Styne, Jule

Styne, (b. Julius Kerwin Stein) Jule

(1905–94) composer, producer; born in London, England. He immigrated to the United States in 1912 and attended the Chicago College of Music. In the 1920s and 1930s he led his own bands and played piano with Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller. His first Broadway scores were for High Button Shoes (1947) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949). He did the music for Bells are Ringing (1956) with librettists-lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and he wrote Gypsy (1959) with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. He also wrote Funny Girl (1964), with lyrics by Bob Merrill. He wrote popular songs for over 80 films, including "Three Coins in a Fountain" (1954), words by Sammy Cahn. He was also the producer of several plays and musicals. In the 1980s he taught songwriting at New York University.