Merrill, Bob

▪ 1999

      American composer-lyricist (b. May 17, 1921?, Atlantic City, N.J.—d. Feb. 17, 1998, Beverly Hills, Calif.), wrote prolifically for both the pop music market and the Broadway musical stage. Although he could not read music and composed his tunes on a toy xylophone, 25 of his songs made it to the top-10 lists. Following army service during World War II, Merrill moved to Hollywood, eventually gaining employment as a radio writer. He went on to become (1948) a television casting director and at about that same time began writing songs. His early efforts were unsuccessful, but in 1950 his luck changed when he provided the lyrics for "If I Knew You Were Coming I'd've Baked a Cake," his first chart topper. He followed that with such hits as "My Truly, Truly Fair" (1951), "How Much Is That Doggy in the Window?" (1953), and "Mambo Italiano" (1954). Merrill's Broadway success began with New Girl in Town (1957), a musical adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie. Another O'Neill work, Ah! Wilderness, served as the basis for his next show, Take Me Along (1959), and the Leslie Caron film Lili provided the story for Carnival (1961), which featured the hit "Love Makes the World Go 'Round." His greatest Broadway success came with his collaboration with Jule Styne on Funny Girl (1964), for which Merrill wrote the lyrics; "People" and "Don't Rain on My Parade" became classics. His last Broadway musical was Sugar (1972), based on the film Some Like It Hot. We're Home, a four-character musical structured around a compilation of 37 of Merrill's songs, appeared Off-Broadway in 1984, and Hannah . . . 1939 was produced there in 1990. Merrill also wrote screenplays, among them Mahogany (1975), and the book, music, and lyrics for an upcoming animated television musical, Tom Sawyer.

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