Bob Merrill was an American composer and lyricist. He was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia. His family owned a candy factory, but a young Merrill had plans for a career in show business and competed in a string of talent contests. However, his ambitions were cut short by the advent of World War Two and he was drafted into the army. When the war was over, he worked as a dialog director in Hollywood for Columbia Pictures. While on location, he was asked to write some songs for the singer and actress, Dorothy Shay. They were a hit and Merrill went on to write solo and in a partnership on a variety of popular songs including “Mambo Italiano”, “If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake”, “Tina Marie”, and “People”, Babra Streisand’s hit single from Funny Girl.
Merrill had his first Broadway success writing the music and lyrics for New Girl in Town, the Tony-nominated 1957 musical starring Gwen Verdon. He followed this success with Take Me Along (1959; Tony-nominated), Carnival! (1961; Tony-nominated_, and Funny Girl (1964). Merrill, along with writing partner Jule Styne, went on to write the title song for the movie adaptation of the show and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song.
Merrill’s later Broadway credits included Breakfast at Tiffany's (1966), Henry, Sweet Henry (1967), and The Red Shoes (1993). He married twice but did not have any children. After suffering from ill health and depression, he took his own life in 1998.
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