Bob Hilliard (born Hilliard Goldsmith; January 28, 1918 – February 1, 1971) was an American

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

. He wrote the words for the songs: " Alice in Wonderland", "

In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" is a 1955 popular song composed by David Mann, with lyrics by Bob Hilliard. It was introduced as the title track of Frank Sinatra's 1955 album '' In the Wee Small Hours''. Background Mann and Hilliard wr ...

", " Any Day Now", "

Dear Hearts and Gentle People "Dear Hearts and Gentle People" is a popular song published in 1949 with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Bob Hilliard. The song refers to the singer's hometown, and different versions allude to a range of U.S. states. Background The songwrite ...

", "

Our Day Will Come "Our Day Will Come" is a popular song composed by Mort Garson with lyrics by Bob Hilliard. It was recorded by American R&B group Ruby & the Romantics in early December 1962, reaching #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Ruby & the Romantics' orig ...

", " My Little Corner of the World", " Tower of Strength" and " Seven Little Girls (Sitting in the Back Seat)".

Career

After finishing high school, Hilliard began working as a

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

. At the age of 28 he had his first success with "

The Coffee Song "The Coffee Song" (occasionally subtitled "They've Got an Awful Lot of Coffee in Brazil") is a novelty song written by Bob Hilliard and Dick Miles, first recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1946. Later that year it was recorded by The Smart Set, and by ot ...

". During his

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 ...

years, Hilliard wrote successful scores for both '' Angel in the Wings'' (1947) and ''

Hazel Flagg ''Hazel Flagg'' is a 1953 musical, book by Ben Hecht, based on a story by James H. Street. The lyrics are by Bob Hilliard, and music by Jule Styne. The musical is based on the 1937 screwball comedy film '' Nothing Sacred'', the primary screenwrit ...

'' (1953). He also worked as lyricist of the

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

for '' Alice in Wonderland'' (1951). This included providing the words to the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

, as well as "I'm Late" and the unused

Cheshire Cat The Cheshire Cat ( or ) is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll in ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and known for its distinctive mischievous grin. While now most often used in ''Alice''-related contexts, the association of a "Ch ...

song "I'm Odd." The 1954

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

Living It Up ''Living It Up'' is a 1954 American comedy film starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis which was released by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by Norman Taurog and produced by Paul Jones. The screenplay by Jack Rose and Melville Shavelso ...

'' included his songs "Money Burns a Hole in My Pocket" and "That's What I Like." Hilliard had later success as co-composer of the 1960s classic "

." The

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

was a No. 1 hit on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

in 1963 for

Ruby & the Romantics Ruby & the Romantics were an Akron, Ohio-based American R&B group in the 1960s, comprising Ruby Nash, George Lee, Ronald Mosely, Leroy Fann and Ed Roberts. The group had several pop and R&B hit records, topping the US '' Billboard'' Hot 100 ...

. In 1968, he also co-wrote "You Make Me Think About You" with Robert Mersey, the instrumental version of which was included in

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

's final

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, ''

With Six You Get Eggroll ''With Six You Get Eggroll'' is a 1968 American romantic comedy film directed by Howard Morris and starring Doris Day, Brian Keith, Barbara Hershey, George Carlin, and Pat Carroll. It was the first film that was produced by the CBS Television Ne ...

,'' but Doris Day did not sing the vocal version. That version was sung by

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

. Mathis's single (arranged and conducted by Mersey) was released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. The single peaked at 35 on ''Billboard''s Easy Listening Chart. Hilliard worked as lyricist and composer with a number of other

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

s and lyricists over the decades, including

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

, Carl Sigman,

Jule Styne Jule Styne (; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer best known for a series of Broadway musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also became s ...

Mort Garson Morton Sanford Garson (20 July 1924 – 4 January 2008) was a Canadian composer, arranger, songwriter, and pioneer of electronic music. He is best known for his albums in the 1960s and 1970s, such as '' Mother Earth's Plantasia'' (1976), He also ...

, Sammy Mysels, Dick Sanford (''né'' Richard Young Sandford; 1896–1981), Milton DeLugg,

Philip Springer Philip Springer (born May 12, 1926) is an American composer, best known for co-writing the classic Christmas song "Santa Baby". In a musical career spanning over 70 years, he is credited in 540 musical pieces, including composing songs for numero ...

Lee Pockriss Lee Julian Pockriss (January 20, 1924 – November 14, 2011) was an American songwriter who wrote many well-known popular songs and several scores for films and Broadway shows, mainly during the 1960s and 1970s. Early life and career Born in ...

and

Sammy Fain Sammy Fain (born Samuel E. Feinberg; June 17, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an American composer of popular music. In the 1920s and early 1930s, he contributed numerous songs that form part of The Great American Songbook, and to Broadway theatre. ...

Death

Hilliard died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

at his Hollywood home on February 1, 1971, at the age of 53. He was survived by his wife,

Jacqueline Dalya Jacqueline Dalya (August 3, 1918November 25, 1980) was an American film and stage actress who began her career in the 1940s, appearing in films and on Broadway. Biography Early life Dalya was born August 3, 1918 in New York City. Career She ap ...

Awards and honors

Hilliard was

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' (E ...

inducted into the

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...

in 1983.

Song credits

Between the mid-1940s and the early 1960s, Hilliard co-wrote such hits as:

References

External links

* *
Bob Hilliard
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilliard, Bob 1918 births 1971 deaths Songwriters from New York (state) American lyricists Jewish American songwriters Musicians from New York City Writers from New York City 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American Jews