Harold Rome
b. May 27, 1908, Hartford, CT, USA, d. Oct. 26, 1993, New York, NY, USA. (stroke)
Overview
Composer-lyricist Harold Rome, with his Yale degree in Architecture, was an unlikely candidate for a Broadway career. Until that is, the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, engaged him to score their 1937 musical pastiche 'Pins and Needles'. The 'summer' show ran for over 1000 performances, and Rome had arrived on Broadway.

Rome attended the public schools in Hartford, and Trinity College. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University in 1929. He dropped out of the Yale Law School after two years, and by 1934, completed the course at the Yale School of Architecture. Music had always been fun for Rome. He help support himself in school by playing the piano in dance bands and as a rehearsal pianist for dance classes. He even toured Europe as a member of the Yale Band. But all that time, he never thought of music as a career.

In 1934, Rome took up residence in New York City, and found a job with an architect who offered him experience in lieu of a salary. He did work briefly for the U.S. WPA project for $24.00 per week. Since his only two fields of knowledge were architecture and music, he turned to music to supplement his income. Ocassionally he wrote just the lyric, at other times, he wrote just the melody. Then, the burlesque stage artist, Gypsy Rose Lee bought one of his specialty pieces, and The Ritz Brothers, movie comedians, used one of his compositions in a film. Rome then decided to concentrate on a music career.

He began advanced studies with private teachers. He studied composition with Lehman Engel; Joseph Schillinger, and Meyer Kupferman, and furthered his piano training with Loma Roberts and Arthur Lloyd. He found summer work in an adult camp (Green Mansions) in upstate N. Y., writing songs for their weekly productions. This brought him to the attention of the Int'l Ladies Garment Workers Union, in the form of Louis Schaeffer. The union was producing a revue which would be staffed entirely by the union members, and called 'Pins and Needles'. Schaeffer asked Rome to assist in production and to write all of the songs. The show was filled with satirical comments on the social and political climate of the nation. It sentimentalized the working man's pleasures, and attacked big business and fascism with humor and ridicule. This 'summertime' show wound up running for 1108 performances. Rome wrote the music and the lyrics for such songs as:
"Sing Me a Song of Social Significance"
"Sunday in the Park", which won an ASCAP Award.

Producer Max Gordon contracted with Rome to score another
      political revue called
1938 'Sing Out the News', featured the song,
      "Franklin D. Roosevelt Jones", another ASCAP Award tune.
1940 The Broadway show 'Streets of Paris' had some Rome songs.
     Scored the entire Broadway show, 'The Little Dog Laughed'.
1942 Contributed some songs to 'Let Freedom Ring'.

With the outbreak of WW11, Rome helped create a series of Defense
Plant revues called 'The Lunchtime Follies'. Some of his songs
were also interpolated into 1942's 'Star and Garter' and into the
'Ziegfeld Follies of 1943'. Rome became a member of the U.S.
Armed Forces in 1943, and was assigned to write special material
for army shows. One of his shows, 'Skirts', toured England. His
production of 'Stars and Gripes' toured the U.S. and the Pacific
areas.

When peace came, Rome returned to the Broadway stages.
1946 'Call Me Mister', had a run of 784 performances.
     "South America, Take It Away",
     "The Face on the Dime"
1950 wrote some songs for 'Peep Show', a Mike Todd production.
     Wrote some songs for 'Bless You All'

1952 'Wish You Were Here', His first music and lyrics songs.
     "Wish You Were Here", the title song.

1954 'Fanny', starred Ezio Pinza.  When 'Fanny' was made into
      a motion picture, none of Rome's songs were used, except
      for "Fanny", which was used as background music.

1959 'Destry Rides Again' with songs,
      "Anyone Would Love You"
      "I Know Your Kind"
      "Ballad of the Gun"

1962 'I Can Get It for You Wholesale', Collab. with Jerome Wiseman
       "Eat A Little Something", Sung by Lillian Roth.

1965 show 'The Zulu and The Zader', an Afro-Jewish Musical, starred
      Louis Gossette and Menasche Skolnick. Songs such as:
      "It's Good To Be Alive"
      "L'Chaim"

   Ann Ronell
b. 1908, Omaha, Nebraska, USA, d. Dec. 25, 1994, New York, NY, USA. Age: 85.
Overview
Composer Ann Ronell did not write a large number of famous songs. Pehaps her biggest hit was 1933's "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" Most of her work consisted of writing movie background music and conducting sound track music. (Thanks to Dana Shima for pointing out that Ann's greatest evergreen is "Willow Weep For Me".)

She was the first woman to score a film and worked on several films, including: 1937 'Champagne Waltz'; 1938 'Blockade'; 1945 'The Story of G.I. Joe' (collaborated with composer Louis Applebaum; nominated for a best film score Oscar); 1948 'One Touch of Venus'; and in 1949, 'Love Happy'. She was the Musical Director for 1953's film 'Main Street To Broadway' and and was lyricist for the 1938 film, 'Algiers'.

She was music director for a number of films, including "Tomorrow the World," and was involved in the scoring for "Ladies in Retirement" and "The Commandos Strike at Dawn." Her Americanized version of Frederick Von Flotow's opera "Martha," with English lyrics by her collaborator, Vicki Baum, caused a mild controversy at the time. Her husband, independent film producer Lester Cowan, preceded her in death by two years.