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Bob (Robert) Merrill (born Henry Lavan May 17, 1921? or ? 1923?- February 17, 1998) was an American composer and lyricist. His most famous works included "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?" It was on the charts with the Patti Page recording.

The IMDb says that Merrill was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Others sources say that he was born and raised in Philadelphia in 1923. In any case he moved to New York City and later to Hollywood.

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s Merrill was responsible for penning a whole string of chart hits including "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania", "Love Makes the World Go 'Round", "Sparrow in the Tree Top", and "Mambo Italiano," the last of which in particular remains a favorite, particularly in movies, to this day. Many of the songs he wrote were recorded by Guy Mitchell.

Merrill successfully wrote both music and lyrics, but often collaborated equally successfully with noted pop and Broadway composer Jule Styne.

Merrill later returned to Broadway to pen musicals. His first major musical success was New Girl in Town - directed by George Abbott, which won a New York Drama Critic prize in 1964. The biggest hit was the Barbra Streisand vehicle Funny Girl, which spawned the enduring Don't Rain on My Parade and People.

According to the Internet Broadway Database entry on Merrill, he sometimes penned works under the pseudonym of "Paul Stryker".

Merrill became progressively more ill in the mid-1990s. He finally shot himself and died in February 1998.

Contents 1 Compositions 1.1 Recorded by Guy Mitchell 1.2 Works for Broadway 1.3 Others 2 External links

• Chicka Boom
• Feet Up (Pat Him on the Po-Po)
• My Truly, Truly Fair
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• She Wears Red Feathers
• Sparrow in the Tree Top
• Walkin' to Missouri

• New Girl In Town, musicalization of "Anna Christie" (1957) - music and lyrics - Tony nomination for Best Musical, starred Gewn Verdon
• Take Me Along (1959), based on Eugene O'Neil's "Ah Wilderness"; - music and lyrics - Tony nomination for Best Musical, starred Jackie Gleason, Walter Pigeon, Robert Morse - revived in 1985
• Carnival! (1961) - music and lyrics, based on motion picture "Lili" - Tony nomination for Best Musical, featured "Love Makes the World Go 'Round", starred Anna Maria Alberghetti, Jerry Orbach
• Funny Girl (1964) - lyrics - (music by Jule Styne);Tony Nominations for Best Musical and Best Original Score
• Breakfast at Tiffany's (1966) - music and lyrics - closed during previews, starred Mary Tyler Moore and Richard Chamberlain
• Henry, Sweet Henry (1967) - music and lyrics, starred Don Ameche
• Prettybelle (1971) - book and lyrics - closed in Boston
• Sugar (1972) - lyrics (music by Jule Styne), starred Robert Morse, Tony Roberts; based on the movie "Some Like It Hot"
• The Red Shoes (1993) - lyrics (music by Jule Styne)

Posthumous credits:

• Barbara Cook's Broadway! (2004) - concert - featured songwriter

• Honeycomb
• [Candy and Cake]
• If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake (with Al Hoffman and Clem Watts)
• Love Makes the World Go 'Round
• Make Yourself Comfortable
• Mambo Italiano
• Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol 1962
• (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?
• Tina Marie

• Bob Merrill at the Internet Broadway Database