Friml, Rudolf

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.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.