For work done with Richard Rodgers, see Rodgers and Hammerstein

Oscar Hammerstein II (July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was a New-York born writer, producer, and (usually uncredited) director of musicals for almost forty years. His father, William, was from a non-practicing Jewish family; his mother, née Alice Nimmo, was the daughter of Scottish immigrants and their children were raised as Christians. An autographed photo of Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was one of the great composers of musical theater, best known for his song writing partnerships with Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. He wrote more than 900 published songs, and forty Broadway musicals. ... Rodgers and Hammerstein were an American songwriting duo consisting of Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960). ... Image File history File links Portrait of Oscar Hammerstein II, a famous composer. ... July 12 is the 193rd day (194th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 172 days remaining. ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... Jews (Hebrew: יהודים, Yehudim) are followers of Judaism or, more generally, members of the Jewish people (also known as the Jewish nation, or the Children of Israel), an ethno-religious group descended from the ancient Israelites and converts who joined their religion. ...

The most famous "Hammerstein" of American history is actually the second "Oscar Hammerstein". The first (with whom he is often confused) was his grandfather, the great opera impresario and theater builder Oscar Hammerstein I, one of the most remarkable, and most famous, personalities of his time. Although his father managed the highly successful Victoria Theatre for his father and was an innovative producer of vaudeville (he is generally credited with inventing the pie-in-the-face routine), he was against his son's desire to participate in the arts. Hammerstein II therefore entered Columbia University under their pre-law program and it wasn't until his father's death on June 10, 1914 that he went on to participate in his first play with the Varsity Show entitled On Your Way. Throughout the rest of his college career the younger Hammerstein wrote and performed in several Varsity Shows. After quitting law school to pursue theater, Hammerstein II began his first real collaboration with Herbert Stothart, Otto Harbach, and Frank Mandel. He began as an apprentice, and went on to form a 20 year collaboration with Harbach. Out of this collaboration came his first musical, Always You, for which he wrote the book and lyrics. It opened on Broadway in 1921. Throughout the next forty years of his life, he would team with many others including a successful collaboration with composer Jerome Kern producing such musicals as Sweet Adeline, Music In the Air, Three Sisters, Very Warm for May, and their biggest hit, Show Boat, in 1927. Show Boat, often revived, is still considered to be one of the masterpieces of the American musical theatre. Other collaborators include Vincent Youmans with Wildflower, Rudolph Friml with Rose Marie, and Sigmund Romberg with Desert Song and New Moon. The foyer of Charles Garniers Opéra, Paris, opened 1875 Opera refers to a dramatic art form, originating in Europe, in which the emotional content or primary entertainment is conveyed to the audience as much through music, both vocal and instrumental, as it is through the lyrics. ... Oscar Hammerstein I (8 May 1847-1 August 1919) was a theater impresario in New York City. ... Columbia University is a private university in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City and a member of the Ivy League. ... The Varsity Show, founded in 1894, is one of the oldest traditions at Columbia University, and certainly its oldest performing arts tradition. ... The Varsity Show, founded in 1894, is one of the oldest traditions at Columbia University, and certainly its oldest performing arts tradition. ... Herbert Stothart (11 September 1885 - 1 February 1949) was a composer, born of Scottish and Bavarian descent in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ... Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American popular composer. ... Barbershop harmony is a style of unaccompanied vocal music characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a predominantly homophonic texture. ... The Three Sisters are three volcanic peaks of the Cascade Range, located near the town of Sisters, Oregon. ... Show Boat is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II (with the notable exception of Bill, the lyrics of which were written by P. G. Wodehouse). ... Show Boat is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II (with the notable exception of Bill, the lyrics of which were written by P. G. Wodehouse). ... Vincent Youmans (September 27, 1898 - April 5, 1946) was an American popular composer and Broadway producer. ... Five wildflower species A wildflower is a flower that grows wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. ... Rudolf Friml (December 7, 1879 - November 12, 1972) was a composer of operettas, musicals, songs, as well as a pianist. ... Rose Marie (born August 15, 1923) is an actress who had a career as a child star under the name Baby Rose Marie but is best known for her adult role as Sally Rogers in the The Dick Van Dyke Show. ... Sigmund Romberg (July 29, 1887 – November 9, 1951) was a Jewish composer best known for his operettas. ... The Desert Song is a song by the band My Chemical Romance. ...

Hammerstein II's most successful and sustained collaboration however, came in 1943 when he teamed up with Richard Rodgers to write a musical adaptation of the play Green Grow the Lilacs. Rodgers' first partner, Lorenz Hart, was originally going to join in the collaboration but was too deeply entrenched in alcoholism to be of any use. The result of this new collaboration was Oklahoma!, a show which revolutionized the American musical theatre by tightly integrating all the aspects of musical theater, with the songs and dances arising out of the plot and characters. It also began a partnership which would produce such classic Broadway musicals as Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, Me & Juliet, Pipe Dream, Flower Drum Song, and The Sound of Music as well as the musical film State Fair and the television musical Cinderella. Hammerstein also produced the book and lyrics for Carmen Jones, an adaptation of Georges Bizet's opera Carmen with an all-black cast. 1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday. ... An autographed photo of Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was one of the great composers of musical theater, best known for his song writing partnerships with Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. He wrote more than 900 published songs, and forty Broadway musicals. ... Green Grow the Lilacs is a folk song of Irish origin that was popular in the United States during the mid 1800s. ... Lorenz (Larry) Hart (May 2, 1895 - November 22, 1943) was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. ... Oklahoma! (1943) was the first musical play written by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II, working together (see Rodgers and Hammerstein). ... Carousel is a 1945 stage musical by Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics) that was adapted from Ferenc Molnars play Liliom. ... South Pacific is a musical play, written with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II that opened on Broadway on April 7, 1949, and ran for more than five years. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Me and Juliet was a 1953 musical about a theater company, written by Rodgers and Hammerstein. ... A pipe dream is a fantastic hope that is generally regarded as being nearly impossible. ... Flower Drum Song is a Broadway musical with a score by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, and a book by Hammerstein and Joseph Fields, based on the novel by C.Y. Lee. ... The Sound of Music is a Broadway musical and film based on the book The Von Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp. ... A state fair is a competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. states population. ... Gustave Dorés illustration for Cendrillon For other uses, see Cinderella (disambiguation). ... Carmen Jones is a musical which is a modern look at the Georges Bizet opera Carmen from an African-American viewpoint. ... Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (October 25, 1838 – June 3, 1875) was a French composer and pianist of the romantic era. ... Poster from the 1875 premiere of Carmen Carmen is a French opera by Georges Bizet. ...

Oscar Hammerstein II is today considered the most important figure in the history of American musical theater for it was he, probably the best "book writer" in Broadway history, who made the story, not the songs or the stars, central to the American musical and brought it to full maturity as an art form. His reputation for being "sentimental," is based largely on the movie versions of the musicals, especially The Sound of Music. As recent revivals of Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Carousel, and The King and I in London and New York, show, Hammerstein could be very tough-minded indeed. Oscar Hammerstein believed in love; he did not believe that it would always end happily.

Hammerstein is the only person named Oscar ever to win an Oscar (Academy Award). He won two Oscars for best original song - in 1941 for "The Last Time I Saw Paris" in the film Lady Be Good, and in 1945 for "It Might As Well Be Spring" in State Fair. Academy Awards The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent film awards in the United States. ... For the aircraft of this name, see Lady be Good (aircraft). ... A state fair is a competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. states population. ...

Hammerstein died of cancer at the age of 65- shortly after the opening of The Sound of Music on Broadway- ending one of the most remarkable collaborations in the history of the American musical theatre. The final song he wrote was "Edelweiss" which was added during rehearsals near the end of the second act. To this day, many think it is an Austrian folk song. Sadly, he never lived to see The Sound of Music made into the 1965 film adaptation which became internationally loved, won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and became perhaps his most well-known legacy. The Sound of Music is a Broadway musical and film based on the book The Von Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp. ... The Sound of Music is a Broadway musical and film based on the book The Von Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp. ... Academy Awards The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent film awards in the United States. ...

Universally mourned, with the lights of Times Square and London's West End being dimmed in recognition of his contribution to the musical, he was interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. Times Square, named after the one-time headquarters of The New York Times, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, which centers on 42nd Street and Broadway. ... The West End of London is part of the city centre of London in England. ... Founded in 1903, the non-sectarian Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum is located on Secor Road in the hamlet of Hartsdale, Westchester County, New York, about 25 miles north of New York City. ... Hartsdale is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) located in the town of Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York. ...

Hammerstein's name is often misponounced as "ham-err-steen" Hammerstein himself, however, pronounced it as "ham-err-stine"

References

Citron, Stephen (1995). The Wordsmiths, Oxford University Press, Inc.. ISBN 0-19-508386-5.

External links

• The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization
• Musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein