Friml, Rudolf (Charles Rudolf Friml) (frĭm`əl), 1879–1972, American composer, b. Prague. Friml lived in the United States after 1906. The best-known of his 33 light operas are The Firefly (1912), Rose Marie (1924), and The Vagabond King (1925). Friml's operettas generally concerned gallants and princesses moving through fairy-tale complexities of plot. Presented on stage, on Broadway and in road companies and revived in film versions, his operettas succumbed to the change in musical tastes by the late 1940s.

Friml, (Charles) Rudolf

(born Dec. 7, 1879, Prague —died Nov. 12, 1972, Hollywood, Calif., U.S.) Czech-born U.S. composer. He studied under Antonín Dvorák, and he immigrated to the U.S. in 1906. In 1912, replacing Victor Herbert, he composed the highly successful operetta The Firefly (with Otto Harbach). The next major success of his approximately 30 operettas, Rose Marie (1924; with “Indian Love Call”), was followed by The Vagabond King (1925; with “Song of the Vagabonds” and “Some Day”) and The Three Musketeers (1928), among the last operettas to enjoy popular success.

Friml, (Charles) Rudolf (1879–1972) pianist, composer; born in Prague, Austria-Hungary (now the Czech Republic). He studied under Dvorák at the Prague Conservatory and as a pianist and composer he settled in the U.S.A. in 1906 (becoming a citizen in 1925). His completion of The Firefly (1912) for Victor Herbert initiated his long series of highly successful Broadway operettas (1912–34) containing such standards as "Indian Love Song" from Rose Marie (1924), "Some Day" from The Vagabond King (1925), and "The Donkey Serenade" from the film version of The Firefly (1937). He also contributed to the Ziegfeld Follies (1921–25). After settling in Hollywood (1934) he scored numerous films, and at age 92 he became an original member of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.