Personal Info
Known For
Writing
Birthdate
1930-03-22
Day of Death
2021-11-26
Place of Birth
New York City, New York, USA
Stephen Sondheim
Biography
Stephen Joshua Sondheim (/ˈsɒndhaɪm/; March 22, 1930 – November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theatre, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. With his frequent collaborators Harold Prince and James Lapine, Sondheim's Broadway musicals tackled unexpected themes beyond the genre's traditional subjects while addressing darker elements of the human experience. His music and lyrics are tinged with complexity, sophistication, and ambivalence about various aspects of life. Sondheim's interest in musical theatre began at a young age, and Oscar Hammerstein II mentored him. He started his career by writing the lyrics for West Side Story (1957) and Gypsy (1959). He transitioned to writing both music and lyrics for the theatre, with his best-known works including A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), and Into the Woods (1987). Sondheim's numerous awards and nominations include eight Tony Awards, an Academy Award, eight Grammy Awards, an Olivier Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. He also was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 1993 and a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. A theatre is named after him both on Broadway and in London's West End. Film adaptations of his works include West Side Story (1961), Gypsy (1962), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), A Little Night Music (1977), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street(2007), Into the Woods (2014), and West Side Story (2021). Description above from the Wikipedia article Stephen Sondheim, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography (37)
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
2022
Keeping Company with Sondheim
2022
The Stories of West Side Story
2022
Cameron Mackintosh - The First 50 Years
2021
Something's Coming: West Side Story
2021
tick, tick... BOOM!
2021
On Broadway
2019
Harold Prince: The Director's Life
2018
West Side Stories: The Making of a Classic
2016
Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened...
2016
Six by Sondheim
2013
A Place for Us: West Side Story's Legacy
2011
Sondheim! The Birthday Concert
2010Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Burton + Carter + Depp = Todd
2008
