Richard Rodgers

Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the best-known American composers of the 20th century, and his work significantly influenced popular music. Rodgers is known for his songwriting partnerships, first with lyricist Lorenz Hart and then with Oscar Hammerstein II. With Hart he wrote musicals throughout the 1920s and 1930s, including Pal Joey, A Connecticut Yankee, On Your Toes, and Babes in Arms. With Hammerstein he wrote musicals in the 1940s and 1950s, such as Oklahoma!, Flower Drum Song, Carousel, Cinderella, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. His collaborations with Hammerstein, in particular, are celebrated for bringing the Broadway musical to new maturity by telling stories that focus on characters and drama rather than the genre's earlier light-hearted entertainment. Rodgers was the first person to win all four of the top American entertainment awards in theater, film, recording, and television—an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony—now known collectively as an EGOT. He also won a Pulitzer Prize, making him the first person to receive all five awards. In 1978, Rodgers was in the inaugural group of Kennedy Center Honorees for lifetime achievement in the arts.