Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960 ) was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and ( usually uncredited ) theatre director of musicals for almost forty years.

Hammerstein collaborated with composers Jerome Kern, Vincent Youmans, Rudolf Friml and Sigmund Romberg ; but his most famous collaboration, by far, was with Richard Rodgers.

Hammerstein was born Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein in New York City, the son of Alice ( née Nimmo ) and William Hammerstein.

His grandfather was German-born Jewish theater impresario Oscar Hammerstein I, and his mother was the daughter of Scottish and English parents.

Hammerstein was raised an Episcopalian.

He was survived by his second wife Dorothy ( Blanchard ) Jacobson ( m. May 13, 1929 ) and his three children, William Hammerstein and Alice Hammerstein Mathias by first wife Myra Finn, and James Hammerstein by Blanchard.

Hammerstein was probably the best " book writer " in Broadway history – he made the story, not the songs or the stars, central to the musical and brought musical theater to full maturity as an art form.

As recent revivals of Show Boat, Oklahoma !, Carousel, and The King and I in London and New York show, Hammerstein was one of the more tough-minded and socially conscious American musical theater artists.

According to The Rodgers and Hammerstein Story by Stanley Green, " For three minutes, on the night of September first, the entire Times Square area in New York City was blacked out in honor of the man who had done so much to light up that particular part of the world.

The Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theater Studies at Columbia University was established in 1981 with a $ 1-million gift from his family.

It was at the opening of South Pacific, the musical Hammerstein wrote with Richard Rodgers, that Sondheim met Harold Prince, who would later direct many of Sondheim's shows.

It was a major success among his peers, and it considerably buoyed the young songwriter's ego ; he took it to Hammerstein, and asked him to evaluate it as though he had no knowledge of its author.

Hammerstein said it was the worst thing he had ever seen.

Initially he resisted, because he was determined to write the full score for his next project ( Saturday Night had been aborted ), but Oscar Hammerstein convinced him that he would benefit from the experience, and he accepted.

With the help of Oscar Hammerstein, Laurents convinced Bernstein and Sondheim to move " One Hand, One Heart ", which he considered too pristine for the balcony scene, to the scene set in the bridal shop, and as a result " Tonight " was written to replace it.

It was not until Kern explained that he and Oscar Hammerstein II wanted to create a different type of musical that Ferber granted him the rights.

It was Oscar Hammerstein II ( pp. 58 – 59 ).

She was twenty-one years old and the stepdaughter of Oscar Hammerstein II.

Much of Rodgers's work with both Hart and Hammerstein was orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett.

At about the age of ten, around the time of his parents ' divorce, Sondheim became friends with James Hammerstein, son of the lyricist and playwright Oscar Hammerstein II.

** Oscar Hammerstein II, writer and lyricist ( b. 1895 )

He collaborated as lyricist or librettist with Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern, Louis Hirsch, Herbert Stothart, Vincent Youmans, George Gershwin, and Sigmund Romberg.

* July 12 – Oscar Hammerstein II, lyricist ( died 1960 )

An adaptation of Georges Bizet's opera Carmen, the story was transplanted to World War II America by lyricist and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II.

* Oscar Hammerstein II ( 1895 – 1960 ), Broadway lyricist, songwriting partner of Jerome Kern and Richard Rodgers

He was the grandfather of lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II.

Hammerstein built three more theaters there, the Victoria Theatre ( 1898 ), which turned to vaudeville presentation in 1904 and was managed by his son, Willie Hammerstein ; the Republic Theatre was built in 1900 and leased to eccentric producer David Belasco, in 1901, and the Lew Fields Theatre for Lew Fields ( half of the Vaudeville team Weber and Fields, and the father of lyricist Dorothy Fields ), in 1904.

Belasco took over management of the theater and completely remodeled it in 1902, only two years after it was constructed as the Theatre Republic by Oscar Hammerstein ( the grandfather of the famous lyricist ).

Observers expected that either " Blues in the Night " or " Chattanooga Choo Choo " would win, so that when " The Last Time I Saw Paris " actually won, neither its composer, Jerome Kern, nor lyricist, Oscar Hammerstein II, was present at the ceremony.

* Richard Rodgers ( attended ) was a composer, best known for his work with lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II ( Oklahoma !, The King and I, The Sound of Music ).

He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II.

Most of the sources are German or Swiss ; two less clear examples are French ( see Hammerstein ).

), a protégé of Hammerstein ; Martin Charnin ( Two By Two, I Remember Mama ); and Sheldon Harnick ( Rex ).

The first presentation of the film was at the Palace Theater in Chicago on February 8, 1914 ; later performances were at the Hammerstein Theater in New York City.

Two further films were planned for Grayson in 1941 ; White House Girl, which was later made in 1948 with Durbin, and Very Warm for May, from the Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein musical of the same name.

* Flower Drum Song, music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, book by David Henry Hwang ; based upon the libretto by Oscar Hammerstein, II and Joseph Fields and the novel The Flower Drum Song by C. Y. Lee ; New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2003.

Carousel is also unique among the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals for not having an overture ; both the stage and film versions began with the familiar Carousel Waltz.

** Golden Dawn ( operetta ), a 1927 operetta by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach ; basis for the film

In May 2006, thirteen years after his last performance with Guns N ' Roses, Stradlin made a guest appearance at the band's show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York ; he played on " Patience ", " Think About You ", and " Nightrain ".

: Principal actors, ( Sometimes the stars ' and director's credits will be reversed, depending on the star's deal with the studio ; sometimes, as in the Rodgers and Hammerstein films, or as in all three film versions of Show Boat, or, as in many of Disney's films, the title of the film will be shown before the names of its actors ; sometimes, as in many of Cannon's films, the name ( s ) of the principal actor ( s ) will be shown before the name ( s ) of the producer ( s ), i. e. " The Cannon Group presents X in a Golan-Globus production of a Y film ").

They are killed by two Cuban hitmen at the direction of their leader, Major Gonzales ; all three work for von Hammerstein.

After skating in a park one day, Hammerstein's father found out and whipped him as punishment ; this would spur Hammerstein to run away to North America.

After a two-year hiatus, the band played three shows in 2005 ; two at The Downtown in Farmingdale, New York, with proceeds going to charity, and a spot on The Used's tour at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

* 1945-State Fair ( adaptation only ; this was the musical version by Rodgers and Hammerstein ) ( Academy Award nomination for Best Adaptation of a Musical Score )

* 1956-The King and I ( adaptation ; the songs were by Rodgers and Hammerstein ) ( Academy Award )

* 1958-South Pacific ( Conductor ; the songs were by Rodgers and Hammerstein )

* 1961-Flower Drum Song ( adaptation ; the songs were again by Rodgers and Hammerstein )