Richard Rodgers

**Richard Charles Rodgers** (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer. He wrote many musicals with Oscar Hammerstein II, including _Oklahoma!_, _Carousel_, _South Pacific_, _The King and I_, the television musical, _Cinderella_, and _The Sound of Music_.

In 1962, Rodgers became the first person to win all four top show business awards: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. He also won a Pulitzer Prize.

## Life

Rodgers was born in New York City to Dr. William Rodgers and his wife, Mamie, who were of German Jewish descent. The family enjoyed musicals and opera. At 15, Rodgers chose music as his profession. He attended Columbia University and wrote for the school's _Varsity Show_.

Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, and Oscar Hammerstein II all attended Columbia University. At Columbia, Rodgers joined the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. In 1921, Rodgers changed his studies to the Institute of Musical Art (now Juilliard). Rodgers was influenced by composers such as Victor Herbert and Jerome Kern.

Late in life, Rodgers established scholarships and other awards for students of The Juilliard School of Music, the American Theater Wing and the American Academy of Dramatic Art.

### Lorenz Hart

In 1919 Rodgers met Lorenz Hart. The two wrote 26 musicals together, and song standards such as "I'll Take Manhattan", "My Funny Valentine", and "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered".

Their first professional production was the 1920 _Poor Little Ritz Girl_. In 1925 they became well known for the song "Manhattan". The duo then wrote several hit shows for both Broadway and London. Because of the Depression in the 1930s, they went to work in Hollywood. In 1935, they returned to Broadway. They wrote an almost unbroken string of hit shows. This ended with Hart's death in 1943.

### Oscar Hammerstein II

In 1942, Rodgers teamed up with Oscar Hammerstein II. They made the most successful partnership in American musical theatre history. Their first musical was the hit _Oklahoma!_. The team went on to create four more of the most popular musicals to date: _Carousel_ (1945), _South Pacific_, _The King and I_ (1951), and _The Sound of Music_ (1959). All four were made into popular films.

Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals earned a total of 35 Tony Awards, 15 Academy Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes, two Grammy Awards, and two Emmy Awards.

Rodgers, Hammerstein, and Joshua Logan won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for _South Pacific_. Rodgers and Hammerstein also won a special Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for _Oklahoma!_.

After Hammerstein's death in 1960, Rodgers wrote both words and music for his first new Broadway project. Rodgers went on to work with lyricists Stephen Sondheim and Sheldon Harnick.

## Personal

Rodgers married Dorothy Feiner in 1930. They had two daughters, Mary and Linda. Mary is the composer of _Once Upon a Mattress_ and an author of children's books. Her son Adam Guettel won a Tony Awards for Best Score and Best Orchestrations for _The Light in the Piazza_ in 2005.

Rodgers died in 1979 from heart failure caused by throat cancer. He was cremated, and his ashes scattered at sea.

Richard Rodgers is a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

## References

- Richard Rodgers.bio

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Richard Rodgers
- **image**: Rodgers.jpg
- **caption**: Rodgers (unknown date)
- **birth name**: Richard Charles Rodgers
- **birth place**: New York City, United States
- **death place**: New York City, United States
- **nationality**: American
- **known for**: Broadway musicals
- **occupation**: Composer
Producer