# Bob Merrill
**Bob Merrill** (born Henry Robert Merrill Levan; May 17, 1921 – February 17, 1998) was an American songwriter, theatrical composer and lyricist, and screenwriter who wrote a string of 1950s pop hits, including "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?" and "Mambo Italiano", before turning to Broadway, where he wrote the lyrics for *Funny Girl*.[1](https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/2994/bob-merrill) • [2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/merrill-bob-originally-lavan-henry-robert-merrill)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | May 17, 1921, Atlantic City, New Jersey; February 17, 1998, Los Angeles area, an apparent suicide[1](https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/2994/bob-merrill) • [3](https://playbill.com/article/composer-lyricist-bob-merrill-dead-at-78-com-329297) |
| Pop hits | "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?", "(If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've) Baked a Cake", "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania", "Mambo Italiano", "Honeycomb", "Make Yourself Comfortable"[4](https://www.thebobmerrill.com/) |
| Chart standing | 25 top-10 popular songs before entering Broadway in the late 1950s; second most successful songwriter of the 1950s on the UK Singles Chart[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-19-me-20746-story.html) • [1](https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/2994/bob-merrill) |
| Working method | Could not read music or play any instrument; composed on a toy xylophone bought for $1.98, numbering the keys to transcribe melodies[6](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bob-merrill-mn0000764211) • [4](https://www.thebobmerrill.com/) |
| Broadway shows | *New Girl in Town* (1957), *Take Me Along* (1959), *Carnival!* (1961), *Funny Girl* (1964), *Henry, Sweet Henry* (1967), *Prettybelle* (1971), *Sugar* (1972), with shows opening between 1957 and 1993[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/merrill-bob-originally-lavan-henry-robert-merrill) • [7](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/bob-merrill/) |
| Signature songs | "People" and "Don't Rain on My Parade" from *Funny Girl*, made famous by Barbra Streisand[7](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/bob-merrill/) |
| Awards | Eight Tony nominations, one Golden Globe nomination, one Oscar nomination; he never won[7](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/bob-merrill/) |
## Early life and Hollywood years
Merrill was born in [Atlantic City, New Jersey](https://www.edgepedia.org/atlantic-city-new-jersey), the son of James Arthur Lavan, a candy maker, and Sadie Abrahams Lavan, and grew up in Philadelphia.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/merrill-bob-originally-lavan-henry-robert-merrill) In his teens he hitchhiked around the country, working as a singer, impressionist, and master of ceremonies at clubs; AllMusic's biography has him hitchhiking to New York at 17, where his first job was putting up titles on movie marquees.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/merrill-bob-originally-lavan-henry-robert-merrill) • [6](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bob-merrill-mn0000764211)
After Army service in World War II he went to Hollywood, where he wrote for CBS Radio and acted, appearing in *The Story of G.I. Joe* and, in his own words, "a dozen B films and westerns."[4](https://www.thebobmerrill.com/) He became CBS's first casting director in 1948, then spent seven years as a dialogue director at [Columbia Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-pictures).[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-19-me-20746-story.html) • [4](https://www.thebobmerrill.com/)
**The turn to songwriting.** On a Columbia film he met Dorothy Shay, the comic singer known as the "Park Avenue Hillbilly," and wrote songs for her; his composition "I've Been to Hollywood" appeared on her album *Dorothy Shay (The Park Avenue Hillbillie) Sings*, which topped the charts in July 1947.[4](https://www.thebobmerrill.com/) • [2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/merrill-bob-originally-lavan-henry-robert-merrill) Encouraged by her success, he quit Columbia and moved to New York as one of the songwriters working around the [Brill Building](https://www.edgepedia.org/brill-building).[4](https://www.thebobmerrill.com/)
## The novelty-song years
His first hit came with "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake", co-written with songwriters Al Hoffman and Clem Watts; when Eileen Barton took it to the top of the charts, Merrill's career was established.[6](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bob-merrill-mn0000764211) Through the late 1940s and 1950s his songs charted repeatedly: "Honeycomb" (recorded by [Jimmie Rodgers](https://www.edgepedia.org/jimmie-rodgers)), "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window" ([Patti Page](https://www.edgepedia.org/patti-page)), "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania", "My Truly, Truly Fair", "Sparrow in the Tree Top", "Love Makes the World Go 'Round", and "Mambo Italiano", a 1954 hit for [Rosemary Clooney](https://www.edgepedia.org/rosemary-clooney).[4](https://www.thebobmerrill.com/) • [6](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bob-merrill-mn0000764211) • [8](https://time.com/3916642/america-songwriting-history/)
The *Los Angeles Times* counted 25 Merrill songs in the top 10 before he moved to Broadway.[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-19-me-20746-story.html) His novelty material was influential enough to be cited as evidence of [Tin Pan Alley](https://www.edgepedia.org/tin-pan-alley)'s drift toward what one account calls "inane novelty numbers and hillbilly hokum" in the early 1950s: "Doggie in the Window" was number one on the charts for eight consecutive weeks in 1953.[8](https://time.com/3916642/america-songwriting-history/) Merrill took criticism of his clichéd lyrics in stride, admitting he kept a notebook filled with clichés in order to write more universal songs.[6](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bob-merrill-mn0000764211)
His method was unorthodox. Unable to read or write music, he composed everything on a cheap toy xylophone, numbering the keys so he could transcribe the melodies; the official biography describes a child's xylophone bought for $1.98 at a dime store.[6](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bob-merrill-mn0000764211) • [4](https://www.thebobmerrill.com/)
## Broadway
Merrill made his Broadway debut in 1957 with *New Girl in Town*, a musical version of [Eugene O'Neill](https://www.edgepedia.org/eugene-oneill)'s *Anna Christie* that began as a score he had anticipated composing for an MGM screen musical; [Gwen Verdon](https://www.edgepedia.org/gwen-verdon) and [Thelma Ritter](https://www.edgepedia.org/thelma-ritter) led the cast, and each took home a Tony that year as Best Actress in a Musical.[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-19-me-20746-story.html) • [7](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/bob-merrill/) He followed it with *Take Me Along* (1959), based on O'Neill's *Ah, Wilderness!*, which won Jackie Gleason a 1960 Tony for Best Actor in a Musical, and *Carnival!* (1961), adapted from the film *Lili*, which won the 1961 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical and earned Anna Maria Alberghetti a 1962 Tony.[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-19-me-20746-story.html) • [7](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/bob-merrill/)
**Funny Girl.** His biggest Broadway success came as lyricist, working with composer [Jule Styne](https://www.edgepedia.org/jule-styne), on the 1964 musical *Funny Girl*, about the Ziegfeld comedian [Fanny Brice](https://www.edgepedia.org/fanny-brice); it made [Barbra Streisand](https://www.edgepedia.org/barbra-streisand) a star and produced the standards "People" and "Don't Rain on My Parade".[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-19-me-20746-story.html) • [7](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/bob-merrill/) Merrill and Styne wrote additional material for the 1967 film version.[7](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/bob-merrill/) Merrill wrote quickly: when Styne played him five melodies for the show, he wrote lyrics for all of them, including several of its hits, in three days.[9](https://zvbxrpl.blogspot.com/2004/08/bob-merrill-on-broadway.html)
He also did uncredited repair work on other shows. With Jerry Herman he wrote "Elegance" and "Motherhood March" and served as "show doctor" for *Hello, Dolly!* before its Broadway opening.[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-19-me-20746-story.html)
**Later shows.** His stage fortunes declined after *Funny Girl*. *Breakfast at Tiffany's* (1966) closed after four previews, and *Henry, Sweet Henry* (1967) ran only eighty performances.[7](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/bob-merrill/) *Prettybelle*, with Merrill as lyricist and librettist and Styne as composer, opened in Boston on February 1, 1971 and closed without reaching Broadway.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/merrill-bob-originally-lavan-henry-robert-merrill) *Sugar* (1972), adapted from [Billy Wilder](https://www.edgepedia.org/billy-wilder)'s film *Some Like It Hot* with music by Styne, was a moderate success in which [Robert Morse](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-morse) won a Drama Desk Award.[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-19-me-20746-story.html) • [7](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/bob-merrill/) • [9](https://zvbxrpl.blogspot.com/2004/08/bob-merrill-on-broadway.html) His last Broadway contribution was as a contributing lyricist to the 1993 musical *The Red Shoes*.[7](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/bob-merrill/)
## Screen and television work
Tiring of Broadway, Merrill turned to screenwriting. His first film credit was *Mahogany* (1975), starring Diana Ross, followed by the W.C. Fields biography *W.C. Fields and Me* with Rod Steiger, the comedy *Chu Chu and the Philly Flash* starring Carol Burnett in the early 1980s, and the CBS movie of the week *Portrait of a Showgirl*, with Rita Moreno, Leslie Ann Warren, and Tony Curtis.[4](https://www.thebobmerrill.com/) For television he created Christmas specials including *Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol* and, with Styne, the 1965 television musical *The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood*, starring Liza Minnelli.[4](https://www.thebobmerrill.com/) • [10](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-bob-merrill-1145818.html) He also taught at UCLA.[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-19-me-20746-story.html)
## Death and assessment
Suffering from depression and ill health, Merrill took his own life on February 17, 1998.[4](https://www.thebobmerrill.com/) He had married Dolores Marquez in 1964 (the marriage was dissolved) and Suzanne Reynolds in 1976.[10](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-bob-merrill-1145818.html)
Obituarists placed him as a craftsman rather than a member of the first rank of American songwriters, but one with a firm place in popular music history, both for Hit Parade novelty songs and for two enduring theater standards.[10](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-bob-merrill-1145818.html) Playbill's retrospective noted that his reputation is complicated by an uneven record: the first half of his musical-theater career was far more successful than the second, and he moved between writing full scores and lyrics only, with his most famous credited show, *Funny Girl*, one for which he wrote only the lyrics.[3](https://playbill.com/article/composer-lyricist-bob-merrill-dead-at-78-com-329297) • [11](https://playbill.com/article/ken-mandelbaums-musicals-on-disc-remembering-bob-merrill-com-73735) His melodies, built from simple memorable phrases, and his fast, spontaneous-sounding lyrics with unusual images, remain recognizable traits of his work.[9](https://zvbxrpl.blogspot.com/2004/08/bob-merrill-on-broadway.html)
## References
1. [Bob Merrill, Concord Theatricals](https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/2994/bob-merrill)
2. [Merrill, Bob (originally, Lavan, Henry Robert Merrill), Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/merrill-bob-originally-lavan-henry-robert-merrill)
3. [Composer/lyricist Bob Merrill Dead at 78, Playbill](https://playbill.com/article/composer-lyricist-bob-merrill-dead-at-78-com-329297)
4. [Bob Merrill, official site biography](https://www.thebobmerrill.com/)
5. [Bob Merrill; Broadway Composer and Lyricist, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-19-me-20746-story.html)
6. [Bob Merrill Biography, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bob-merrill-mn0000764211)
7. [Bob Merrill, Masterworks Broadway](https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/bob-merrill/)
8. [Have We Turned the Last Page in America's Songbook?, TIME](https://time.com/3916642/america-songwriting-history/)
9. [Bob Merrill On Broadway, Something Old, Nothing New](https://zvbxrpl.blogspot.com/2004/08/bob-merrill-on-broadway.html)
10. [Obituary: Bob Merrill, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/obituary-bob-merrill-1145818.html)
11. [Ken Mandelbaum's Musicals on Disc: Remembering Bob Merrill, Playbill](https://playbill.com/article/ken-mandelbaums-musicals-on-disc-remembering-bob-merrill-com-73735)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Songwriters and record producers › Songwriters and lyricists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license