Name
Stephen Sondheim
Known For
Writing
Birthday
1930-03-22
Deathday
2021-11-26 (91 years old)
Place of Birth
New York City, New York, USA
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).
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Known For
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The infamous story of Benjamin Barker, a.k.a Sweeney Todd, who sets up a barber shop down ...
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Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their res...
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In a woods filled with magic and fairy tale characters, a baker and his wife set out to en...
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In Manhattan’s Upper West Side, rival gangs of Polish-Americans and newly arrived Puerto...
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- 2021 tick, tick... BOOM! as Stephen Sondheim (voice on phone) (uncredited)
- 1991 Assassins: A Conversationpiece as Self
- 1990 Into the Woods: A Conversationpiece as Self
- 2021 Cameron Mackintosh - The First 50 Years as Self
- 2019 On Broadway as Self (archive footage)
- 2021 Something's Coming: West Side Story as Self
- 1970 Original Cast Album: Company as Self
- 2003 Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There as Self
- 2022 The Stories of West Side Story as Self
- 2011 A Place for Us: West Side Story's Legacy as Self
- 1998 Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh as Self
- 2022 Keeping Company with Sondheim as Self
- 1973 Sondheim: A Musical Tribute
- 2013 Six by Sondheim as Self / Joe
- 2002 The Making of Sweeney Todd at the San Francisco Symphony as Self
- 1992 Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall as Self
- 1990 Sunday in the Park with... Stephen
- 1973 The Last of Sheila Featurette as Self
- 2022 Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery as Stephen Sondheim
- 2016 Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened... as Self
- 2016 West Side Stories: The Making of a Classic as Self
- 1986 Putting It Together: The Making of the Broadway Album as Self
- 2018 Harold Prince: The Director's Life
- 2008 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Burton + Carter + Depp = Todd as Self
- 2003 West Side Memories as Self
- 1974 June Moon as Maxie Schwartz
- 1986 Follies: In Concert as Self- Composer
- 1980 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – Scenes from the Making of a Musical as Self
- 2003 Camp as Self
- 2010 Sondheim! The Birthday Concert as Self - Honoree
- 2006 Witness to 'Reds' as Self
- 2004 Children Will Listen as self
- 2001 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Concert as Self
- 1986 Sondheim on Broadway: Follies - Four Days in New York as Self
- 1995 A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim
- 1995 Some Enchanted Evening: Celebrating Oscar Hammerstein II as Self
- 1996 Company as Self
- 1997 A Conversation With Composer Stephen Sondheim as Stephen Sondheim
- 2000 Ned Rorem Interviews Stephen Sondheim as Self
- 1976 Anatomy of a Song
- 1994 Inside the Actors Studio ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1989 The Simpsons ( 1 episode ) as Stephen Sondheim (voice)
- 1962 The Merv Griffin Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2005 The Colbert Report ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1991 Pebble Mill ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1978 The Kennedy Center Honors ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2015 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest
- 1977 Previn and the Pittsburgh ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2004 Broadway: The American Musical ( 6 episodes ) as Self
- 1976 Live from Lincoln Center ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1971 Great Performances ( 1 episode ) as Maxie Schwartz
- 1971 Great Performances ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1956 Tony Awards ( 2 episodes ) as Self - Nominee
