Charles Strouse, Multi-Award Winning Composer of Bye Bye Birdie, Annie and More, Dies at 96

Charles Strouse, the multi-award-winning American film, television and Broadway musical composer, best known for his Tony-winning scores for Bye Bye Birdie, Applause and Annie, died at his home in New York City on May 15. The news was announced today by his four children: Benjamin, Nicholas, Victoria and William Strouse. He was 96.

Strouse was born in New York City on June 7, 1928. His parents worked in the tobacco business. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music who intended to write “serious music”—at Tanglewood he studied under the composer Aaron Copland—he began his professional career composing music for summer stock theater and off-Broadway shows. It wasn’t long before he was lured to Broadway, earning the Tony Award for Best Musical for his first full-length work, Bye Bye Birdie—considered by some to be the first rock musical and producing the perennial classic “Put On a Happy Face.” Strouse earned an Emmy for the screen adaptation and would collaborate with lyricist Lee Adams on several more projects.

Bye Bye Birdie was followed up with All American (1962), Golden Boy (1964) and—based on the Superman comic strip—It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman (1966). Strouse earned his second Tony Award for the smash hit Applause (1970). Then, with lyricist Martin Charnin and book writer Thomas Meehan, Strouse adapted another comic strip: Annie (1977), a musical about a plucky red-headed orphan featuring such richly melodious numbers  as “Tomorrow,” “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile” and “It’s the Hard Knock Life.” The musical was Strouse's biggest hit, winning seven Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Score and running for nearly six years. The show has been revived twice and been adapted for the screen four times.

The same year as Annie premiered, Strouse founded the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop in New York, a training ground for many aspiring Broadway composer-lyricists. 

He went on to write over 30 musicals, including Charlie and Algernon (1979), Dance a Little Closer (1983), Rags (1986), Nick & Nora (1993) and An American Tragedy (1995). His work for the screen included the film score for Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and the animated film All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989). Strouse wrote for musical revues as well as orchestral works, chamber music, piano concertos and opera, including the children’s opera Nightingale. His Concerto America (2002) was composed to commemorate 9/11 and the spirit of New York City. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1986).

Strouse was married to director-choreographer Barbara Siman until her death on February 16, 2023. Strouse is survived by his four children and his eight grandchildren.