Con Conrad

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Con Conrad
Conrad c. September 1929
Conrad c. September 1929
Background information
Born
Conrad K. Dober

(1891-06-18)June 18, 1891
Manhattan, New York, United States
OriginNew York City
DiedSeptember 28, 1938(1938-09-28) (aged 47)
Van Nuys, California, United States
GenresStage and film scores
OccupationsSongwriter, producer
AwardsInductee to Songwriters Hall of Fame
Academy Award for Best Original Score

Conrad K. Dober June 18, 1891 – September 28, 1938) publishing as Con Conrad was an American songwriter and Broadway producer. He wrote numerous scores for stage and film, as well as standards.

Biography

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File:Con. Conrad & Irving Caesar, 4-17-24 LCCN2016848951.jpg
Con Conrad and Irving Caesar, 1924

Conrad was born in Manhattan, New York, and published his first song, "Down in Dear Old New Orleans", in 1912. Conrad produced the Broadway show The Honeymoon Express, starring Al Jolson, in 1913.

By 1918, Conrad was writing and publishing with Henry Waterson (1873–1933). He co-composed "Margie" in 1920 with J. Russel Robinson and lyricist Benny Davis, which became his first major hit. He went on to compose hits that became standards, including:

Stage and film

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In 1923, Conrad focused on the stage and wrote the scores for the Broadway shows: The Greenwich Village Follies, Moonlight, Betty Lee, Kitty’s Kisses and Americana.[1] In 1924 the Longacre Theatre staged the small musical Moonlight, with a score by Conrad and William B. Friedlander. The next year Conrad and Friedlander's Mercenary Mary was presented at the Longacre.[2] In 1929, Conrad moved to Hollywood after losing all of his money on unsuccessful shows. There he worked on films such as Fox Movietone Follies, Palmy Days, The Gay Divorcee and Here’s to Romance.[1]

Awards and honours

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Conrad was the inaugural recipient of the first Academy Award for Best Song for The Continental in 1934 with collaborator Herb Magidson.

Conrad was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1979[1]

Personal life and death

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Conrad died in 1938 in Van Nuys, California at age 47[1] after a long illness.[3]

His spouse was actress Francine Larrimore.


Notes

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  3. ^ "Con Conrad" (obituary). Variety, 5 October 1938, 62.
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