Stephen Sondheim is one of the giants of Broadway. As a composer and lyricist he has won more Tony Awards than any other person. He has been behind some of the biggest hits on Broadway. In addition he has also written the scores for a number of movies. He has to be regarded as one of the finest composers of his generation.
Stephen Sondheim was born in New York but when his parents divorced he and his mother moved to Pennsylvania. This is where Sondheim got his big break as you he became friends with the son of Oscar Hammerstein. It was through Hammerstein that a young Sondheim first developed a love for musical theatre. In addition he would learn the skills required to write a musical. In effect he got an education in being a composer from Hammerstein. He would also be introduced to a number of important people who would play a big part in his career. Eventually Sondheim would go off to college and later earn a master's degree in music from Princeton University.
After graduating from Princeton Sondheim struggled to find work as a composer. He would audition for a number of jobs before finally getting one. His first job was a musical that ended up not being produced. His big break came in 1957 when he was hired to write the lyrics for a musical called West Side Story. This was one of the most successful musicals that he would ever work on. It also launched Sondheim's career as a lyricist. Despite this success he wanted more, he wanted the chance to write the music as well. Unfortunately there were few producers willing to give him a chance to do this because he had no track record composing the music for a Broadway show.
Finally Sondheim would get the chance to compose the music for a Broadway musical in 1962 when he worked on A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to The Forum. This became a smash hit that gave Sondheim the track record that he needed to be able to write the music and the lyrics on his future projects. This is primarily what he would do for the remainder of his career although he would occasionally work in collaboration with other composers and just supply the lyrics on some plays.
Although he is best known for his work on Broadway Sondheim has also written the score for a number of movies. He even won an Academy award for his work on the film version of Dick Tracy. Over the years Sondheim has tried his hand at a number of other things besides composing. He has written a few plays with mixed results. He has also written a couple of books and for a time he even created crossword puzzles. However far and away his greatest success has been at composing Broadway musicals.