- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJulius Kerwin Stein
- Nickname
- Julie
- Jule Styne was born on December 31, 1905 in London, England, UK. He was a composer and producer, known for Funny Girl (1968), Piège de cristal (1988) and Les hommes préfèrent les blondes (1953). He was married to Margaret Ann Bissett Brown and Ethel Rubenstein. He died on September 20, 1994 in New York City, New York, USA.
- SpousesMargaret Ann Bissett Brown(1962 - September 20, 1994) (his death, 2 children)Ethel Rubenstein(1927 - 1952) (divorced, 2 children)
- Won Broadway's Tony Award twice in 1968 for "Hallelujah, Baby!" and as Best Composer and Lyricist, with collaborators Betty Comden and Adolph Green and for music as part of Best Musical win. Previously, he had five Tony nominations: in 1957, for music as part of Best Musical nomination for "Bells Are Ringing"; in 1960, for music as part of Best Musical nomination for "Gypsy"; in 1961, for music as part of Best Musical nomination for "Do Re Mi" and in 1964, as both Best Composer and Lyricist, with collaborator Bob Merrill and for music as part of Best Musical nomination for "Funny Girl".
- Studied at the Chicago College of Music at the age of eight. Five years later, he was told by his piano teacher that his hands were too small and he would never make it as a concert pianist.
- With Edgar Benson's Orchetra in 1926, wrote his first hit tune, "Sunday", to impress a girl. Subsequently joined the band of Ben Pollack, where he worked alongside Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Charlie Spivak.
- Estimated in 1987, that he had written 2,000 songs, of which he had published 1,500, 200 of them being hits.
- Kennedy Center Honoree, 1990.
- [on meeting Stephen Sondheim while working on "Gypsy"] "I thought he might hit me over the head, knowing that he wanted to do the whole show. He was young, ambitious, and a huge talent. But he was also very gentle, and we got along fine".
- [observation, 1973] I have been too hasty. In my anxiety to practice my work as Dick Rodgers and Larry Hart and Cole Porter did, I found myself doing two shows a year up until two years ago. And I have been doing a lot of bad shows because there aren't any good books around. But I still practice my art. If you stop for a long time, no good. You have to practice. I don't care 'what' you write - good, bad, rotten - write a short or long story, notes, a joke, find something. Gotta write something.
- I think the greatest woman singer of my time is Barbra Streisand. I'll never live to hear anyone else who has so much. I love that voice so much. It hasn't been drawn on yet. It is an unending chain of events, and they will always reach and give me something new that's bewildering. It's very exciting to me to hear this thing come out of that mouth.
- Enthusiasm is hardly inspiration, it's perspiration.I think only amateurs have to be inspired in some ways. You're a professional, you do your job. The inspiration comes later on when you haver already got something and are inspired to make it better, better than it is. When I write a score for a play, just to give you an idea, I write between forty and fifty songs to get sixteen. Sometimes they accept this, and I come back but I change this, and they say,'Gee, this is better', or 'No, we'll keep the original'. But I test. I draw on myself.
- A director can't just say, 'Take it out'. Even Jerry Robbins couldn't take 'Little Lamb' out of 'Gypsy'.
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