Frederick Loewe: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|American composer (1901–1988)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}}

{{infobox musical artist

| caption = Loewe {{circa|1962}}

| name = Frederick Loewe

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1901|06|10}}

| death_place = [[Palm Springs, California]], U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1988|02|14|1901|06|10}}

| genre = Broadway theatre musicals

| origin = New York City, U.S.

| associated_acts = [[Alan Jay Lerner]]

 

 

==Biography==

 

Loewe grew up in Berlin and attended a [[Prussia]]n cadet school from the age of five until he was thirteen. At an early age Loewe learned to play piano by ear and helped his father rehearse, and he began composing songs at age seven. He eventually attended the [[Stern Conservatory]] in Berlin,<ref>David A. Jasen. Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song. Routledge, 2004</ref> one year behind virtuoso [[Claudio Arrau]], and studied with [[Ferruccio Busoni]] and [[Eugene d'Albert]]. He won the coveted Hollander Medal awarded by the school and gave performances as a concert pianist while still in Germany. At 13, he was the youngest piano soloist ever to appear with the [[Berlin Philharmonic]].

In 1924, his father received an offer to appear in New York City, and Loewe traveled there with him, determined to write for [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]. This proved to be difficult, and he took other odd jobs, including cattle punching, gold mining and prize fighting.<ref name=Guardianobit>Green, Benny. "Frederick Loewe, a prince of musical comedy", ''The Guardian'', February 16, 1988, p. 33</ref> He eventually found work playing piano in German clubs in [[Yorkville, Manhattan|Yorkville]] and in movie theaters as the accompanist for silent films. In 1931, he married Ernestine Zerline. Childless, they divorced in 1957.<ref>{{cite news |title='Camelot' And 'My Fair Lady' Composer Frederick Loewe Dies At 86 |url=https://www.apnews.com/cc6eb9c406e314763ce27498d8559edf |access-date=December 2, 2018 |work=Associated Press |date=February 15, 1988}}</ref>

 

 

 

In 1956, Lerner and Loewe's ''[[My Fair Lady]]'' was produced on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]. Their adaptation of [[George Bernard Shaw]]'s ''[[Pygmalion (play)|Pygmalion]]'', with the leads, Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle, being played originally by [[Rex Harrison]] and [[Julie Andrews]], was a huge hit on Broadway and in London. The musical won the [[Tony Award for Best Musical]].<ref name=master/> [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] took notice and commissioned them to write the film musical ''[[Gigi (1958 film)|Gigi]]'' (1958), which won nine [[Academy Award]]s, including Best Picture.<ref name=master/>

 

 

 

In 1974, they collaborated on a musical film version of ''[[The Little Prince (1974 film)|The Little Prince]]'', based on the classic children's tale by [[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]].<ref name=master/>

 

 

Loewe remained in Palm Springs until his death at 86.<ref>{{cite book |last=Johns |first=Howard |title=Palm Springs Confidential: Playground of the Stars! |year=2004 |publisher=Barricade Books |location=Fort Lee, NJ |isbn=978-1-56980-269-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781569802694/page/190 190]|oclc=54392060|lccn=2004041116|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781569802694/page/190}}{{LCC|PN2285 .J56 2004}}</ref> The cause of death was cardiac arrest, according to John F. Morris, an artist and longtime friend.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/15/obituaries/frederick-loewe-dies-at-86-wrote-my-fair-lady-score.html |title= Frederick Loewe Dies at 86 |newspaper= The New York Times |date=February 15, 1988}}</ref> He had a Golden Palm Star on the [[Palm Springs Walk of Stars]] dedicated to him in 1995.<ref>[http://www.palmspringswalkofstars.com/web-storage/Stars%20by%20date/Stars%20dedicated%20by%20date.pdf Palm Springs Walk of Stars: By Date Dedicated] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121208224143/http://www.palmspringswalkofstars.com/web-storage/Stars%20by%20date/Stars%20dedicated%20by%20date.pdf |date=December 8, 2012 }}</ref> He was buried in the [[Desert Memorial Park]] in [[Cathedral City, California]].<ref name=PSCemDis/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Brooks|first1=Patricia|title=Laid to Rest in California: a guide to the cemeteries and grave sites of the rich and famous |chapter=Chapter 8: East L.A. and the Desert |page=239 |year=2006|publisher=Globe Pequot Press|location=Guilford, CT|isbn=978-0762741014|last2=Brooks |first2=Jonathan |oclc= 70284362}}</ref>

{{reflist}}

 

* [[Gene Lees|Lees, Gene]] (2005). ''The Musical Worlds of Lerner and Loewe'', U of Nebraska Press, {{ISBN|0-8032-8040-8}}

 

*[https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu012019 Frederick Loewe Collection] at the [[Library of Congress]]

 

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Loewe, Frederick}}

[[Category:American musical theatre composers]]

[[Category:Male musical theatre composers]]

[[Category:American male songwriters]]

[[Category:Broadway composers and lyricists]]

[[Category:Kennedy Center honorees]]

[[Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent]]

[[Category:Jewish American songwriters]]

[[Category:Composers from Berlin]]

[[Category:Musicians from Palm Springs, California]]

[[Category:Burials at Desert Memorial Park]]

[[Category:Songwriters from California]]

[[Category:20th-century American composers]]

[[Category:Tony Award winners]]

[[Category:Members of The Lambs Club]]