Paul Francis Webster

The Oscar-winning lyricist behind such classic film themes as “Like Is really a Many Splendored Thing,” “The Darkness of the Smile,” and “Somewhere My Like (Lara’s Theme),” Paul Francis Webster was created Dec 20, 1907, in NEW YORK. After dropping away from NYU, he established sail for Asia being a product owner seaman, and upon time for the U.S. proved helpful simply because an Arthur Murray dance trainer; in 1932, Webster teamed with composer John Jacob Loeb to rating his first strike, “Masquerade,” accompanied by effective collaborations with William Scotti (“My Moonlight Madonna”) and Lew Pollack (“Two Tobacco at night”). In 1935, Webster was contracted for his initial film, the Shirley Temple automobile Our LITTTLE LADY; whilst in Hollywood, he also caused Duke Ellington on Leap for Pleasure, an all-black musical which premiered at Los Angeles’ Mayan Movie theater in 1941 using a ensemble including Ivie Anderson and Dorothy Dandridge. Webster also caused Ted Fio Rito (“Lily of Laguna”) before starting a successful relationship with Hoagy Carmichael which yielded music like “Baltimore Oriole,” “Doctor, Attorney, Indian Key,” and “Memphis in June.” He gained his initial Academy Award in 1953 for “Top secret Love,” created with Sammy Fain for the film Calamity Jane; Webster and Fain afterwards reunited to collaborate on tasks including Lucky Me (“I Talk with the Superstars”), Marjorie Morningstar (“AN EXTREMELY Precious Like”), and Apr Love (the name tune). Possibly the most well-known fruits of the relationship was the name theme to 1955’s Appreciate Is really a Many Splendored Thing, which gained Webster another Oscar. His various other main collaborator of the time was Dimitri Tiomkin, with whom Webster done images including Rio Bravo, The Alamo, as well as the Weapons of Navarone; he teamed with composer Johnny Mandel to writer 1965’s Oscar-winning “The Darkness of the Smile,” in the Sandpiper, which same calendar year also partnered with Maurice Jarre for Dr. Zhivago’s “Someplace My Like (Lara’s Theme).” Elected in to the Songwriters Hall of Popularity in 1972, Webster passed away in Beverly Hillsides on March 18, 1984.