Harold Prince

Harold Prince

Active - 1957 - 2019  |   Born - Jan 30, 1928 in New York, New York, United States  |   Genres - Musical, Comedy, Music

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Factsheet

  • The only child of a self-described "privileged, upper-middle, lower-rich class" German-Jewish family, he regularly attended the theater, beginning at 8 years old with a Mercury Theater production of Julius Caesar starring Orson Welles.
  • Started his career as an apprentice for esteemed author, director and producer George Abbott, whom Prince considered a mentor.
  • Drafted into the Army in 1950 and assigned to an anti-aircraft artillery battalion in West Germany, where he frequented a nightclub called Maxim's, which later became the basis for the musical Cabaret.
  • Won a Pulitzer Prize, as well as a Tony, in 1960 for the musical Fiorello!
  • Published his memoir Contradictions in 1974.
  • The 1981 musical flop Merrily We Roll Along marked his sixth (and final) collaboration with lyricist-composer Stephen Sondheim.
  • Was a 1994 Kennedy Center Honoree.
  • Received from President Bill Clinton in 2000 a National Medal of Arts for a 40-plus year career, in which he "changed the nature of the American musical."
  • Is the record holder for the most Tony Award wins by an individual for his work producing and directing shows.
  • Has more than 50 musicals, plays and operas to his credit, including Company, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, Follies, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Pajama Game, Evita, The Phantom of the Opera and West Side Story.