Otto Harbach was an American librettist and lyricist who collaborated with the majority of Broadway's leading composers at the beginning of the twentieth century. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, he worked as an English teacher before becoming a newspaper reporter in New York. In 1902, he met composer Karl Hoschna and the duo began writing together. They had their first show on Broadway when they were approached to write the songs for the musical version of Mary Pacheco's play Incog. After Hoschna's death in 1911, Harbach teamed up with Rudolf Friml and the duo wrote a series of Broadway operettas and musical farces.
In 1917, Harbach had his biggest success so far with the musical comedy Going Up!, written with composer Louis Hirsch. Around 1920, Harbach became the mentor of a young Oscar Hammerstein II and together they wrote a string of musicals, including Wildflower (1923), Rose-Marie (1924), and The Desert Song (1926). In 1925, Harbach also began to collaborate with Jerome Kern on musicals such as The Cat and the Fiddle (1931) and Roberta (1933).
Over his career, Harbach wrote the lyrics for some standards that remain popular today, including "I Won't Dance" and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes".
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