This date in 1895 was the birthdate of Oscar Hammerstein II, so 10 facts about him:
For those who don’t know who this is, he’s best known for his partnership with composer Richard Rodgers, as the duo Rodgers and Hammerstein, which gave us musicals such as Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music. He co-wrote 850 songs and won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards for Best Original Song.
He is the only person (at time of writing) called Oscar who has won an Oscar.
He was born on West 125th Street in Harlem, New York City and was given the name Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II.
Oscar Hammerstein I was his grandfather, a famed opera impresario. His uncle Arthur was a successful producer of Broadway musicals, and his father father, William, managed a vaudeville theatre.
Despite the theatrical background, William wasn’t at all keen on his son pursuing a career in show business. Oscar attended Columbia University to study law. While there, he began acting in the school's Varsity Show revues, and writing for them. His first show a was varsity show called On Your Way when he was 19 in 1914.
He persuaded his Uncle Arthur to give him a job as an assistant stage manager, and dropped out of law school.
He used a standing desk. When writing, he used a high, antique bookkeeper's desk, a gift from his friend Jerome Kern. Hammerstein claimed that writing standing up helped keep his creative juices flowing.
He was married twice. His first wife was Myra Finn, who he married in 1917 and divorced in 1929. He married Dorothy (Blanchard) Jacobson that same year.
The last song he ever wrote, when he was dying of cancer, was Edelweiss from The Sound of Music. So, the last lyric he wrote as he was dying was “forever”.
He died on on August 23, 1960, and on 1 September all the lights were turned off on Broadway as a tribute.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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