This Sunday, More is Less...well, Loesser, anyway!
Yup, the songs and shows of Frank Loesser,
born in 1910, raised on 107th Street in Manhattan.
Frank's father taught classical piano (tho not to Frank!)
and his brother, Arthur, became a concert pianist.
But Frank taught himself the piano (and the harmonica),
got expelled from high school AND college...
and yet it's him we remember. :)
At first, lyrics were Frank's game;
he collaborated with the likes of Arthur Schwartz,
Hoagy Carmichael, Jule Styne, and Burton Lane
to produce songs like "Two Sleepy People,"
"I Don't Want To Walk Without You,"
and "Heart And Soul."
He would write song lyrics used in over 60 Hollywood movies!
During WWII, Frank was assigned to Special Services,
and he spent his time writing lyrics (and often melodies)
for army camp songs.
Above, Frank with his first wife,
Lynne Garland,
with whom he would perform his song
"Baby, It's Cold Outside"
at swanky parties...
"That song kept us in caviar and truffles" Frank would later state.
He sold the song to MGM, for use in the movie, Neptune's Daughter;
it won an Oscar for Best Original Song in 1949,
but garnered him no such awards from Lynne.
Frank with Wife #2:
Jo Sullivan,
who played Rosabella, in The Most Happy Fella.
Yup, Lynne was ditched during the course of that musical,
even tho she was an executive producer of the show.
Frank's first over-the-top Broadway smash:
Guys And Dolls,
Best Musical of 1951.
Above, Robert Alda and Isabel Bigley,
below, Vivian Blaine and Sam Levene.
Isabel was the one Frank once slapped during rehearsal...
evidently she wasn't singing loudly enough.
Flowers and candy followed on apace.
And shots from the movie version, done 5 years later.
"Pet Me Poppa" (above) and "Take Back Your Mink" (below)
both featured Vivian who reprised her role as Miss Adelaide.
The Guys And Dolls of the movie:
Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, and Vivian Blaine.
Frank supposedly had a lot of "fun" working with Marlon.
Nathan Lane (center) as Nathan Detroit
(yes, he took his stage name from one of his favorite
musical comedy characters!),
and (below) Faith Prince as Adelaide,
in the 1992 revival.
Another Frank goodie:
How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying,
a 1961 Pulitzer Prize and Tony winning show.
Above, Robert Morse "believing in himself" in the 1966 movie,
and below, J.B. Biggely (Rudy Vallee) with Robert's
Pierrepont Finch.
The "Paris Original" number above,
and "Been Along Day" below...
Robert, Claudette Sutherland, and Bonnie Scott.
In between Guys and How To,
Frank wrote what some would call an opera,
given its 40 songs!
The Most Happy Fella,
for which Frank did the music, lyrics, AND the book.
Above, Sue Johnson and Shorty Long, who played the secondary couple,
and below,
leads Jo Sullivan and Robert Weede.
Robert (who played...well, the most happy fella!)
was an actual opera star,
so even if it WAS an opera...no worries for Robert!
We'll also hear some artists who've done exceptional jobs
recording the songs of Frank Loesser,
like Andrea Marcovicci, above...
Judy Kuhn...
...and Tom Wopat and John Schneider,
who did their own Hazzard-ous version of
"Baby, It's Cold Outside" on their Christmas album.
Pardon the fuzzy pic above,
but that's Betty Hutton mid-Hamlet,
a novelty song Frank wrote for the film,
Red, Hot, And Blue, from 1949,
starring Betty and Victor Mature (below).
Frank had a small part in the movie, too,
playing Hair-Do Lempkie (???)
and wrote 4 songs for the film as well.
The glamorous side of Betty!
Frank passed away in July of 1969
from lung cancer.
Almost 4 decades of song-writing
and Broadway show creation.
He was 59 years old.
