Composer Stephen Sondheim dies, aged 91

Broadway composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim died early Friday at the age of 91, his publicist said.

Sondheim helped American musical theater evolve beyond pure entertainment and reach new artistic heights with such works as "West Side Story," "Into the Woods" and "Sweeney Todd."

The composer died suddenly in his Connecticut home the day after celebrating Thanksgiving with friends, his attorney F. Richard Pappas said.

Born on March 22, 1930, in New York City, Sondheim was involved in musical theater from an early age, even though both of his parents worked in the fashion industry.

He started playing piano at age seven and was family friends with Oscar Hammerstein II, half of the famed musical theater writing duo Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Sondheim's first professional writing job was for the television comedy "Topper" in the 1950s.

His breakthrough on Broadway came with "West Side Story" in 1957, quickly followed by "Gypsy" two years later.

West Side Story" was adapted into a film twice, first in 1961, starring Rita Moreno. The second, due to be released in early December, stars Ansel Elgort and newcomer Rachel Zegler.

Throughout his more than five-decades-long career, Sondheim won eight Grammy awards, eight Tony awards — including the special Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre — one Academy Award and a Pulitzer.

He was nominated for many more Grammys and Tonys, as well as two Golden Globes.

As well as "Company", his play "Assassins," has also been revived on Broadway this fall.

In 2015, then US president Barack Obama presented Sondheim with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, for his life's work.

Sondheim's repertoire includes much-loved shows such as "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "Into the Woods."

In 2017, Sondheim married his partner Jeffrey Romley, who survives him.

Source: DW