Jule Styne
b. Julius K. Stein, 31 December 1905, London, England, d. 20 September 1994, New York, USA. Even before his family emigrated to the USA when he was aged seven, Styne had become an accomplished pianist. His studies continued in his new homeland and he was soon appearing as piano soloist with symphony orchestras. Deflected from a career as a concert pianist because his hands were thought to be too small, Styne tried composing popular songs. His first attempts included The Guy With The Polka-Dot Tie and The Moth And The Flame. After leaving school in 1922 he formed a band, which at one time included Benny Goodman in its ranks, but continued writing music. He had his first big success in 1926 with Sunday (lyrics by Ned Miller) and continued working with Chicago-based jazz-orientated dance groups including the band led by Ben Pollack. In 1932 he adopted the spelling of his name by which he was thereafter known to avoid confusion with another musician named Jules Stein. Styne spent the mid-30s working in New York as a vocal coach and it was in this capacity that in 1937 he was hired to work in Hollywood. He continued to write songs and background music for films. Amongst his song successes from the '40s are Who Am I? (lyrics by Walter Bulock), I've Heard That Song Before ( Sammy Cahn) and I Don't Want To Walk Without You ( Frank Loesser). Soon, Styne and Cahn formalized their partnership and theirs proved to be one of the most fruitful of such collaborations. Amongst their songs were I'll Walk Alone, There Goes That Song Again, And Then You Kissed Me, Five Minutes More, Time After Time, It's Magic, Three Coins In The Fountain, It's Been A Long, Long Time, Saturday Night (Is The Loneliest Night Of The Week), Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, The Things We Did Last Summer, I Fall In Love Too Easily, I Believe and Give Me A Song With A Beautiful Melody. In 1947, Styne and Cahn collaborated on a stage musical, High Button Shoes, which ran for 727 performances. The following year Styne formed a new partnership, this time with Leo Robin as his lyricist. This team wrote Gentlemen Prefer Blondeswhich ran for 740 performances thanks partly to the dynamism of Carol Channing in the lead and songs like Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend and Bye Bye, Baby. Styne's next few Broadway shows were undistinguished but he continued to write good songs for them, including Hold Me-Hold Me-Hold Me (lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green), How Do You Speak To An Angel?, Ev'ry Street's A Boulevard In Old New York (both with Bob Hilliard) and Distant Melody (Comden and Green). Styne hit again with Bells Are Ringing from which came Just In Time, Long Before I Knew You and The Party's Over, all with lyrics by Comden and Green. In 1959 Styne had another Broadway success with Gypsy, from which came Everything's Coming Up Roses, Let Me Entertain You, and Together Wherever We Go, all with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. 
Although his next Broadway shows were less popular Styne still wrote some good songs, including Make Someone Happy (Comden and Green) from Do Re Miand Come Once In A Lifetime (Comden and Green) from SUBWAYS ARE FOR SLEEPING. Next in Styne's musicals was Funny Girl, his greatest success, which made a star of Barbra Streisand. Styne's collaborator on this show was Bob Merrill and their songs included People and Don't Rain On My Parade. Later musicals for which Styne wrote suffered in comparison with FUNNY GIRL's huge success although SUGAR, based upon Billy Wilder's 1959 film, SOME LIKE IT HOT, was better than several. He continued to be active into the '90s, although his 1993 Broadway musical Red Shoes closed after only three days. Apart from writing for Broadway, Styne also produced shows including the successful 1952 revival of Pal Joey. One of the most respected American songwriters, Styne was the recipient of numerous awards and honours and even found time during the '80s to teach at New York University.