Research Catalog

Title

Jerry Bock papers, 1942-2008.

Author

Bock, Jerry

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Berger, Sidney L.
• Harnick, Sheldon
• Holofcener, Lawrence
• Stein, Joseph
• Weiss, George (George David)

Description

22.21 linear ft. (72 boxes)

Summary

The Jerry Bock papers primarily document the professional activities of the prime twenty years of his composing career, as well as his later works, and do not offer much, if any, insight into his personal life Vocal scores, lead sheets and sketches for all of his musical productions produced on Broadway, including The Apple Tree, The Body Beautiful, Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello!, Mr. Wonderful, The Rothschilds, She Loves Me and Tenderloin are represented in the papers. Also present are a significant number of pop songs that Bock wrote with Sheldon Harnick and Larry Holofcener in addition to many for which he supplied his own lyrics. Business correspondence can be found within the production it relates to; many productions also include documents such as notes, cast information, ticket stubs, ephemera, and photographs. The collection does not contain Bock's personal correspondence; the few personal papers here are either work or school-related.

Subject

• Bock, Jerry
• Harnick, Sheldon
• Holofcener, Lawrence
• Stein, Joseph
• Weiss, George (George David)
• Musicals
• Musical theater > New York (State) > New York

Genre/Form

• Scores.
• Clippings.
• Programs.
• Librettos.

Biography (note)

• Jerry Bock, songwriter and composer of some of Broadway's most successful musicals, was born in 1928. His musical talent was well known by the time he graduated from high school in June 1945. He wrote the score and some of the lyrics for Flushing High School's production My Dream, and his class voted him "Most Likely to Succeed." Then came Big As Life, an amateur musical he helped write while at the University of Wisconsin, which was a large enough hit to tour around the state of Wisconsin and run in Chicago. By 1950 Bock was collaborating with Larry Holofcener, composing music for early television shows, and spending the summer at the Tamiment Playhouse camp in the Poconos. The three seasons he spent at Tamiment under the guidance of producer Moe Hack gave him the ability to churn out songs for musicals.
• His Broadway debut came in 1955 with three songs for the unsuccessful revue Catch a Star. Bock and Holofcener quickly garnered a hit the following year with two songs for the Broadway production Mr. Wonderful (starring Sammy Davis Jr.). During this time Bock supplemented his income by working as a staff writer for the music publisher Thomas Valando. Music he wrote made its way to the big screen in a Columbia Pictures short called Wonders of Manhattan. In 1958 Bock joined forces with lyricist Sheldon Harnick, with whom he would write seven musicals in the next twelve years. While their first production, The Body Beautiful, ran for less than 3 months, their work attracted the attention of producer Harold Prince and director George Abbott. They invited Bock and Harnick to do the music for Fiorello!, a Pulitzer Prize-winning production about the former mayor of New York City. Other Bock-Harnick musicals had varying levels of success, but none can compare to Fiddler on the Roof, which ranks up against the most significant works of the twentieth century.

Call Number

JPB 02-10

OCLC

NYPT04-A21

Author

Bock, Jerry.

Title

Jerry Bock papers, 1942-2008.

Biography

Jerry Bock, songwriter and composer of some of Broadway's most successful musicals, was born in 1928. His musical talent was well known by the time he graduated from high school in June 1945. He wrote the score and some of the lyrics for Flushing High School's production My Dream, and his class voted him "Most Likely to Succeed." Then came Big As Life, an amateur musical he helped write while at the University of Wisconsin, which was a large enough hit to tour around the state of Wisconsin and run in Chicago. By 1950 Bock was collaborating with Larry Holofcener, composing music for early television shows, and spending the summer at the Tamiment Playhouse camp in the Poconos. The three seasons he spent at Tamiment under the guidance of producer Moe Hack gave him the ability to churn out songs for musicals.

His Broadway debut came in 1955 with three songs for the unsuccessful revue Catch a Star. Bock and Holofcener quickly garnered a hit the following year with two songs for the Broadway production Mr. Wonderful (starring Sammy Davis Jr.). During this time Bock supplemented his income by working as a staff writer for the music publisher Thomas Valando. Music he wrote made its way to the big screen in a Columbia Pictures short called Wonders of Manhattan. In 1958 Bock joined forces with lyricist Sheldon Harnick, with whom he would write seven musicals in the next twelve years. While their first production, The Body Beautiful, ran for less than 3 months, their work attracted the attention of producer Harold Prince and director George Abbott. They invited Bock and Harnick to do the music for Fiorello!, a Pulitzer Prize-winning production about the former mayor of New York City. Other Bock-Harnick musicals had varying levels of success, but none can compare to Fiddler on the Roof, which ranks up against the most significant works of the twentieth century.

Connect to:

Request Access to Music & Recorded Sound Division Special Collections material

Finding Aid

Occupation

Composers.

Lyricists.

Added Author

Berger, Sidney L.

Bock, Jerry. Apple tree.

Bock, Jerry. Body beautiful.

Bock, Jerry. Fiddler on the roof.

Bock, Jerry. Fiorello!

Bock, Jerry. Mr. Wonderful.

Bock, Jerry. Rothschilds.

Bock, Jerry. She loves me.

Bock, Jerry. Tenderloin.

Harnick, Sheldon.

Holofcener, Lawrence.

Stein, Joseph.

Weiss, George (George David)

Research Call Number

JPB 02-10