The Otto Harbach Sesquicentennial

Born 150 years ago this day, Tin Pan Alley lyricist and writer of librettos for operas Otto Harbach (1873-1963).

A Salt Lake City native, Harbach studied at Salt Lake Collegiate Institute and Knox College. Prior to going into the theatre he had been a college professor, a newspaper reporter, an ad man, and an insurance salesman. The respectable stature attained by Weber and Fields convinced him that it was okay to give theatre a try. Harbach collaborated on nearly 50 Broadway shows between 1908 and 1936, with composers like Jerome Kern, Vincent Youmans, George Gershwin, and Sigmund Romberg. His best remembered shows include Fascinating Widow (1911), The Firefly (1912), Eddie Cantor’sKid Boots (1923), Rose-Marie (1924), No No Nanette (1925), Marilyn Miller’sSunny (1925), The Desert Song (1926), and Roberta (1933). His best known songs include “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” from Roberta, and “Indian Love Call” from Rose-Marie. The principal inheritor of Harbach’s philosophy of integrated song and plot was Oscar Hammerstein II, whom Harbach mentored and sometimes collaborated with.

Otto’s son William O. Harbach (1919-2017) was an important producer or variety television whose credits included The Tonight Show with Steve Allen, The Steve Allen Show, The Hollywood Palace, The Don Knotts Show,The Julie Andrews Hour, The Big Show, and countless specials starring the likes of Allen, Milton Berle,Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Shirley MacLaine, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Don Adams, Don Rickles, et al.

For more on show biz history consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, and stay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.