆 Won

Tony Award for Best Original Score

Company

1971
Nominated

Tony Award for Best Original Score

Do I Hear a Waltz?

1965
🏆 Won

Tony Award for Best Musical

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

1963
Nominated

Tony Award for Best Musical

Gypsy: A Musical Fable

1960
Nominated

Tony Award for Best Musical

West Side Story

1958
🏆 Won

Hull-Warriner Award

🏆 Won

Laurence Olivier Awards

🏆 Won

Critics' Circle Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts

🏆 Won

Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

🏆 Won

Society of London Theatre Special Award

🏆 Won

Kennedy Center Honors

🏆 Won

National Medal of Arts

Acting49 titles

Writing60 titles

Sound56 titles

Crew3 titles