Music and Lyrics, Guys and Dolls

An influential stage and movie musical composer, Loesser wrote music and lyrics for Where’s Charley? (adaptation of Charley’s Aunt), Guys and Dolls, The Most Happy Fella, Greenwillow and How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Songwriter: Wrote 700 songs, many for films, and collaborated with such great Tin Pan Alley composers as Burton Lane, Hoagy Carmichael, Jimmy McHugh, Jule Styne, Victor Schertzinger and Arthur Schwartz. 

Awards: Tonys for music and lyrics (Guys and Dolls, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying); Pulitzer Prize for Drama (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, shared with Abe Burrows); New York Drama Critics Award (The Most Happy Fella). Nominated for five Academy Awards for Best Song, winning once, for “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”