biography
| name: |
Kern, Jerome (David)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1885–1945)
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| biography:
| Composer, born in New York City, New York, USA. After a start in Broadway theatres as a rehearsal pianist, he began contributing songs to musical shows. With librettist Guy Bolton, he wrote his first hit show, Very Good, Eddie (1915), which brought a new sophistication to musical theatre by connecting songs and story more closely than the popular shows of the time. With lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, he wrote his most important work, Show Boat (1927), in which he further integrated lyrical text with the dramatic demands of plot and character to create the first American musical play. In 1939 he moved to Hollywood and wrote only for films. One of the most influential songwriters in American musical theatre, he is credited with over 1000 songs in 104 stage and film productions, including such standards as ‘Ol' Man River’ (1927), ‘Smoke Gets in Your Eyes’ (1933), and ‘All the Things You Are’ (1939). |
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