Rupert Holmes
Encyclopedia
Rupert Holmes is an American
-British
composer
, singer-songwriter
, musician
and author
of plays, novels and stories. He is best known for his number one pop hit "Escape (The Piña Colada
Song)" (1979/1980) and the song "Him
", which reached the number 6 position on the Hot 100 U.S. pop chart in 1980. He is also known for his 1985 Tony Award
-winning musical Drood (originally The Mystery of Edwin Drood) and his 2007 Drama Desk Award
-winning book for the Broadway
musical Curtains
, and for his television series Remember WENN
.
, Cheshire
, England. His father, Leonard Goldstein, was a United States Army
Warrant Officer
and bandleader, his mother, Gwen, was English, and both were musical. Holmes has dual American and British citizenship. The family moved when Holmes was six years old to the northern New York City
suburb of Nanuet, New York
, where Holmes grew up and attended nearby Nyack High School
and then the Manhattan School of Music
(majoring in clarinet). Holmes' brother, Richard, is an opera
singer based in New York City and is the principal lyric baritone
of the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players
, sings roles with regional opera companies, such as Glimmerglass Opera
, Lake George, and Virginia Opera
, among others, and has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera
.
In 1969, Holmes married childhood friend Elizabeth "Liza" Wood Dreifuss, an attorney. Holmes' daughter Wendy died suddenly in 1986, at the age of ten, of an undiagnosed brain tumor
. He has two sons, Nick and Timothy, the latter of whom has autism
.
(The Cuff Links
and The Archies
) recorded "Jennifer Tomkins" for release on their second album, The Cuff Links. During the recording of that album, Dante was prohibited by the studio that produced The Archies
from any involvement in new recording ventures and was forced to drop out of The Cuff Links. Holmes finished the project and released "Jennifer Tomkins" separately under a different studio name, The Street People. The song was on the Billboard (magazine)
pop charts for 15 weeks, beginning January 3, 1970, reaching a peak of 36. A follow up single called "Thank You Girl" reached 96 on the Billboard pop charts in April 1970.
Holmes played the piano for both The Cuff Links
and The Buoys
, with whom he had his first international hit, "Timothy
", in 1971, a top-40 song about cannibalism
. He also wrote "Give Up Your Guns", "The Prince of Thieves", "Blood Knot" and "Tomorrow" for the band. "Timothy" charted in the U.S. at number 17 and "Give Up Your Guns" at number 84. Holmes also wrote jingles and pop tunes (including for Gene Pitney
, the Platters
, the Drifters
, Wayne Newton
, Dolly Parton
, Barry Manilow
and television's The Partridge Family
).
As a recording artist, Holmes broke through with his first album, 1974's Widescreen on Epic Records
, which introduced him as a presenter of highly romantic, lushly orchestrated "story songs" that told a witty narrative punctuated by clever rhymes and a hint of comedy. Barbra Streisand
discovered this album and asked to record songs from it, launching Holmes on a successful career. She then used some of his songs in the movie A Star Is Born
. He also arranged, conducted and wrote songs on her 1975 album, Lazy Afternoon and five of her other albums. Holmes' second, self-titled album led Rolling Stone
to compare him with Bob Dylan
in the sense of being an artist of unprecedented originality that commanded attention.
Holmes' production skills were also in demand during this period, and he took on this role for Lynsey De Paul
on her album Tigers and Fireflies, which spawned the radio hit "Hollywood Romance". The album also featured a song, the bluesy "'Twas", co-written by the two. He additionally produced Sparks
' 1976 LP, Big Beat
, though the album was not a success.
"Escape" was included on Holmes' fifth album, Partners in Crime
, and reached the Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1979. Another popular song on that album was "Him
", which peaked at number 6 on the Hot 100. He had another top-40 hit with "Answering Machine". In 1986, Holmes's composition "You Got It All
" (sometimes called "You Got It All Over Him") was a top 3 hit single for The Jets and was later recorded by pop superstar Britney Spears
and featured in her internationally released version of Oops!… I Did It Again (2000). He also produced two songs for singer Judy Collins
that appeared on her album Sanity and Grace. His song "The People That You Never Get To Love" was featured on four albums by Susannah McCorkle
The People That You Never Get To Love (1981), From Bessie To Brazil (1993), Most Requested Songs (2001) and Ballad Essentials (2002). Frank Sinatra, Jr.
also recorded the tune on his That Face! album (2006).
In the 1980s and 1990s, Holmes also played in cabarets and comedy clubs, mostly in New York City, telling often autobiographical anecdotes illustrated with his songs.
and his wife after they attended one of Holmes's cabarets in 1983. The result, loosely based on the Charles Dickens
unfinished novel, and inspired by Holmes's memories of English pantomime
shows he attended as a child, would earn Holmes the Tony Award
for both book and score, as well as the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics
, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music
, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical
, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations
, among various other honors. Holmes also orchestrated Drood himself, making him one of the few Broadway composers to write his own orchestrations. Because the original novel was left unfinished after Dickens's death, Holmes came up with the unusual idea of providing alternate endings for each character who is suspected of the murder, and letting the audience vote on a different murderer each night. The success of Drood would lead Holmes to focus more on writing plays (both musical and non-) in later years, though he has stated that he avoided musical theater for some time after the death of his daughter.
Holmes also wrote the Tony Award-nominated ("Best Play 2003") Say Goodnight, Gracie
, based on the relationship between George Burns
and Gracie Allen
. The play, which starred Frank Gorshin
, was that Broadway season's longest running play and the third longest-running solo-performance show in Broadway history. He has also written the comedy-thriller Accomplice (1990), which was the second of Holmes's plays to receive an Edgar Award
(following Drood). Holmes has written a number of other shows, including Solitary Confinement, which played on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre
in 1992 and set a new Kennedy Center box office record before its Broadway run; Thumbs, the most successful play in the history of the Helen Hayes Theatre Company; and the musical Marty (2002), starring John C. Reilly
. Holmes also joined the creative team of Curtains
, after the deaths of both Peter Stone
(the original book-writer) and Fred Ebb
(the lyricist). Holmes rewrote Stone's original book and contributed additional lyrics to the Kander and Ebb
songs. Curtains played at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre
on Broadway, and David Hyde Pierce
and Debra Monk
starred in the lead roles. Holmes and Peter Stone (posthumously) won the 2007 Drama Desk Award
for Outstanding Book of a Musical for Curtains.
Holmes wrote the book of The First Wives' Club – The Musical, a musical theatre version of the film The First Wives Club
, which played at The Old Globe Theater in San Diego, California
from July 17, 2009 through August 23, 2009. The score is by Lamont Dozier
, Brian Holland
and Eddie Holland. Holmes had been engaged to write the musical in 2006. The director of the San Diego production was Francesca Zambello
, with a cast including Karen Ziemba
, Sheryl Lee Ralph
, Barbara Walsh
and John Dossett
. The production received generally unenthusiastic reviews but sold well. After the run, Zambello dropped out as director, and the producers announced that they were seeking a new a new director and choreographer, for a possible Broadway production, but retaining Holmes.
Holmes next wrote the book for a jukebox musical
, Robin and the 7 Hoods, inspired by the 1964 film of the same name
starring Frank Sinatra
, with a new story line that Holmes set in the Mad Men
era of 1962. Songs are by Sammy Cahn
and Jimmy Van Heusen, including "My Kind of Town
". A production ran throughout August 2010, again at the Old Globe. Casey Nicholaw
directed and choreographed. The story is about a likable gangster hoping to get out of the crime business. A do-gooding TV reporter likens him to a modern day Robin Hood.
Holmes adapted the John Grisham
novel and film of A Time to Kill
for the stage. The play premiered at the Arena Stage
, Washington, DC, running in May and June 2011. The courtroom drama, set against a background of evolving 1980s Southern racial politics, has been called "funny, shocking, witty, and sly".
for American Movie Classics, writing the theme song and all 56 episodes of that series. In 2003 he published his first novel
, Where the Truth Lies (later adapted into a film of the same name
by Atom Egoyan
), followed in 2005 by Swing, a multimedia
release combining a novel with a music CD providing clues to the mystery. Holmes's newest novel, The McMasters Guide To Homicide: Murder Your Employer, is slated for release in 2010.
Holmes also wrote and co-produced, and was a keyboardist on, the songs on the disco
album Shobizz, released in 1979 by Capitol Records
. He also featured as a vocalist on the 1983 album Lake Freeze - The Raccoons Songtrack
by The Raccoons
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of plays, novels and stories. He is best known for his number one pop hit "Escape (The Piña Colada
Piña Colada
The piña colada is a sweet, rum-based cocktail made with rum, cream of coconut, and pineapple juice, usually served either blended or shaken with ice. It may be garnished with a pineapple wedge or a maraschino cherry or both...
Song)" (1979/1980) and the song "Him
Him (Rupert Holmes song)
"Him" is a 1980 single by Rupert Holmes. It peaked at #6 on the Hot 100.-Chart performance:- External links :* * * * * * [ Allmusic ]...
", which reached the number 6 position on the Hot 100 U.S. pop chart in 1980. He is also known for his 1985 Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
-winning musical Drood (originally The Mystery of Edwin Drood) and his 2007 Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
-winning book for the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical Curtains
Curtains (musical)
Curtains is a musical with a book by Rupert Holmes, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and music by John Kander, with additional lyrics by Kander and Holmes....
, and for his television series Remember WENN
Remember WENN
Remember WENN is a comedy-drama television series that aired from 1996 to 1998 on the cable channel American Movie Classics. Created and written by Rupert Holmes and set at the fictional Pittsburgh radio station WENN in the early 1940s, it depicted events in the personal and professional lives of...
.
Life and career
Holmes was born David Goldstein in NorthwichNorthwich
Northwich is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England. His father, Leonard Goldstein, was a United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
Warrant Officer
Warrant Officer (United States)
In the United States military, the rank of warrant officer is rated as an officer above the senior-most enlisted ranks, as well as officer cadets and candidates, but below the officer grade of O-1...
and bandleader, his mother, Gwen, was English, and both were musical. Holmes has dual American and British citizenship. The family moved when Holmes was six years old to the northern New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
suburb of Nanuet, New York
Nanuet, New York
Nanuet is a hamlet , in the Town of Clarkstown Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Pearl River; south of New City; east of Spring Valley and west of West Nyack. It is 19 miles north of Manhattan, and 2 miles north of the New Jersey border...
, where Holmes grew up and attended nearby Nyack High School
Nyack, New York
Nyack is a village in the towns of Orangetown and Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of South Nyack; east of Central Nyack; south of Upper Nyack and west of the Hudson River, approximately 19 miles north of the Manhattan boundary, it is an inner suburb of New...
and then the Manhattan School of Music
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
(majoring in clarinet). Holmes' brother, Richard, is an opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer based in New York City and is the principal lyric baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
of the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players
New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players
New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players is a professional repertory theatre company, based in New York City that has specialized in the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan for over 35 years...
, sings roles with regional opera companies, such as Glimmerglass Opera
Glimmerglass Opera
Glimmerglass Festival is an opera company which was founded in 1975 by Peter Macris and presents an annual season of operas at the Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake eight miles north of Cooperstown, New York, United States.The summer-only season usually consists of four operas performed in...
, Lake George, and Virginia Opera
Virginia Opera
Virginia Opera is an opera company based in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Organized in 1974 by a group of Norfolk, Virginia community volunteers, Virginia Opera presented its first productions in 1975 and in the intervening four decades has become known and respected nationwide for the...
, among others, and has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
.
In 1969, Holmes married childhood friend Elizabeth "Liza" Wood Dreifuss, an attorney. Holmes' daughter Wendy died suddenly in 1986, at the age of ten, of an undiagnosed brain tumor
Brain tumor
A brain tumor is an intracranial solid neoplasm, a tumor within the brain or the central spinal canal.Brain tumors include all tumors inside the cranium or in the central spinal canal...
. He has two sons, Nick and Timothy, the latter of whom has autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
.
Songwriter and recording artist
In his 20s, Holmes was a session musician (producing sessions, writing and arranging songs, singing and playing a few instruments). In March 1970, he and Ron DanteRon Dante
Ron Dante is an American singer, songwriter, session vocalist, and record producer...
(The Cuff Links
The Cuff Links
The Cuff Links were an American rock/pop studio group from Staten Island, New York. The band had a U.S. No. 9 hit in 1969 with "Tracy", with rich harmonised vocals provided entirely by Ron Dante...
and The Archies
The Archies
The Archies are a garage band founded by Archie Andrews, Reggie Mantle, and Jughead Jones, a group of adolescent fictional characters of the Archie universe, in the context of the animated TV series, The Archie Show...
) recorded "Jennifer Tomkins" for release on their second album, The Cuff Links. During the recording of that album, Dante was prohibited by the studio that produced The Archies
The Archies
The Archies are a garage band founded by Archie Andrews, Reggie Mantle, and Jughead Jones, a group of adolescent fictional characters of the Archie universe, in the context of the animated TV series, The Archie Show...
from any involvement in new recording ventures and was forced to drop out of The Cuff Links. Holmes finished the project and released "Jennifer Tomkins" separately under a different studio name, The Street People. The song was on the Billboard (magazine)
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
pop charts for 15 weeks, beginning January 3, 1970, reaching a peak of 36. A follow up single called "Thank You Girl" reached 96 on the Billboard pop charts in April 1970.
Holmes played the piano for both The Cuff Links
The Cuff Links
The Cuff Links were an American rock/pop studio group from Staten Island, New York. The band had a U.S. No. 9 hit in 1969 with "Tracy", with rich harmonised vocals provided entirely by Ron Dante...
and The Buoys
The Buoys
The Buoys was a progressive rock band from the early 1970s. Its membership included Bill Kelly, Fran Brozena, Jerry Hludzik, Carl Siracuse and Chris Hanlon, based in the Wilkes-Barre-Scranton, Pennsylvania area...
, with whom he had his first international hit, "Timothy
Timothy (song)
"Timothy" is a song written by Rupert Holmes and recorded by the Buoys in 1971, presenting the unnerving story of three men trapped in a collapsed mine, two of whom apparently resort to cannibalism against the third . Despite being censored or even banned outright by many U.S...
", in 1971, a top-40 song about cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
. He also wrote "Give Up Your Guns", "The Prince of Thieves", "Blood Knot" and "Tomorrow" for the band. "Timothy" charted in the U.S. at number 17 and "Give Up Your Guns" at number 84. Holmes also wrote jingles and pop tunes (including for Gene Pitney
Gene Pitney
Eugene Francis Alan Pitney, known as Gene Pitney , was an American singer-songwriter, musician and sound engineer. Through the mid-1960s, he enjoyed success as a recording artist on both sides of the Atlantic and was among the group of early 1960s American acts who continued to enjoy hits after the...
, the Platters
The Platters
The Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...
, the Drifters
The Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
, Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
, Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
and television's The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. The series originally ran from September 25, 1970 until August 31, 1974, the last new episode airing on March 23, 1974, on the ABC network, as part of a Friday-night lineup...
).
As a recording artist, Holmes broke through with his first album, 1974's Widescreen on Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
, which introduced him as a presenter of highly romantic, lushly orchestrated "story songs" that told a witty narrative punctuated by clever rhymes and a hint of comedy. Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
discovered this album and asked to record songs from it, launching Holmes on a successful career. She then used some of his songs in the movie A Star Is Born
A Star Is Born (1976 film)
A Star Is Born is a 1976 American rock music musical film telling the story of a young woman, played by Barbra Streisand who enters show business, and meets and falls in love with an established male star, played by Kris Kristofferson, only to find her career ascending while his goes into decline...
. He also arranged, conducted and wrote songs on her 1975 album, Lazy Afternoon and five of her other albums. Holmes' second, self-titled album led Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
to compare him with Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
in the sense of being an artist of unprecedented originality that commanded attention.
Holmes' production skills were also in demand during this period, and he took on this role for Lynsey De Paul
Lynsey De Paul
Lynsey de Paul is an English singer-songwriter. Allmusic journalist, Craig Harris stated, "one of the first successful female singer-songwriters in England, de Paul has had an illustrious career".-Early life:De Paul was born to Meta and Herbert Rubin, a property developer...
on her album Tigers and Fireflies, which spawned the radio hit "Hollywood Romance". The album also featured a song, the bluesy "'Twas", co-written by the two. He additionally produced Sparks
Sparks (band)
Sparks is an American rock and pop band formed in Los Angeles in 1968 by brothers Ron and Russell Mael , initially under the name Halfnelson...
' 1976 LP, Big Beat
Big Beat (album)
- 21st Century Edition :- Personnel :* Russell Mael - Vocals* Ron Mael - Keyboards* Sal Maida - Bass* Jeffrey Salen - Guitar* Hilly Boy Michaels - Drums* Rupert Holmes - Production* Jeffery Lesser - Production...
, though the album was not a success.
"Escape" was included on Holmes' fifth album, Partners in Crime
Partners in Crime (album)
Partners in Crime is an album by Rupert Holmes, includes the hits "Him" and "Escape ", the latter of which was the Billboard #1 hit of December 1979 and January 1980; it was the only single to hold the #1 position in both years and in different decades. The album itself reached #33 on the Billboard...
, and reached the Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1979. Another popular song on that album was "Him
Him (Rupert Holmes song)
"Him" is a 1980 single by Rupert Holmes. It peaked at #6 on the Hot 100.-Chart performance:- External links :* * * * * * [ Allmusic ]...
", which peaked at number 6 on the Hot 100. He had another top-40 hit with "Answering Machine". In 1986, Holmes's composition "You Got It All
You Got It All
"You Got It All" was the fourth single released by the 1980s dance-pop band, The Jets, from their commercially successful debut 1985 album, The Jets. It was written by Rupert Holmes, most famous for the song, "Escape ."...
" (sometimes called "You Got It All Over Him") was a top 3 hit single for The Jets and was later recorded by pop superstar Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
and featured in her internationally released version of Oops!… I Did It Again (2000). He also produced two songs for singer Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
that appeared on her album Sanity and Grace. His song "The People That You Never Get To Love" was featured on four albums by Susannah McCorkle
Susannah McCorkle
Susannah McCorkle was an American jazz singer much admired for her direct, unadorned singing style and quiet intensity.-Biography:...
The People That You Never Get To Love (1981), From Bessie To Brazil (1993), Most Requested Songs (2001) and Ballad Essentials (2002). Frank Sinatra, Jr.
Frank Sinatra, Jr.
Franklin Wayne Sinatra , professionally known as Frank Sinatra, Jr., is an American singer, songwriter and conductor....
also recorded the tune on his That Face! album (2006).
In the 1980s and 1990s, Holmes also played in cabarets and comedy clubs, mostly in New York City, telling often autobiographical anecdotes illustrated with his songs.
Playwright
Rupert Holmes made his professional debut as a playwright with the musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood, later known as Drood, in 1985. Holmes was encouraged to write a musical by Joseph PappJoseph Papp
Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
and his wife after they attended one of Holmes's cabarets in 1983. The result, loosely based on the Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
unfinished novel, and inspired by Holmes's memories of English pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
shows he attended as a child, would earn Holmes the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for both book and score, as well as the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics is an annual award presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...
, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music is an annual award presented by the Drama Desk, a committee comprising New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...
, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee which comprises New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...
, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...
, among various other honors. Holmes also orchestrated Drood himself, making him one of the few Broadway composers to write his own orchestrations. Because the original novel was left unfinished after Dickens's death, Holmes came up with the unusual idea of providing alternate endings for each character who is suspected of the murder, and letting the audience vote on a different murderer each night. The success of Drood would lead Holmes to focus more on writing plays (both musical and non-) in later years, though he has stated that he avoided musical theater for some time after the death of his daughter.
Holmes also wrote the Tony Award-nominated ("Best Play 2003") Say Goodnight, Gracie
Say Goodnight, Gracie
Say Goodnight Gracie is a one-man play by Rupert Holmes.Adapted from the reminiscences of George Burns, the multimedia presentation traces the comedian-raconteur's life from his childhood on the Lower East Side of Manhattan to his early career in vaudeville to his momentous meeting and subsequent...
, based on the relationship between George Burns
George Burns
George Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.He was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, film, radio, television and movies, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became...
and Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
. The play, which starred Frank Gorshin
Frank Gorshin
Frank John Gorshin, Jr. was an American actor and comedian. He was perhaps best known as an impressionist, with many guest appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show...
, was that Broadway season's longest running play and the third longest-running solo-performance show in Broadway history. He has also written the comedy-thriller Accomplice (1990), which was the second of Holmes's plays to receive an Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
(following Drood). Holmes has written a number of other shows, including Solitary Confinement, which played on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre
Nederlander Theatre
David T. Nederlander Theatre is a 1,232-seat Broadway theatre located at 208 West 41st Street, in New York City . One of the Nederlander Organization's nine Broadway theatres, the legacy of the theatre began with David Tobias Nederlander, for whom the theatre is named.Built by Walter C...
in 1992 and set a new Kennedy Center box office record before its Broadway run; Thumbs, the most successful play in the history of the Helen Hayes Theatre Company; and the musical Marty (2002), starring John C. Reilly
John C. Reilly
John Christopher Reilly, Jr. is an American film and theater actor, singer, and comedian. Debuting in Casualties of War in 1989, he is one of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma. To date, he has appeared in more than fifty films, including three separate films in 2002...
. Holmes also joined the creative team of Curtains
Curtains (musical)
Curtains is a musical with a book by Rupert Holmes, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and music by John Kander, with additional lyrics by Kander and Holmes....
, after the deaths of both Peter Stone
Peter Stone
Peter Hess Stone was an American writer for theater, television and movies.-Life and career:Stone was born in Los Angeles. His mother, Hilda , was a film writer, and his father, John Stone was the writer and producer of many silent films, including Shirley Temple and Charlie Chan movies...
(the original book-writer) and Fred Ebb
Fred Ebb
Fred Ebb was an American musical theatre lyricist who had many successful collaborations with composer John Kander. The Kander and Ebb team frequently wrote for such performers as Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera....
(the lyricist). Holmes rewrote Stone's original book and contributed additional lyrics to the Kander and Ebb
Kander and Ebb
Kander and Ebb were a highly successful songwriting team consisting of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb . Known primarily for their stage musicals, Kander and Ebb also scored several movies including their most famous song, the theme song from Martin Scorsese's New York, New York...
songs. Curtains played at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre
Al Hirschfeld Theatre
The Al Hirschfeld Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 302 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by architect G. Albert Lansburgh for vaudeville promoter Martin Beck, the theatre opened as the Martin Beck Theatre with a production of Madame Pompadour on November 11, 1924. It...
on Broadway, and David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce is an American actor and comedian best known for playing psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on the NBC sitcom Frasier, for which he received many accolades including four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.-Early life:Pierce, the youngest of four siblings,...
and Debra Monk
Debra Monk
Debra Monk is an American actress, singer, and writer.Monk was born in Middletown, Ohio. She was voted "best personality" by the graduating class at Wheaton High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. She graduated from Frostburg State University in 1963...
starred in the lead roles. Holmes and Peter Stone (posthumously) won the 2007 Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Outstanding Book of a Musical for Curtains.
Holmes wrote the book of The First Wives' Club – The Musical, a musical theatre version of the film The First Wives Club
The First Wives Club
The First Wives Club is a 1996 comedy film, based on the best-selling 1992 novel of the same name by Olivia Goldsmith. Narrated by Diane Keaton, it stars Keaton, Goldie Hawn, and Bette Midler as three divorced women who seek revenge on their husbands who left them for younger women...
, which played at The Old Globe Theater in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
from July 17, 2009 through August 23, 2009. The score is by Lamont Dozier
Lamont Dozier
Lamont Herbert Dozier is an American songwriter and record producer, born in Detroit, Michigan. Dozier has either co-written or produced several US Billboard #1 hits.-Career:...
, Brian Holland
Brian Holland
Brian Holland is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland. That songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound and numerous hit records by artists such as Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, The Four Tops,...
and Eddie Holland. Holmes had been engaged to write the musical in 2006. The director of the San Diego production was Francesca Zambello
Francesca Zambello
Francesca Zambello is a leading American opera and theatre director. Zambello lived in Europe when she was a child, learning to speak French, Italian, German and Russian. Zambello is of Italian descent, the daughter of Jean , an actress and Charles C. Zambello, a former actor who became head of...
, with a cast including Karen Ziemba
Karen Ziemba
Karen Ziemba is an American actress, singer and dancer, best known for her work in musical theatre.-Biography:Ziemba was born in St. Joseph, Michigan, and went on to attend the University of Akron , where she studied dance and joined the Ohio Ballet in her sophomore year.Her Broadway debut was in...
, Sheryl Lee Ralph
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Sheryl Lee Ralph is an American actress, singer, and activist.-Personal life:Raised between Mandeville, Jamaica, and Long Island, New York, Sheryl Lee Ralph was born in Waterbury, Connecticut to an African American father and a Jamaican mother. Sheryl attended Uniondale High School in Uniondale, NY...
, Barbara Walsh
Barbara Walsh
Barbara Walsh is an American musical theatre actress who has appeared in several prominent Broadway productions. Walsh is known for her Drama Desk Award winning and Tony nominated role as Trina in the Broadway production of Falsettos....
and John Dossett
John Dossett
John Dossett is an American actor and singer.-Early life and education:Dossett attended Mount Pleasant High School in Wilmington, Delaware from 1972 through 1976, where he was an announcer for the school's radio station, WMPH, and appeared in student theater productions.-Career:Dossett made his...
. The production received generally unenthusiastic reviews but sold well. After the run, Zambello dropped out as director, and the producers announced that they were seeking a new a new director and choreographer, for a possible Broadway production, but retaining Holmes.
Holmes next wrote the book for a jukebox musical
Jukebox musical
A jukebox musical is a stage or film musical that uses previously released popular songs as its musical score. Usually the songs have in common a connection with a particular popular musician or group — either because they were written by, or for, the artists in question, or were at least...
, Robin and the 7 Hoods, inspired by the 1964 film of the same name
Robin and the 7 Hoods
Robin and the 7 Hoods is a 1964 American musical film that transplants the Robin Hood legend to a 1930s Chicago gangster setting. Directed by Gordon Douglas and produced by Frank Sinatra, with a screenplay by David R. Schwartz, the movie stars members of the Rat Pack as well as Bing Crosby, Peter...
starring Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, with a new story line that Holmes set in the Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
era of 1962. Songs are by Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
and Jimmy Van Heusen, including "My Kind of Town
My Kind of Town
My Kind of Town is an American television game show that premiered on August 14, 2005 on ABC. Part variety show, part game show, the series brings 200 people from a small town in the United States to New York City to compete for prizes and participate in games and assorted gags...
". A production ran throughout August 2010, again at the Old Globe. Casey Nicholaw
Casey Nicholaw
Casey Nicholaw is an American theatre director, choreographer and performer. He has been nominated for Tony Awards for directing and choreographing The Drowsy Chaperone , for choreographing Monty Python's Spamalot , and choreographing The Book of Mormon , as well as winning for his co-direction...
directed and choreographed. The story is about a likable gangster hoping to get out of the crime business. A do-gooding TV reporter likens him to a modern day Robin Hood.
Holmes adapted the John Grisham
John Grisham
John Ray Grisham, Jr. is an American lawyer and author, best known for his popular legal thrillers.John Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University before attending the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981 and practiced criminal law for about a decade...
novel and film of A Time to Kill
A Time to Kill
A Time to Kill is a 1989 legal suspense thriller by John Grisham. Grisham's first novel, it was rejected by many publishers before Wynwood Press eventually gave it a modest 5,000-copy printing...
for the stage. The play premiered at the Arena Stage
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics...
, Washington, DC, running in May and June 2011. The courtroom drama, set against a background of evolving 1980s Southern racial politics, has been called "funny, shocking, witty, and sly".
Television writer and novelist
In 1996 Holmes created the television series Remember WENNRemember WENN
Remember WENN is a comedy-drama television series that aired from 1996 to 1998 on the cable channel American Movie Classics. Created and written by Rupert Holmes and set at the fictional Pittsburgh radio station WENN in the early 1940s, it depicted events in the personal and professional lives of...
for American Movie Classics, writing the theme song and all 56 episodes of that series. In 2003 he published his first novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, Where the Truth Lies (later adapted into a film of the same name
Where the Truth Lies
Where the Truth Lies is a 2005 Canadian/British drama film, written and directed by Atom Egoyan. It stars Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, and Alison Lohman, and is based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Rupert Holmes.-Plot:...
by Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan, OC is a critically acclaimed Armenian-Canadian stage director and film director. Egoyan made his career breakthrough with Exotica...
), followed in 2005 by Swing, a multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
release combining a novel with a music CD providing clues to the mystery. Holmes's newest novel, The McMasters Guide To Homicide: Murder Your Employer, is slated for release in 2010.
Albums
Does not include others' collections or albums released without Holmes's participation:- Widescreen. 1974 (Epic: KE 32864 or AL 32864)
- Rupert Holmes. 1975 (Epic: KE33443)
- Singles. 1976 (Epic: 34288)
- Pursuit of Happiness. 1978 (Private Stock/MCA: MCA 3241)
- Partners in CrimePartners in Crime (album)Partners in Crime is an album by Rupert Holmes, includes the hits "Him" and "Escape ", the latter of which was the Billboard #1 hit of December 1979 and January 1980; it was the only single to hold the #1 position in both years and in different decades. The album itself reached #33 on the Billboard...
. 1979 (Infinity/MCA: INF 9020) - Adventure. 1980 (MCA: 5129)
- Full Circle. 1981 (Electra: P-11086E)
- Billboard Top Hits 1980. 1991 (Rhino: 70674)
- Scenario. 1994 (Victor: VICP-5469)
- Epoch Collection. 1994 (Varese Sarabande: VSD-5520)
- Widescreen. 1995 (Varese Sarabande: VSD-5545)
- The Best of Rupert Holmes. 1998 (Half Moon/Universal: HMNCD 037)
- Rupert Holmes / Greatest Hits. 2000 (Hip-O/Universal: 314 541 557-2)
- Widescreen - The Collector's Edition. 2001 (Fynsworth Alley: 302 062 1162) (with eleven cuts not previously released).
- Cast of Characters - The Rupert Holmes Songbook. 2005 (Hip-O/Universal: B0004263-02)
- The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Original Broadway Cast Recording. Polygram
Holmes also wrote and co-produced, and was a keyboardist on, the songs on the disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
album Shobizz, released in 1979 by Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
. He also featured as a vocalist on the 1983 album Lake Freeze - The Raccoons Songtrack
Lake Freeze - The Raccoons Songtrack
Lake Freeze – The Raccoons Songtrack is the soundtrack album for the first two specials of the animated television series The Raccoons, broadcast in 1980 and 1981. It contains songs performed by Rita Coolidge, Rupert Holmes and Leo Sayer as well as two instrumental pieces...
by The Raccoons
The Raccoons
The Raccoons is a Canadian animated television series which was originally broadcast from 1985 to 1991 with four preceding television specials beginning in 1980. The series was created by Kevin Gillis, and produced at Atkinson Film-Arts first-hand from 1984 to 1985, then at Hinton Animation Studios...
.
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US AC | CAN RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
NED | NZ | UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
||||
| 1974 | "Terminal" | - | - | - | - | - | - | Widescreen | |
| "Talk" | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| "Our National Pastime" | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| 1975 | "I Don't Want To Hold Your Hand" | - | - | - | - | - | - | Rupert Holmes | |
| "Deco Lady" | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| 1976 | "Weekend Lover" | - | - | - | - | - | - | Singles | |
| "Who, What, When, Where, Why" | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| 1978 | "Bedside Companions" | - | - | - | - | - | - | Pursuit Of Happiness | |
| "Let's Get Crazy Tonight" | 72 | - | 59 | - | - | - | |||
| 1979 | "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" | 1 | 8 | 1 | 21 | 4 | 23 | Partners in Crime | |
| 1980 | "Him Him (Rupert Holmes song) "Him" is a 1980 single by Rupert Holmes. It peaked at #6 on the Hot 100.-Chart performance:- External links :* * * * * * [ Allmusic ]... " |
6 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 8 | 31 | ||
| "Answering Machine" | 32 | 12 | 85 | - | - | - | |||
| "Morning Man" | 68 | 21 | - | - | - | - | Adventure | ||
| 1981 | "Blackjack" | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| "I Don't Need You" | 56 | 21 | - | - | - | - | |||
| "Loved By The One You Love" | - | 35 | - | - | - | - | Full Circle | ||
| 1982 | "The End" | - | 31 | - | - | - | - | ||
| "–" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Theatre
- Drood (originally The Mystery of Edwin Drood)
- Twelfth Night
- Accomplice
- The Hamburger Hamlet
- Solitary Confinement
- Goosebumps
- Say Goodnight, GracieSay Goodnight, GracieSay Goodnight Gracie is a one-man play by Rupert Holmes.Adapted from the reminiscences of George Burns, the multimedia presentation traces the comedian-raconteur's life from his childhood on the Lower East Side of Manhattan to his early career in vaudeville to his momentous meeting and subsequent...
- Thumbs
- Marty
- CurtainsCurtains (musical)Curtains is a musical with a book by Rupert Holmes, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and music by John Kander, with additional lyrics by Kander and Holmes....
- SwangoSwango (musical)Swango is a dance musical conceived and choreographed by Mariela Franganillo and Robert Royston, with a script by Rupert Holmes.The original production played in the off-Broadway Swing 46 jazz club in 2002 and moved to the Helen Hayes Theatre in Nyack, New York in 2003. It received mixed reviews. ...
- The Picture of Dorian Gray
- The First Wives' Club – The Musical
- Robin and the 7 Hoods
Film and television projects
- Remember WENNRemember WENNRemember WENN is a comedy-drama television series that aired from 1996 to 1998 on the cable channel American Movie Classics. Created and written by Rupert Holmes and set at the fictional Pittsburgh radio station WENN in the early 1940s, it depicted events in the personal and professional lives of...
- Hi Honey I'm Home
- No Small Affair
- Five Savage Men
- A Star Is BornA Star Is Born (1976 film)A Star Is Born is a 1976 American rock music musical film telling the story of a young woman, played by Barbra Streisand who enters show business, and meets and falls in love with an established male star, played by Kris Kristofferson, only to find her career ascending while his goes into decline...
- Art in Heaven
- The Christmas RaccoonsThe Christmas RaccoonsThe Christmas Raccoons is the first of four television specials before the main animated television series succedding it, The Raccoons, took place. It was first broadcast on December 17, 1980.-Plot:...
(voice)
Books
- Swing
- Where the Truth Lies
- The McMasters Guide To Homicide: Murder Your Employer
External links
- Rupert Holmes website
- Sparks - Sparks "Big Beat" Lp produced by Rupert Holmes
- Filmography at IMDB website
- Broadway credits at IBDB website
- Review of new musical Curtains.
- Review of a 1990 Cabaret performance by Holmes
- Holmes' song "Terminal", from his 1974 album "Widescreen", at Songs about Nanuet website