Bob Merrill - Biography

Bob Merrill (May 17, 1921 – February 17, 1998) was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter.

Merrill was born Henry Merrill Levan in Atlantic City, New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following a stint with the Army during World War II, he moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a dialogue director for Columbia Pictures. He began his songwriting career writing tunes for Dorothy Shay. One of his first major hits was the 1950 novelty song "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake", co-written with Al Hoffman and Clem Watts and recorded by Eileen Barton. He also co-wrote the 1950 Moon Mullican country song "You Don't Have To Be a Baby To Cry".

His three most famous songs were "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?", a hit for Patti Page, "Mambo Italiano" recorded by Rosemary Clooney, and "The Kid's Last Fight" recorded by Frankie Laine.

Merrill wrote a string of chart hits including "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania", "Love Makes the World Go 'Round", and "Honeycomb", as recorded by Jimmy Rodgers. In addition, he wrote "Tina Marie" for Perry Como and "Make Yourself Comfortable" as recorded by Sarah Vaughan.

Guy Mitchell recorded many of Merrill's songs including "Sparrow in the Tree Top", She Wears Red Feathers, and "My Truly, Truly Fair".

Merrill made his Broadway debut in 1957 with New Girl in Town, a musical adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie. His greatest theatrical success was the Barbra Streisand vehicle Funny Girl, which introduced the standard "People" and "Don't Rain on My Parade". When the stage show was adapted for the screen, he and songwriting partner Jule Styne were asked to write a title tune, which eventually garnered them both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Song entitled "Funny Girl". Producer David Merrick employed Merrill to write additional songs for the musical Hello, Dolly/ Merrill contributed two songs, "Motherhood March" and "Elegance", and some additional lyrics to Jerry Herman's It Takes a Woman . Merrill did not accept billing or credit for his additions to the score.

Merrill's other Broadway credits include Take Me Along (1959), Carnival! (1961), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1966), Henry, Sweet Henry (1967), Sugar (1972) (reworked as Some Like It Hot for a 1992 production in London's West End starring Tommy Steele and a 2002-03 United States national tour starring Tony Curtis as Osgood Fielding, Jr.), and The Red Shoes (1993). He also wrote the book and lyrics for the Angela Lansbury vehicle Prettybelle (1971) and the music and lyrics for the Robert Preston musical The Prince of Grand Street (1978), both of which closed during their Boston tryouts. He was nominated for the Tony Award eight times, but never won.

Merrill's screenwriting credits include Mahogany (1975), W.C. Fields and Me (1976), and the television movies Portrait of a Showgirl (1982) and The Animated Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1998).

Among Merrill's television credits were two holiday specials, the classic Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol and The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood, written specifically for Liza Minnelli.

He is the second most successful songwriter of the 1950s on the U.K. charts.

Merrill became progressively ill in the mid-1990s and took his own life on February 17, 1998 at the age of 76.

Compositions recorded by Guy Mitchell

• Chicka Boom
• Feet Up (Pat Him on the Po-Po)
• Look At That Girl
• My Truly, Truly Fair
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• She Wears Red Feathers
• Sparrow in the Treetop

External links

• The Official Bob Merrill website
• Bob Merrill at the Songwriters Hall of Fame