Bob Wright (composer)
Robert "Bob" Craig Wright (born September 25, 1914 in Daytona Beach , Florida , † July 27, 2005 in Miami ) was an American pianist , film composer and songwriter .
Life
Bob Wright, who accompanied the singer Helen Morgan and the dancer Sally Rand on the piano at an early age , attended high school in Miami , where he met the pianist Chet Forrest, who was one year his junior . In the following 70 years they wrote more than 2,000 songs for Broadway and film productions, specializing in the adaptation of works by classical composers such as Tchaikovsky , Grieg , Strauss and Rachmaninoff . In the 1930s Wright and Forrest were signed as a songwriting duo with MGM , where they wrote the songs for the film operetta Maienzeit ( Maytime , 1937), among other things . In 1939, they received their first of three Oscar nominations for Best Song for Always and Always from the movie Mannequin .
Wright and Forrest were best known on Broadway for Kismet , a musical adaptation of Borodin's Prince Igor . Famous songs like Stranger in Paradise made Kismet a hit and gave the duo the Tony Award in the category Best Musical in 1954 . In 1955 Kismet was adapted for the screen by director Vincente Minnelli under the same title.
Wright and Forrest's partnership ended with Forrest's death in 1999. Their last major success was the 1989 musical Grand Hotel .
Filmography (selection)
- Songs
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Musicals (selection)
- 1944: Song of Norway (adaptation of music by Edvard Grieg )
- 1949: The Great Waltz (adaptation of Johann Strauss ' music )
- 1953: Kismet (adaptation of music by Alexander Borodin )
- 1959: The Love Doctor
- 1961: Kean
- 1965: Anya (adaptation of music by Sergei Rachmaninoff )
- 1978: Timbuktu! (based on Kismet for an African American cast)
- 1989: Grand Hotel
Awards
- 1939: Oscar nomination for Best Song for Always and Always from the film Mannequin with Edward Ward and Chet Forrest
- 1941: Oscar nomination in the category Best Song for It's a Blue World from the film Music in My Heart with Chet Forrest
- 1943: Oscar nomination for Best Song for Pennies for Peppino from the film Flying with Music with Edward Ward and Chet Forrest
- 1954: Tony Award for Best Musical for Kismet
- 1990: Nomination for the Tony Award in the category Best Original Music for Grand Hotel
- 1990: Two nominations for the Drama Desk Award in the categories Outstanding Lyrics and Outstanding Music for Grand Hotel
Web links
- Bob Wright in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Bob Wright in the Internet Broadway Database (English)
- Bob Wright in the database of Find a Grave (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Charles Isherwood: Robert Wright, 90, Dies; Wrote Broadway Musicals . In: The New York Times , August 2, 2005.
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Wright, Bob |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wright, Robert Craig (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American film composer and songwriter |
DATE OF BIRTH | September 25, 1914 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Daytona Beach , Florida |
DATE OF DEATH | July 27, 2005 |
Place of death | Miami |