Carolyn Leigh

Carolyn Leigh
Born	(1926-08-21)August 21, 1926
Origin	New York City, U.S.
Died	New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Lyricist
Associated acts	Cy Coleman

Carolyn Leigh (August 21, 1926 – November 19, 1983) was an American lyricist for Broadway, film, and popular songs. She is best known as the writer with partner Cy Coleman of the pop standards "Witchcraft" and "The Best Is Yet to Come." With Johnny Richards she wrote the million-seller "Young at Heart" for the film of the same name, starring Frank Sinatra.

Biography

Leigh, born in the Bronx, New York, graduated from Hunter College High School, Queens College and New York University, and worked as a copy writer for radio stations and advertising agencies. Always writing stories and poems, in 1951, when urged to write songs by a musical publisher who gave her a contract, she wrote I'm Waiting Just for You with Henry Glover, and two years later, Young at Heart. Her lyrics for Broadway shows include Peter Pan, Wildcat, Little Me, and How Now, Dow Jones. The last was derived from an original idea of Leigh's, though Max Shulman wrote the script. At the time of her death, she was working with Marvin Hamlisch on the musical, Smile. She provided lyrics for the scores to the films The Cardinal in 1963 and Father Goose in 1964. Leigh died on November 19, 1983, of a heart attack. She was divorced from David Cunningham, Jr. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985.

Tony Award nominations

• Little Me (1963) - Tony Award for Best Original Score
• How Now, Dow Jones (1968) - Tony Award for Best Original Score

External links

• Bio on Songwriters Hall of Fame site
• Internet Broadway Database listing
• Internet Movie Database listing
• Carolyn Leigh papers, 1944-1985, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
• Carolyn Leigh scores, 1910-1982, held by the Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts