Stephen Sondheim
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Stephen Joshua Sondheim (March 22, 1930 – November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Among the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, Sondheim was praised for having "reinvented the American musical" with shows that tackled "unexpected themes that range far beyond the [genre's] traditional subjects" with "music and lyrics of unprecedented complexity and sophistication". His shows addressed "darker, more harrowing elements of the human experience" with songs often tinged with "ambivalence" about various aspects of life. Sondheim started his theatre career by writing the lyrics for West Side Story (1957) and Gypsy (1959) before becoming a composer and lyricist. Sondheim's best-known works include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), and Into the Woods (1987). Sondheim's accolades include eight Tony Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Tony in 2008), an Academy Award, eight Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has a theater named for him both on Broadway and in the West End of London. Sondheim wrote film music, contributing "Goodbye for Now" for Warren Beatty's Reds (1981). He wrote five songs for 1990's Dick Tracy, including "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)", sung in the film by Madonna, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Film adaptations of Sondheim's work include West Side Story (1961), Gypsy (1962), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), A Little Night Music (1977), Gypsy (1993), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Into the Woods (2014), West Side Story (2021), and Merrily We Roll Along (TBD).
Known For
Credits
- 2022 · Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery as Stephen Sondheim
- 2022 · Keeping Company with Sondheim as Self
- 2022 · The Stories of West Side Story as Self
- 2021 · Cameron Mackintosh - The First 50 Years as Self
- 2021 · Something's Coming: West Side Story as Self
- 2021 · tick, tick... BOOM! as Stephen Sondheim (voice on phone) (uncredited)
- 2019 · On Broadway as Self (archive footage)
- 2018 · Harold Prince: The Director's Life as
- 2016 · West Side Stories: The Making of a Classic as Self
- 2016 · Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened... as Self
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self
- 2013 · Six by Sondheim as Self / Joe
- 2011 · A Place for Us: West Side Story's Legacy as Self
- 2010 · Sondheim! The Birthday Concert as Self - Honoree
- 2008 · Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Burton + Carter + Depp = Todd as Self
- 2006 · Witness to 'Reds' as Self
- 2005 · The Colbert Report as
- 2004 · Broadway: The American Musical as Self
- 2003 · Camp as Self
- 2003 · Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There as Self
- 2003 · West Side Memories as Self
- 2002 · The Making of Sweeney Todd at the San Francisco Symphony as Self
- 1998 · Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh as Self
- 1994 · Inside the Actors Studio as Self
- 1992 · Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall as Self
- 1991 · Pebble Mill as Self
- 1991 · Assassins: A Conversationpiece as Self
- 1990 · Into the Woods: A Conversationpiece as Self
- 1990 · Sunday in the Park with... Stephen as
- 1989 · The Simpsons as Stephen Sondheim (voice)
- 1986 · Follies: In Concert as Self- Composer
- 1986 · Putting it Together: The Making of the Broadway Album as Himself
- 1980 · Sweeney Todd: Scenes from the Making of a Musical as Self
- 1978 · The Kennedy Center Honors as Self
- 1977 · Previn and the Pittsburgh as Self
- 1976 · Live from Lincoln Center as Self
- 1974 · June Moon as Maxie Schwartz
- 1973 · Sondheim: A Musical Tribute as
- 1973 · The Last of Sheila Featurette as Self
- 1971 · Great Performances as Maxie Schwartz
- 1971 · Great Performances as Self
- 1970 · Original Cast Album: Company as Self
- 1962 · The Merv Griffin Show as Self
- 1956 · Tony Awards as Self - Nominee
- 1953 · The Oscars as Self (archive footage)