Some interesting facts about Stephen Sondheim:

  • He was president of the Dramatists Guild from 1973 to 1981.  
  •  He co-wrote with Anthony Perkins a murder-mystery film, The Last of  Sheila, in 1973.  
  • He creates his own puzzles and games.    
  • A murder game he created was the inspiration for Anthony Shaffer's Sleuth. 
  • Oscar Hammerstein II was his mentor and surrogate father.   
  •  He planned to major in mathematics in college.   
  • He auditioned for The $64,000 Question when he was starting out.
  • He did crossword puzzles for New York magazine for 18 months in the late 60s.
  • Most of the episode titles from Desperate Housewives reference his work in some way.

 


Comments

Stephanie

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:49:23

Didn't Sondheim also mentor Jonathan Larson during Into the Woods?

 

MK

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:26:01

I'm not sure if it happened during <i>Into the Woods</i>, but according to Larson's wiki entry:

"While in college, Larson came into contact with his strongest musical theatre influence, Stephen Sondheim, to whom he occasionally submitted his work for review. One <i>tick, tick... BOOM!</i> song called 'Sunday' is a homage to Sondheim, who supported Larson, staying close to the melody and lyrics of Sondheim's own song of the same title but turning it from a manifesto about art into a waiter's lament. Sondheim would often write letters of recommendation for Larson to various producers. Larson later won the Stephen Sondheim Award."

 



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Sondheim in September is a charity event benefiting The Actors Fund Of Canada