Oscar Hammerstein
- Category : 1895-births
- Type : MGE
- Profile : 5/2 - Heretical / Hermit
- Definition : Split - Small (6,48)
- Incarnation Cross : LAX Cycles 1
Biography
American librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Many of his songs are standard repertoire for singers and jazz musicians. He co-wrote 850 songs. Hammerstein was the lyricist and playwright in his partnerships; his collaborators wrote the music. Hammerstein collaborated with composers Jerome Kern, Vincent Youmans, Rudolf Friml, Richard A. Whiting and Sigmund Romberg; but his most famous collaboration, by far, was with Richard Rodgers, which included The Sound of Music. In 1943, he and Richard Rodgers won a Pulitzer Prize for Oklahoma!, and, in 1950, they won another for South Pacific. The 1950s brought a string of Tony Award-winning works for the team. While still in his professional prime, Hammerstein died of stomach cancer on 23 August 1960,