U.S. #3347
33¢ Lorenz Hart
City: New York, NY
Quantity: 8,500,000
Printed By: Sterling Sommer for Ashton-Potter (USA) Ltd
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: 11
Color: Multicolored
Lorenz Hart (1895-1943) created the lyrics to some of the greatest popular songs. He became famous for the songs that he and Richard Rodgers wrote for musical comedies. Their 25-year partnership produced over 1,000 songs, including “With a Song in My Heart,” “The Lady is a Tramp,” and “My Funny Valentine.”
Hart worked as a German translator while attending Columbia University in New York City. At the age of 23, Hart met Rodgers, who was 16. They began writing and composing numbers immediately. “The Garrick Gaieties” (1925) was their first successful Broadway musical. Other works by Hart and Rodgers are “Peggy Ann” (1926) and “A Connecticut Yankee” (1927).
In the early 1930s, Hart and Rodgers were drawn to Hollywood, where they composed songs for motion pictures. They returned to Broadway in 1935, and continued to write musicals. A few of their works from this time are “The Boys From Syracuse” (1938) and “Pal Joey” (1940), which was perhaps their biggest hit.
Throughout their professional relationship, Rodgers remained a reserved and disciplined worker, while Hart was the gifted amateur. The last show Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers created together was “By Jupiter” (1942), which added to the duo’s long list of musical hits.