Charles Strouse

Charles Strouse, the Tony Award-winning composer behind the classic musicals "Annie" and "Bye Bye Birdie," died May 15, 2025, at his home in New York City at the age of 96.?

Strouse launched his career at the very top: his first Broadway musical was 1960's "Bye Bye Birdie." It was a huge hit that was also adapted into a popular film and spawned enduring songs like "Put On A Happy Face." The work earned him his first of three Tony Awards. His second came in 1970, with the show "Applause." In 1977 he achieved his trifecta with "Annie," another hit adapted into a film that spawned songs like "Tomorrow" and "It's the Hard-Knock Life." Many of these works were penned with lyricist Lee Adams, his longtime collaborator. Other notable works include "Those Were the Days" (the theme song for "All in the Family"); the film score for "Bonnie and Clyde" (among others); and a 1966 production that brought superheroism to the stage, "It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman." All told, he was nominated for seven Tonys, winning three. He was nominated for three Drama Desk Awards, and he won an Emmy Award and a Grammy Award.

"I was extremely fortunate to meet Mr. Strouse when he spoke as part of a theater class I attended at NYU," Tom Alonso wrote on Facebook. "He talked about his life, career and his creative process for the entire class, and then hung around and talked with us for at least a half hour afterwards. There was one story in particular he told that made a huge, lasting impression on me: When he and Lee Adams were writing 'Bye Bye Birdie' in his apartment and had finished a new song, instead of playing it for the producers, cast or director, they'd always play it first for the elevator man in their building! To paraphrase: 'If a regular guy doesn't like it, what's the use?'"

By Eric San Juan

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