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He was born Gerald Herman on July 10, 1933 in New York City. Raised by musically-inclined parents, he learned to play piano at an early age, and the three frequently attended Broadway shows, particularly musicals. His summers were spent in the Berkshire Mountains at Stissing Lake Camp, which was run by his parents, both teachers, for additional income, and it was there that he first became involved in a theatrical production, as director of Finian's Rainbow.

At the age of seventeen, he was introduced to Frank Loesser who, after hearing material he had written, urged him to continue composing. He left the Parsons School of Design to attend the University of Miami in order to take advantage of their avant garde theater department. After graduation, Herman moved into musical theatre when he produced the off-Broadway revue I Feel Wonderful , which was comprised of material he had written for college shows. It opened at the Theatre de Lys in Greenwich Village on October 18October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in Leap years). There are 74 days remaining. Events 1009 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the "mad" Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacke, 1954See also 1953 in music, other events of 1954, 1955 in music, 1950s in music and the list of 'years in music' Events Frank Sinatra wins the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in From Here To Eternity 1953; resuscitating his singing career in the proce and ran for forty-eight performances. It was his only show his mother got to see; shortly after it opened, she died of cancer at the age of forty-four, and Herman spent the next year in deep mourning, seriously depressed.

In order to break loose from his grief, he moved into Manhattan and eventually collected enough original material to put together a revue called Nightcap ( 1958Events January January 1 Treaty of Rome founding the EU is implemented January 4 Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from its orbit (launched on October 4 1957) January 8 14 year old Bobby Fischer wins the United States Chess Championship January 18 Armed Lumbee Nat). Choreographed by friend Phyllis Newman , and with a cast that included Charles Nelson ReillyCharles Nelson Reilly (born January 13, 1931) is an American actor, director and drama teacher best known for his comedic roles in movies, children's television, and animated cartoons. He has achieved somewhat of a cult status for his the good-natured zan (who later co-starred in Hello Dolly!), it opened at a tiny jazz club called the Showplace. Critical raves and glowing word-of-mouth kept it running for two years.

In 1960Events January-February January 1 Independence of Cameroon January 9 Aswan High Dam construction begins in Egypt January 11 Chad declares its independence. January 14 Ralph Chubb, the gay poet and printer, dies at Fair Oak Cottage in Hampshire. January 23, producer Gerard Oestreicher approached him after seeing a performance of his revue Parade, and asked if he would be interested in composing the score for a show about the founding of the state of IsraelThis article discusses the State of Israel. For other meanings of Israel see Israel (disambiguation). The State of Israel Medinat Yisrael in Hebrew, Daulat Israil in Arabic) is a country in the Middle East on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea.. The result was his first Broadway production, Milk and Honey ( 19611961 (As MAD Magazine pointed out on its first cover for the year) was the first "upside-down" year i. one that looked the same upside down since 1881, and the last until 6009. Events January January 1 The farthing coin, used since the 13th century, cease), with a book by Don Appell and starring Molly Picon . It received respectable reviews and ran for 543 performances.

In 1964, producer David Merrick united Herman with Carol Channing for a project that was to become one of his most successful - Hello Dolly!. The original production ran for 2,844 performances and was later revived three times. Although facing stiff competition from Funny Girl, it swept the Tony Awards that season.

Herman went on to compose several shows, some successful, others not, but all interesting in their concepts and notable for their melodic and memorable scores. (A complete listing appears below.) His songs and lyrics are well known and have been presented on television, in film, and on the stage, and many of his tunes have become popular standards. Three of Herman's musical plays ran on Broadway for more than 1500 performances each.

His most famous song, "Hello Dolly!", was a #1 hit on the US charts for Louis Armstrong, and a French recording by Petula Clark charted in the Top Ten in both Canada and France. Another tune, "If He Walked into My Life" from Mame, was recorded by Eydie Gormé and became a popular standard.