Lionel Bart (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was a British writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote

Tommy Steele Sir Thomas Hicks (born 17 December 1936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star. After being discovered at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Steele reco ...

's "

Rock with the Caveman "Rock with the Caveman" is the debut single by Tommy Steele and the Steelmen, released in October 1956. It peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart, making it one of the first British rock and roll records to chart. Background and recordin ...

" and was the sole creator of the musical '' Oliver!'' (1960). With ''Oliver!'' and his work alongside theatre director

Joan Littlewood Joan Maud Littlewood (6 October 1914 – 20 September 2002) was an English theatre director who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and is best known for her work in developing the Theatre Workshop. She has been called "The Mother of M ...

Theatre Royal, Stratford East The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with director Joan Littlewood, whose s ...

, 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. 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". In 1963 he won the

Tony Award for Best Original Score The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical or play in that year. The score consists of music and/or lyrics. To be eligible, a score must be written ...

for ''Oliver!'', and the 1968 film version of the musical won a total of 6 Academy Awards including the

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...

. Some of his other compositions include the theme song to the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

film '' From Russia with Love'', and the songs " Living Doll" by

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

, "Far Away" by Shirley Bassey, " Do You Mind?" (recorded by both

Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leadin ...

and Andy Williams), "Big Time" (a 1961 cover by Jack Jones of his show tune from ''

Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be ''Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'be'' is a 1960 West End musical comedy about Cockney low-life characters in the 1950s, including spivs, prostitutes, teddy-boys and corrupt policemen. The work is more of a play with music than a conventional mu ...

''), "Easy Going Me" by

Adam Faith Terence Nelhams Wright (23 June 1940 – 8 March 2003), known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor, and financial journalist. A teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK Singles Chart with " What Do You Want?" (1959) and "P ...

, "Always You And Me" by

Russ Conway Russ Conway, DSM (born Trevor Herbert Stanford; 2 September 1925 – 16 November 2000) was an English popular music pianist and composer. Conway had 20 piano instrumentals in the UK Singles Chart between 1957 and 1963, including two number on ...

, and several songs recorded by

("A Handful of Songs", "Butterfingers" and "

Little White Bull "Little White Bull" is a song by English rock and roll singer Tommy Steele, released as a single in November 1959. It was included on the EP ''Tommy the Toreador'' from the film of the same name in which Steele also starred. Steele's royalties ...

"). 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 Galician Jews, Yetta (née Darumstundler) and Morris Begleiter, a master tailor. He grew up in

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appli ...

; 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. 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.

Songwriting

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. 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 Agitprop (; from rus, агитпроп, r=agitpróp, portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', " propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in Soviet Russia where it referred ...

version of ''Cinderella''. While at the Unity he was talent-spotted by

, and so joined

Theatre Workshop Theatre Workshop is a theatre group whose long-serving director was Joan Littlewood. Many actors of the 1950s and 1960s received their training and first exposure with the company, many of its productions were transferred to theatres in the West E ...

. He also wrote comedy songs for the Sunday lunchtime BBC radio programme '' The Billy Cotton Band Show''. 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 Laurence Maurice Parnes (3 September 1929 – 4 August 1989) was a British pop manager and impresario. He was the first major British rock manager, and his stable of singers included many of the most successful British rock and roll singers of ...

. Bart's pop output in this period includes the hits " Living Doll" (written for

) and "

", "Handful of Songs", "Butterfingers" and "

" (all for

). During this period, Steele and Mike Pratt were his songwriting partners. He won three

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

in 1957, a further four in 1958, and two in 1960. He wrote the theme song for the 1963

film '' From Russia with Love'', and worked with John Barry again on the score to the 1964 film '' Man in the Middle''. His other hits include " Do You Mind", recorded by both Andy Williams and

, whose recording reached number one on the UK charts on 30 March 1960 and was the 100th song to do so, "Big Time" (a 1961 cover by Jack Jones of his show tune from ''

''), "Easy Going Me" (

), and "Always You And Me" (with

). 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 Marty Wilde, (born Reginald Leonard Smith; 15 April 1939) is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, scoring several 1950s hit singles including " Endless Sl ...

. Twenty-seven years after it became a number one hit for Cliff Richard, "Living Doll" was re-recorded by The Young Ones and Richard for

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...

, and spent another three weeks at number one.Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be, The Lionel Bart Story, by David and Caroline Stafford, Omnibus Press, 2011.

Musical theatre

Bart's first professional musical was 1959's '' Lock Up Your Daughters'', based on the 18th-century play '' Rape upon Rape'' by

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel ''Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...

. 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 Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or ...

accents on the London stage and bringing an end to censorship of British theatre. '' Oliver!'' (1960), based on Dickens's '' Oliver Twist'', was a major success. The music for ''Oliver!'' was transcribed by Eric Rogers, who wrote and composed 21 scores for the ''Carry On'' films. Bart hummed the melodies and Rogers wrote the notes on his behalf as Bart could not read or write music. In 1968 ''Oliver!'' was made into a movie starring

Ron Moody Ron Moody (born Ronald Moodnick; 8 January 1924 – 11 June 2015) was an English actor, composer, singer and writer. He was best known for his portrayal of Fagin in ''Oliver!'' (1968) and its 1983 Broadway revival. Moody earned a Golden Globe ...

Oliver Reed Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his ...

and

Shani Wallis Shani Wallis (born 14 April 1933) is a British actress and singer, who has worked in theatre, film, and television in both her native United Kingdom and in the United States. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she is perhaps best ...

that won several

Oscars The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

, including best film. It is estimated that around this time Bart was earning 16 pounds a minute from ''Oliver!'' Bart's next two musicals, ''

Blitz! ''Blitz!'' is a musical by Lionel Bart. The musical, described by Steven Suskin as "massive", was set in the East End of London during the Blitz (the aerial bombings during World War II). The story drew on Bart's childhood memories of London's Je ...

'' (1962) (from which came the song "Far Away", a hit for Shirley Bassey) and ''

Maggie May "Maggie May" is a song co-written by singer Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton, and performed by Rod Stewart on his album '' Every Picture Tells a Story'', released in 1971. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the song number 130 on its list of ...

'' (1964) had successful and respectable West End runs (''Blitz!'', at the time London's most expensive musical ever, had a run of 568 performances), but ''

Twang!! ''Twang!!'' is a musical with music and lyrics written by Lionel Bart and a book by Bart and Harvey Orkin, with assistance from Burt Shevelove. The piece, a spoof of the character and legend of Robin Hood, was a disastrous box-office failure an ...

'' (1965), a musical based on the

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...

legend, was a flop and ''

La Strada ''La strada'' () is a 1954 Italian drama film directed by Federico Fellini and co-written by Fellini, Tullio Pinelli and Ennio Flaiano. The film tells the story of Gelsomina, a simple-minded young woman ( Giulietta Masina) bought from her mothe ...

'' (1969), which opened on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

after the removal of most of Bart's songs, closed after only one performance. By this time Bart was taking

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

and other drugs and was drinking heavily. 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 Walter William Bygraves (16 October 1922 – 31 August 2012), best known by the stage name Max Bygraves (adopted in honour of Max Miller), was an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, s ...

for £350 (Bygraves later sold them on for £250,000) to realise capital to finance the shows; Bart later estimated that this action lost him over £1 million. 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. 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 Dame Maureen Diane Lipman (born 10 May 1946) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and her stage work has included appearances with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakesp ...

. In May 1977, an autobiographical musical called ''Lionel!'' opened in the West End at the

New London Theatre The Gillian Lynne Theatre (formerly New London Theatre) is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden. The Winter Garden Theatre formerly occupied the site until 1965 ...

. 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 Peter Clarke (born April 7, 1952), known professionally as Clarke Peters, is an American-British actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his roles as Lester Freamon in the television series ''The Wire'' (2002–2008) and Albert Lambrea ...

Marion Montgomery Marion Montgomery (November 17, 1934 – July 22, 2002)

and

Adrienne Posta Adrienne Posta (born Adrienne Luanne Poster, 24 March 1949) is an English actress and singer, prominent during the 1960s and 1970s. She adopted the surname 'Posta' in 1966.Adrienne Poster, page on "Ready Steady Girls" (readysteadygirls.eu). Retr ...

. The role of Lionel was shared by a young

Todd Carty Todd Carty also known as Todd John Jennings (born Todd Robert Carty; 31 August 1963) is an English actor and director who has grown up on television screens in a variety of roles. His stage appearances have ranged from pantomime to serious dram ...

and Chris Nieto. The show closed after six weeks.

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 National advertising campaign, which featured Bart playing the piano and singing to children. He received a special Ivor Novello Award for life achievement in 1986. In 1987, encouraged by long-time friend

Barry Humphries John Barry Humphries (born 17 February 1934) is an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He is best known for writing and playing his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He is also a film pr ...

, 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''.

Cameron Mackintosh Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh (born 17 October 1946) is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "th ...

, who owned half the rights to ''Oliver!'', revived the musical at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...

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 Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

and

Alma Cogan Alma Angela Cohen Cogan (19 May 1932 – 26 October 1966) was an English singer of traditional pop in the 1950s and early 1960s. Dubbed the "Girl with the Giggle in Her Voice", she was the highest paid British female entertainer of her era. C ...

, though he was homosexual. His sexual preferences were known to friends and colleagues, but he did not announce them publicly until a few years before his death. Bart died at the

Hammersmith Hospital Hammersmith Hospital, formerly the Military Orthopaedic Hospital, and later the Special Surgical Hospital, is a major teaching hospital in White City, West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the London Borough of ...

in West London on 3 April 1999, of liver cancer. A memorial bench is dedicated to him in

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

. 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. A later version titled ''More!'' was presented in concert at Theatre Royal Stratford East in 2015 featuring

Neil McDermott Neil McDermott (born 15 December 1980) is a British stage and television actor, who is best known for portraying Ryan Malloy in the BBC television soap opera ''EastEnders''. Career McDermott appeared in the 2008 ''Doctor Who'' episode "The Nex ...

as Bart,

Jessica Hynes Tallulah Jessica Elina Hynes (''née'' Stevenson; born 30 October 1972) is an English actress, director and writer. Known professionally as Jessica Stevenson until 2007, she was one of the creators, writers and stars of the British sitcom ''Spac ...

as Joan Littlewood and Sonny Jay as Charlene, with an appearance by 1960s pop-star

Grazina Frame Grazina Frame (born Lydia Anna Grazina Obrycha; 6 November 1941, Borough of Fylde, Fylde, Lancashire, England) is an English stage and screen actress, singer and voice double Early life Grazina Frame was born as Lydia Anna Grazina Obrycha to Pol ...

, who was an original cast member in Bart's ''Blitz!''.

West End theatrical credits

* '' Lock Up Your Daughters'' (1959) – lyrics * ''

'' (1959) – music, lyrics * '' Oliver!'' (1960) – music, lyrics, book. ''Oliver!'' was also produced on Broadway in 1963, winning a Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist and receiving nominations for Best Musical and Best Author of a Musical. A return Broadway engagement of the original production played in 1965, and a Broadway revival was mounted in 1984. * ''

'' (1962) – music, lyrics, book * ''

'' (1964) – music, lyrics * ''

'' (1965) – music, lyrics * ''

'' (1969) – co-composer, co-lyricist. A Broadway production opened the same year. * ''Lionel!'' (1977) – music, lyrics

References

Sources

* Chambers, Colin. ''The Story of Unity Theatre'' * Roper, David. ''Bart! The Unauthorized Life & Times, Ins and Outs, Ups and Downs of Lionel Bart'' * Stafford, David and Caroline. ''Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be – The Lionel Bart Story'', Omnibus Press, 2011

External links

*
Lionel Bart
at Theatricalia

interview in ''Songwriter'' *
Lionel Begleiter (Bart)
at Circa (archived)

at

Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch The Queen's Theatre is a 507-seat mid-scale producing theatre located in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering, east London. History Hornchurch Urban District Council purchased a derelict cinema on Station Lane (the site of the present ...

*
Lionel Bart: Appetite for destruction
in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

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