Loesser, (Henry) Frank (1910–1969)

US lyricist and composer. His greatest triumph, with both critics and the public, was the Broadway classic Guys and Dolls (1950), for which he wrote both words and music and won a Tony Award. He then wrote the semi-operatic The Most Happy Fella (1956) and in 1962 he won the Pulitzer Prize in drama for the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Even Trying (1961). He also ran a music publishing firm that helped support young composers.

Loesser was born in New York City. As a songwriter in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s he wrote such hits as ‘Heart and Soul’ (1938, with Hoagy Carmichael), ‘Baby, It's Cold Outside’ (1947), and ‘On a Slow Boat to China’ (1948). He also enjoyed modest success with Where's Charley? (1948).