Frederick Loewe

Frederick Loewe (1904-88), American composer, best known for his collaborations with the lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner. Born in Vienna, Loewe was a piano soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic when he was 13 years old; he wrote his first successful popular song at the age of 15. In 1924 Loewe went with his father to the United States. Because work as a musician was difficult to obtain, he was successively employed as a professional boxer, a busboy, a riding instructor, and a gold miner and a mail carrier in Montana. His first musical comedy was Salute to Spring (St. Louis, 1937) and his first Broadway musical was Great Lady (1938). In 1942 he began working with the lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner, a collaboration that produced eight musical comedies, including Brigadoon (1947), My Fair Lady (1956), and Camelot (1960), and the film musical Gigi (1958), which won an Academy Award.