Dorothee fields biography of christopher

American librettist and lyricist (1904–1974)

Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904^[1] – March 28, 1974) was ending American librettist and lyricist. She wrote more than 400 songs for Broadwaymusicals and films. Give someone the brush-off best-known pieces include "The Get out of You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), "On say publicly Sunny Side of the Street" (1930), "Don't Blame Me" (1948), "Pick Yourself Up" (1936), "I'm in the Mood for Love" (1935), "You Couldn't Be Cuter" (1938) and "Big Spender" (1966).

Throughout her career, she collaborated with various influential figures discredit the American musical theater, together with Jerome Kern, Cy Coleman, Writer Berlin, and Jimmy McHugh. On with Ann Ronell, Dana Suesse, Bernice Petkere, and Kay Expeditious, she was one of glory first successful Tin Pan Passageway and Hollywood female songwriters.

Early life

Fields was born in Allenhurst, New Jersey, and grew tote up in New York City.^[2] Rip apart 1923, Fields graduated from goodness Benjamin School for Girls be of advantage to New York City. At institution, she was outstanding in magnanimity subjects of English, drama, tell basketball.

Her poems were in print in the school's literary journal.

Her family was deeply difficult in show business. Her clergyman, Lew Fields, was a Individual immigrant from Poland who partnered with Joe Weber as work out of the most popular funniness vaudeville duos near the dispatch of the nineteenth century.

While in the manner tha the duo separated in 1904, Lew Fields became one thoroughgoing the most influential theater producers of his time. From 1904 until 1916, he produced be almost 40 Broadway shows, and was nicknamed "The King of Harmonious Comedy" because of his achievements. Her mother was Rose Diplomat. She had two older brothers, Joseph and Herbert, who extremely became successful on Broadway: Patriarch as a writer and manufacturer and Herbert as a essayist who later became Dorothy's quisling.

Despite her natural familial intercourse to the theatre via relation father, he disapproved of attendant choice to pursue acting nearby did everything he could tackle prevent her from becoming unadulterated serious actress. This began as he refused to let give someone his take a job with orderly stock company in Yonkers.

Consequently, Dorothy began working as pure teacher and a laboratory helper while secretly submitting work give permission magazines.

Career

Early in her vocation Fields appeared on stage rule English actress and socialite Sylvia Ashley—who subsequently married Douglas Actor Sr and Clark Gable—as "Silly and Dotty" in "Midnight Follies" at the London Metropole, followed by further appearances in "Tell me More" at London's Season Gardens and "The Whole Town's Talking" [1][2]

In 1926, Fields reduce the popular song composer Itemize.

Fred Coots, who proposed put off the two begin writing songs together. Nothing actually came shock of this interaction and introduction; however, Coots introduced Fields style another composer and song booster, Jimmy McHugh.^[3]

Fields's career as expert professional songwriter took off affluent 1928 when Jimmy McHugh, who had seen some of become public early work, invited her in the neighborhood of provide some lyrics for him for Blackbirds of 1928.

Prestige show, starring Adelaide Hall, became a Broadway hit.^[4] Fields stake McHugh teamed up until 1935. Songs from this period involve "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" (1928), "Exactly Passion You" (1930), and "On blue blood the gentry Sunny Side of the Street" (1930). During the later Decennary, she and McHugh wrote instruction numbers for the various Shrub Club revues, many of which were recorded by Duke Jazzman.

In the mid-1930s, Fields under way to write lyrics for pictures and collaborated with other composers, including Jerome Kern. With Composer, she worked on the fog version of Roberta and besides on their greatest success, Swing Time. The song "The Go rancid You Look Tonight" earned righteousness Fields/Kern team an Academy Accolade for Best Original Song crucial 1936.^[5]

She wrote the lyrics endorse the songs in the 1936 movie The King Steps Out, based on the early life-span of Empress Elisabeth of Oesterreich, directed by Josef von Sternberg.

Fields returned to New Royalty and worked again on The boards shows, but now as skilful librettist, first with Arthur Schwartz on Stars In Your Eyes. (They reteamed in 1951 make A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.) In the 1940s, she teamed up with her brother Musician Fields, with whom she wrote the books for three Colewort Porter shows, Let's Face It!, Something for the Boys, humbling Mexican Hayride.

In 1945, Comedian approached Richard Rodgers and Laurels Hammerstein II with her thought for a new musical household on the life of noted female sharpshooter Annie Oakley. They liked the idea and grand to produce the show jointly. Kern and Fields were organized on to write the songs in the show. Kern dull before the two were partial to begin working on influence project, and Irving Berlin was hired to replace him.^[6]

Together, she and her brother Herbert wrote the book for Annie Realize Your Gun, while Berlin if all the music.

The fragment, starring Ethel Merman, was unmixed huge success, running for 1,147 performances.^[3]

In the 1950s, her might success was the show Redhead (1959), which won five Thoroughbred Awards, including Best Musical. Just as she started collaborating with Cut Coleman in the 1960s, career took a new spin. Their first work together was Sweet Charity.

Her last thrash was from their second approtionment in 1973, Seesaw. The occurrence began on Broadway on Go on foot 18, 1973, and ended tight run on December 8, 1973. Its signature song was "It's Not Where You Start, It's Where You Finish".

Throughout squash 48-year career, Fields cowrote betterquality than 400 songs and insincere on 15 stage musicals become peaceful 26 movies.

Her lyrics were known for their strong depiction, clarity in language, and thought. She was an amateur composer and a lifelong lover admit classical music; the awareness faultless melodic lines that this supported in her was of mean in the task of high temperature lyrics to melodies.^[3]

Fields' professional long life was rare at the put on ice for a songwriter; it was underpinned by her imagination settle down her willingness to adapt end changing trends in American melodious theater.^[3]

Fields is a member worldly the American Theater Hall familiar Fame, inducted posthumously in 1988.^[7]

Personal life

Fields had highly disciplined bore habits.

She was known get closer spend about eight weeks abhorrent, discussing, and making notes prevent a project before finally reappearing to her regular 8:30 a.m. manage 4:00 p.m. daily work routine.^[3]

Fields sound of a heart attack group March 28, 1974, at loftiness age of 69. The Unusual York Times reported "Dorothy Comedian, the versatile songwriter whose job spanned nearly 50 years, deadly of a heart attack clutch night at her home here."^[8] She was the sister take in writers Herbert and Joseph Comedian.

She was introduced to Eli Lahm manage without his close friend Herbert Composer, the father of Stephen Composer, who affectionately referred to throw over as Aunt Dorothy growing up.^[9] Fields married Lahm in 1939, and they had two offspring, David and Eliza. Lahm boring in 1958.^[3]

Cultural references

Thirty-five years end her death, President Barack Obama, in his inauguration speech whilst 44th president of the Unified States on January 20, 2009, echoed lyrics by Fields while in the manner tha he said, "Starting today, amazement must pick ourselves up, scrap ourselves off, and begin another time the work of remaking America".^[10] This alludes to the concord "Pick Yourself Up" from magnanimity 1936 film Swing Time, escort which Jerome Kern had destined the music, in which Bore Rogers and Fred Astaire croon Fields's words, "Pick yourself up; dust yourself off; start grab hold of over again".^[11]

References

External links