Arthur Schwartz Biography Quotes 5 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Arthur Schwartz was born in 1900 and came of age in New York at a moment when vaudeville, Tin Pan Alley, and Broadway were reshaping American culture. Gifted at the piano and steeped in the popular and classical music he heard around the city, he nevertheless pursued a conventional path first. He trained in the law and began a professional life that, on paper, promised stability. The pull of songwriting, however, proved stronger than any courtroom brief, and by the late 1920s he redirected his energies toward composing for the stage.

Turning to Music and Early Collaborations
Schwartz began by contributing songs to revues, the fast-moving, star-driven entertainments that were then central to Broadway. In that sphere he met people who would shape his career. Among the most consequential was lyricist Howard Dietz, a sharp wit with a publicist's flair who would become Schwartz's principal partner. Their sensibilities meshed: Dietz brought urbane, literate lyrics; Schwartz supplied graceful, melodic lines that were both sophisticated and instantly memorable.

Breakthrough on Broadway
Their first major splash came with The Little Show in 1929, a topical revue led by Beatrice Lillie, Clifton Webb, and Fred Allen. From it came I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan, the kind of bittersweet, poised tune that would become a Schwartz hallmark. Three's a Crowd followed in 1930, featuring talents like Clifton Webb and Libby Holman and yielding Something to Remember You By. The Band Wagon in 1931, starring Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire, confirmed Schwartz and Dietz as leaders of a new Broadway polish; it produced Dancing in the Dark and other standards. Through Flying Colors (1932), Revenge with Music (1934), and later Between the Devil (1937), they added Alone Together, A Shine on Your Shoes, You and the Night and the Music, I See Your Face Before Me, and By Myself to the growing American songbook. Performers such as Clifton Webb, Beatrice Lillie, and later stars who embraced these songs kept them in the public ear.

Hollywood and Film Work
As the center of musical entertainment shifted west, Schwartz followed. He collaborated in Hollywood both as a songwriter and as a producer, a rare duality that placed him alongside decision-makers and marquee talent. He worked with lyricist Leo Robin on film songs including A Gal in Calico and A Rainy Night in Rio, extending his melodic voice into the movies. In the mid-1940s he served as a film producer, shepherding projects with stars like Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly; among these was Cover Girl, which remains associated with his name in the credits. His link to MGM intensified with the 1953 film version of The Band Wagon, produced by Arthur Freed and directed by Vincente Minnelli, with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. That film introduced That's Entertainment!, a Dietz and Schwartz anthem that wryly celebrates show business itself, and showcased earlier Schwartz numbers reimagined for the screen by Minnelli, Astaire, and the screenwriting team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green.

Postwar Revues and Book Musicals
Schwartz did not abandon the stage. Inside U.S.A. in the late 1940s, with stars like Beatrice Lillie and Jack Haley, brought Haunted Heart and Rhode Island Is Famous for You into circulation, songs that combined wit with a wistful undertone. He also found an important collaborator in Dorothy Fields. Together they created A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1951), a heartfelt adaptation remembered for its lyrical warmth and songs such as Make the Man Love Me. The pair reunited for By the Beautiful Sea (1954), which returned Schwartz to a Coney Island setting in spirit, with Fields's lyrics matching his buoyant, danceable tunes.

Later Projects and Persistence
Broadway's tastes shifted in the 1950s and 1960s, yet Schwartz continued to write. He and Howard Dietz reunited for Jennie (1963), a star vehicle for Mary Martin. Though not a long-running success, it showed Schwartz's continuing command of theater craft and his loyalty to collaborators who had defined his early career. Across these decades he also remained present in recording studios and television appearances where his catalog was revived by younger artists.

Craft, Voice, and Influence
Schwartz's music is marked by flowing, singable melodies that invite both intimacy and elegant swing. His partnership with Howard Dietz brought urbane irony into balance with heartfelt yearning, yielding songs that jazz and pop musicians embraced. Frank Sinatra's interpretations, notably I See Your Face Before Me, as well as readings by singers such as Sarah Vaughan and other stylists, helped carry Schwartz's work to listeners who never saw the original shows. Dancers and choreographers, from the Astaires on Broadway to Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse on film, found his rhythms naturally kinetic, and arrangers and bandleaders prized his harmonic clarity.

Professional Circles and Personal Connections
The people around Schwartz formed a cross-section of 20th-century American entertainment: Howard Dietz at his side as lyricist; performers like Fred Astaire, Adele Astaire, Clifton Webb, Beatrice Lillie, Libby Holman, Jack Haley, and Mary Martin animating his songs; Hollywood figures such as Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly, Vincente Minnelli, Arthur Freed, and the team of Comden and Green connecting his work to film audiences; and fellow writers including Dorothy Fields and Leo Robin broadening his collaborative range. In later years, his son Jonathan Schwartz became a noted radio host and advocate for the Great American Songbook, helping to keep Arthur Schwartz's catalog in active circulation for new generations.

Legacy
From the cabaret-scaled elegance of The Little Show to the widescreen glamour of The Band Wagon on film, Arthur Schwartz charted a path that linked Broadway and Hollywood at a formative time. He wrote the melodies that dancers wanted to move to and singers wanted to caress, and he did so while navigating both the creative and business sides of showmaking. He died in 1984, leaving a body of work that endures through revivals, recordings, and the constant rediscovery of songs like Dancing in the Dark, You and the Night and the Music, and That's Entertainment!. His place in the American musical tradition rests not on one show or one era, but on a sustained ability to capture urban sophistication and private longing in tunes that still feel effortless when the curtain rises or the band counts off.

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