Editing Lionel Bart

{{Short description|English composer and writer (1930–1999)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{More footnotes|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox person
| name         = Lionel Bart
| image        = Lionel Bart Allan Warren.jpg
| caption      = Bart in 1973, by [[Allan Warren]]
| birth_name   = Lionel Begleiter
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|df=yes|1930|8|1}}
| birth_place  = [[Stepney]], [[London]], England
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1999|4|3|1930|8|1}}
| death_place  = [[Acton, London|Acton]], London, England
| burial_place = [[Golders Green Crematorium]], London, England
| occupation   = Composer and writer
| years_active = 1952–1999
}}
'''Lionel Bart''' (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was an English writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote [[Tommy Steele]]'s "[[Rock with the Caveman]]" and was the sole creator of the musical ''[[Oliver!]]'' (1960). With ''Oliver!'' and his work alongside theatre director [[Joan Littlewood]] at [[Theatre Royal Stratford East|Theatre Royal, Stratford East]], he played an instrumental role in the 1960s birth of the British musical theatre scene after an era when American musicals had dominated the [[West End theatre|West End]].<ref name="nyt"/>

Best known for creating the book, music and lyrics for ''Oliver!'', Bart was described by [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]] as "the father of the modern British musical".<ref name="nyt">{{cite news|title=Lionel Bart, 68, Songwriter; Created the Musical 'Oliver!'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/05/theater/lionel-bart-68-songwriter-created-the-musical-oliver.html|author=Eric Pace|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 5, 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9fe1bdd1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826024541/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9fe1bdd1|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 August 2016|title=Lionel Bart|website=Bfi.org.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/841250/|title=BFI Screenonline: Bart, Lionel (1930-1999) Biography|website=Screenonline.org.uk}}</ref> In 1963 he won the [[Tony Award for Best Original Score]] for ''Oliver!'', and the [[Oliver! (film)|1968 film version]] of the musical won a total of 6 Academy Awards including the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]].<ref name="nyt"/>

Some of his other songs include the theme song to the [[James Bond]] film ''[[From Russia with Love (film)|From Russia with Love]]'', and the songs "[[Living Doll (song)|Living Doll]]" by [[Cliff Richard]], "Far Away" by [[Shirley Bassey]], "[[Do You Mind (Anthony Newley song)|Do You Mind?]]" (recorded by both [[Anthony Newley]] and [[Andy Williams]]), "Big Time" (a 1961 cover by [[Jack Jones (singer)|Jack Jones]] of his show tune from ''[[Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be]]''), "Easy Going Me" by [[Adam Faith]], "Always You And Me" by [[Russ Conway]], and several songs recorded by [[Tommy Steele]] ("A Handful of Songs", "Butterfingers" and "[[Little White Bull]]").<ref name="nyt"/> By the mid 1960s he was as well known for his outlandish lifestyle, his celebrity friends, his excesses and his parties, as he was for his work.

==Early life==
He was born '''Lionel Begleiter''', the youngest of seven surviving children of [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galician]] Jews, Yetta (née Darumstundler) and Morris Begleiter, a master tailor.<ref>{{cite ODNB|url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/72145 |title=Bart &#91;formerly Begleiter&#93;, Lionel (1930-1999), song-writer and composer of musicals : Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - oi |chapter=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |year=2004 |pages=ref:odnb/72145 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/72145 |access-date=2015-01-30 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403124354/http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref%3Aodnb/72145 |archive-date= 3 April 2015 |df=dmy }}</ref> He grew up in [[Stepney]]; his father worked in the area as a tailor in a garden shed. The family had escaped the pogroms against Jews by Ukrainian cossacks in [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]].

As a young man he was an accomplished painter. When Bart was aged six, a teacher told his parents that he was a musical genius. His parents gave him an old violin, but he did not apply himself and the lessons stopped.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

==Songwriting==
[[File:Lionel Bart 3 Allan Warren.jpg|thumb|Bart in 1973]]
He started his songwriting career in amateur theatre, first at The International Youth Centre in 1952 where he and a friend wrote a revue together called ''IYC Revue 52''. The following year the pair auditioned for a production of the Leonard Irwin play ''The Wages of Eve'' at London's [[Unity Theatre, London|Unity Theatre]]. Shortly afterward Bart began composing songs for Unity Theatre productions, contributing material (including the title song) to its 1953 revue ''Turn It Up'', and songs for its 1953 pantomime, an [[agitprop]] version of ''Cinderella''. While at the Unity he was talent-spotted by [[Joan Littlewood]], and so joined [[Theatre Workshop]].<ref>This is detailed mainly in David Roper's book, and some of it in Colin Chambers'</ref> He also wrote comedy songs for the Sunday lunchtime BBC radio programme ''[[Billy Cotton|The Billy Cotton Band Show]]''.<ref name="queens-theatre.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.queens-theatre.co.uk/biographies/lionelbart.htm |title=Lionel Bart |access-date=2009-06-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20040629201515/http://www.queens-theatre.co.uk/biographies/lionelbart.htm |archive-date=29 June 2004 |df=dmy }}</ref>

He first gained widespread recognition through his pop songwriting, penning numerous hits for the stable of young male singers promoted by artist manager and music publisher [[Larry Parnes]]. Bart's pop output in this period includes the hits "[[Living Doll (song)|Living Doll]]" (written for [[Cliff Richard]]) and "[[Rock with the Caveman]]", "Handful of Songs", "Butterfingers" and "[[Little White Bull]]" (all for [[Tommy Steele]]). During this period, Steele and [[Mike Pratt (actor)|Mike Pratt]] were his songwriting partners. He won three [[Ivor Novello Awards]] in 1957, a further four in 1958, and two in 1960. He wrote the theme song for the 1963 [[James Bond]] film ''[[From Russia with Love (soundtrack)|From Russia with Love]]'', and worked with [[John Barry (composer)|John Barry]] again on the score to the 1964 film ''[[Man in the Middle (film)|Man in the Middle]]''. His other hits include "[[Do You Mind (Anthony Newley song)|Do You Mind]]", recorded by both [[Andy Williams]] and [[Anthony Newley]], whose recording reached number one on the UK charts on 30 March 1960<ref>{{cite web|title="Do You Mind?": Anthony Newley| url=http://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/do%20you%20mind_qum_| website=www.officialcharts.com| access-date=8 June 2021}}</ref> and was the 100th song to do so, "Big Time" (a 1961 cover by [[Jack Jones (singer)|Jack Jones]] of his show tune from ''[[Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be]]''), "Easy Going Me" ([[Adam Faith]]), and "Always You and Me" (with [[Russ Conway]]).

Bart was also responsible for the discovery of two of Parnes' biggest stars. It was on his recommendation that Parnes went to see singer Tommy Hicks, whom he signed and renamed Tommy Steele, and Bart also suggested that Parnes see singer Reg Smith, who was then performing at the Condor Club. Although Parnes missed his performance, he went round to Smith's house and signed him up on the basis of Bart's recommendation. Smith went on to score a number of UK hits under his new stage name [[Marty Wilde]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/larry_parnes.htm |title=Larry Parnes |website=Rockabilly.nl |access-date=19 February 2013}}</ref>

Twenty-seven years after it became a number one hit for Cliff Richard, "Living Doll" was re-recorded by [[The Young Ones (TV series)|The Young Ones]] and Richard for [[Comic Relief (charity)|Comic Relief]], and spent another three weeks at number one.<ref name="staff">Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be, The Lionel Bart Story, by David and Caroline Stafford, Omnibus Press, 2011.</ref>

==Musical theatre==
Bart's first professional musical was 1959's ''[[Lock Up Your Daughters (musical)|Lock Up Your Daughters]]'', based on the 18th-century play ''[[Rape upon Rape]]'' by [[Henry Fielding]]. Following that, ''Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be'', produced by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop, was noted for encouraging the use of authentic [[Cockney]] accents on the London stage and bringing an end to censorship of British theatre. ''[[Oliver!]]'' (1960), based on [[Charles Dickens|Dickens's]] ''[[Oliver Twist]]'', was a major success. The music for ''Oliver!'' was transcribed by [[Eric Rogers (composer)|Eric Rogers]], who wrote and composed 21 scores for the [[Carry On films|''Carry On'' films]]. Bart hummed the melodies and Rogers wrote the notes on his behalf as Bart could not read or write music.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.britishcinemagreats.com/scores/eric_rogers/eric_rogers.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041206160842/http://www.britishcinemagreats.com/scores/eric_rogers/eric_rogers.htm | url-status=usurped | archive-date=6 December 2004 |title=Eric Rogers &#124; Scores &#124; Themes &#124; Music from the classic movies |publisher=British Cinema Greats |access-date=2012-05-02}}</ref>

In 1968 ''Oliver!'' was made into a movie starring [[Ron Moody]], [[Oliver Reed]] and [[Shani Wallis]] that won several [[Academy Awards|Oscars]], including best film. It is estimated that around this time Bart was earning 16 [[Pound sterling|pounds]] a minute from ''Oliver!''<ref>{{cite news|author=Nosheen Iqbal |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/quiz/2009/jan/19/oliver-lionel-bart |title=Consider yourself an expert on Oliver!'s Lionel Bart? |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]| location=London |date=19 January 2009 |access-date=2013-02-19}}</ref>

Bart's next two musicals, ''[[Blitz!]]'' (1962) (from which came the song "Far Away", a hit for [[Shirley Bassey]]) and ''[[Maggie May (musical)|Maggie May]]'' (1964) had successful and respectable West End runs (''Blitz!'', at the time London's most expensive musical ever, had a run of 568 performances),<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=516132 |title=Broadway Buzz |website=Broadway.com |access-date=19 February 2013}}</ref> but ''[[Twang!!]]'' (1965), a musical based on the [[Robin Hood]] legend, was a flop and ''[[La Strada (musical)|La Strada]]'' (1969), which opened on [[Broadway (theatre)|Broadway]] after the removal of most of Bart's songs, closed after only one performance. By this time Bart was taking [[LSD]] and other drugs and was drinking heavily.<ref name="independent.co.uk"/>

Bart used his personal finances to try to rescue his last two productions, selling his past and future rights to his work, including ''Oliver!'' which he sold to the entertainer [[Max Bygraves]] for £350 (Bygraves later{{when|date=September 2015}} sold them on for £250,000)<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/features/obituaries/feature.php/37286/max-bygraves |title=Max Bygraves – Obituaries |publisher=[[The Stage]] |access-date=2013-02-19}}</ref> to realise capital to finance the shows; Bart later estimated that this action lost him over £1 million.<ref name="independent.co.uk">{{cite web| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-lionel-bart-1085282.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220614/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-lionel-bart-1085282.html |archive-date=14 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Tom Vallance: Lionel Bart obituary, ''The Independent'', 5 April 1999| newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=6 October 2011| access-date=2014-09-22}}</ref> By 1972, Bart was bankrupt with debts of £73,000. A twenty-year period of depression and alcoholism ensued. He eventually stopped drinking, although the years of substance abuse seriously damaged his health, leaving him with diabetes and impaired liver function.<ref name="independent.co.uk"/>

He wrote ''Next Year in Jerusalem'' in 1975–1976, but it was not staged until 2021 in a virtual performance of the [[Jewish Music Institute]] featuring [[Maureen Lipman]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Thomas|first=Sophie|date=January 25, 2021|title=Maureen Lipman to sing lost Lionel Bart musical|url=https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/maureen-lipman-to-sing-lost-lionel-bart-musical|access-date=2021-02-17|website=London Theatre Guide}}</ref> In May 1977, an autobiographical musical called ''Lionel!'' opened in the [[West End theatre|West End]] at the [[New London Theatre]]. It was loosely based on Bart's early life as a child prodigy. Bart added some new songs for the show. The cast included [[Clarke Peters]], [[Marion Montgomery]] and [[Adrienne Posta]]. The role of Lionel was shared by a young [[Todd Carty]] and Chris Nieto. The show closed after six weeks.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

== Later life ==
Bart continued writing songs and themes for films, but his only real success in his later years was "Happy Endings", a song he wrote for a 1989 [[Abbey (bank)|Abbey National]] advertising campaign, which featured Bart playing the piano and singing to children.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7qV9EEpgao| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526060135/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7qV9EEpgao&gl=US&hl=en| archive-date=2019-05-26 | url-status=dead|title=YouTube|publisher=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>

He received a special [[Ivor Novello]] Award for life achievement in 1986. In 1987, encouraged by long-time friend [[Barry Humphries]], he travelled to Australia to attend the opening of a new production of ''Blitz!'', which was then revived in London's West End in 1990 by the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the London blitz. In April 1991, he appeared on ''[[This Is Your Life (UK TV series)|This Is Your Life]]''.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} [[Cameron Mackintosh]], who owned half the rights to ''Oliver!'', revived the musical at the [[London Palladium]] in 1994 in a version featuring rewrites by Bart. Mackintosh gave Bart a share of the production royalties. At the peak of his career, Bart was romantically linked in the media with singers [[Judy Garland]] and [[Alma Cogan]],<ref name="queens-theatre.co.uk"/> though he was [[homosexuality|homosexual]]. His sexual preferences were known to friends and colleagues, but he did not announce them publicly until a few years before his death.<ref name="independent.co.uk"/>

Bart died at the [[Hammersmith Hospital]] in West London on 3 April 1999,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skidmore.edu/~gthompso/britrock/60brchro/60brch00-34.html|title=1960s Britrock: 1900-1934|website=Skidmore.edu}}</ref> of liver cancer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.musicroom.com/product-detail/product1027859/variant1027859/the-lionel-bart-story-fings-aint-wot-they-used-t-be/|title=The Lionel Bart Story: Fings Ain't Wot They Used T' Be - Books - Books About Music|website=Musicroom.com|access-date=19 December 2017|archive-date=22 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222051146/https://www.musicroom.com/product-detail/product1027859/variant1027859/the-lionel-bart-story-fings-aint-wot-they-used-t-be/|url-status=dead}}</ref> A memorial bench is dedicated to him in [[Kew Gardens]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://londonist.com/2014/11/londons-famous-bench-dedications |title=London's Famous Bench Dedications |date=21 October 2016 |website=Londonist.com |access-date=12 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306002313/https://londonist.com/2014/11/londons-famous-bench-dedications |archive-date=6 March 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A workshop of a musical based on Bart's life and using his songs, ''It's a Fine Life'', was staged in 2006 at the [[Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch|Queen's Theatre]], Hornchurch.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.queens-theatre.co.uk/itsafinelife.htm |title=It's a Fine Life 2006 |access-date=2006-08-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20060901130321/http://www.queens-theatre.co.uk/itsafinelife.htm |archive-date= 1 September 2006 |df=dmy }}</ref> A later version titled ''More!'' was presented in concert at Theatre Royal Stratford East in 2015 featuring [[Neil McDermott]] as Bart, [[Jessica Hynes]] as Joan Littlewood and Sonny Jay as Charlene, with an appearance by 1960s pop-star [[Grazina Frame]], who was an original cast member in Bart's ''Blitz!''.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

==West End theatrical credits==
* ''[[Lock Up Your Daughters (musical)|Lock Up Your Daughters]]'' (1959) – lyrics
* ''[[Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be]]'' (1959) – music, lyrics
* ''[[Oliver!]]'' (1960) – music, lyrics, book. ''Oliver!'' was also produced on Broadway in 1963, winning a [[Tony Award for Best Original Score|Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist]] and receiving nominations for [[Tony Award for Best Musical|Best Musical]] and [[Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical|Best Author of a Musical]]. A return Broadway engagement of the original production played in 1965, and a Broadway revival was mounted in 1984.
* ''[[Blitz!]]'' (1962) – music, lyrics, book
* ''[[Maggie May (musical)|Maggie May]]'' (1964) – music, lyrics
* ''[[Twang!!]]'' (1965) – music, lyrics
* ''[[La Strada (musical)|La Strada]]'' (1969) – co-composer, co-lyricist. A Broadway production opened the same year.
* ''Lionel!'' (1977) – music, lyrics

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* [[:Category:Songs written by Lionel Bart]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* Chambers, Colin. ''The Story of Unity Theatre'' {{ISBN|0-85315-587-9}}
* Roper, David. ''Bart! The Unauthorized Life & Times, Ins and Outs, Ups and Downs of Lionel Bart'' {{ISBN|1-85793-330-3}}
* Stafford, David and Caroline. ''Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be – The Lionel Bart Story'', Omnibus Press, 2011 {{ISBN|978-1-84938-661-6}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb name|id=0058369|name=Lionel Bart}}
* [https://theatricalia.com/person/x8z/lionel-bart Lionel Bart] at Theatricalia
* [http://www.songwriter.co.uk/page62.html Lionel Bart] interview in ''Songwriter''
* {{Screenonline name|id=841250}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070216131636/https://www.circa-club.com/gallery/gay_history_icons_lionel_begleiter_bart.php Lionel Begleiter (Bart)] at Circa (archived)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040629201515/http://www.queens-theatre.co.uk/biographies/lionelbart.htm Lionel Bart] at [[Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch]]
* {{IBDB name}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060925052009/http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/theatre/features/article1222931.ece Lionel Bart: Appetite for destruction] in ''[[The Independent]]''

{{TonyAward MusicalScore 1947–1975}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bart, Lionel}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English classical musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century English LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:20th-century English male musicians]]
[[Category:Alumni of Saint Martin's School of Art]]
[[Category:Broadway composers and lyricists]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in England]]
[[Category:Deram Records artists]]
[[Category:English gay musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century English Jews]]
[[Category:English LGBTQ composers]]
[[Category:English LGBTQ songwriters]]
[[Category:English male composers]]
[[Category:English male songwriters]]
[[Category:English musical theatre composers]]
[[Category:English musical theatre lyricists]]
[[Category:Gay composers]]
[[Category:Gay Jews]]
[[Category:Gay songwriters]]
[[Category:Golders Green Crematorium]]
[[Category:Ivor Novello Award winners]]
[[Category:Jewish composers]]
[[Category:Jewish songwriters]]
[[Category:People from Stepney]]
[[Category:Tony Award winners]]