Stephen Sondheim: Titan of American Musical Theater Dies at 91

Stephen Sondheim was an American composer and lyricist, widely considered the greatest figure in the modern American musical theater. Born on March 22, 1930, in New York City, he was mentored as a boy by Oscar Hammerstein II.

Sondheim wrote the lyrics for West Side Story (1957) and Gypsy (1959), then wrote both music and lyrics for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd (1979) and Into the Woods (1987). Sunday in the Park with George won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Sondheim won eight Tony Awards, eight Grammys, five Olivier Awards and an Academy Award for the song "Sooner or Later" from Dick Tracy (1990). He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1993 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. Broadway's Henry Miller's Theatre was renamed in his honor in 2010. He married Jeffrey Romley in 2017. He died at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, on November 26, 2021, at age 91.

Achievements: Lyrics for West Side Story (1957), Sweeney Todd (1979), Pulitzer Prize for Sunday in the Park with George (1985), eight Tony Awards, Presidential Medal of Freedom (2015).

Birth: March 22, 1930 - New York City.

Profession: Composer and lyricist.

Interesting Facts: Theaters in New York and London are named after him. He was an only child.