McKuen was born in Oakland, CA, in 1933 at the end of the Depression. During his childhood he lived with his mother and left at the age of 11 to look for a job to support his family, living in California, Nevada, Washington and Oregon and working a laborer, a stunt man, a radio disc jockey and a newspaper columnist. He served in the Army as a script writer and member of the Korean Civil Assistance Command.
Upon returning to the United States, he began performing under the encouragement of his good friend Phyllis Diller. He first performed at San Francisco's Purple Onion, which led to a Universal-International acting contract [ROCK, PRETTY BABY (1956, also composer), SUMMER LOVE (1958, also lyricist) and WILD HERITAGE (1958)]. During the '50s, McKuen made a name for himself as a vocalist with Lionel Hampton's band and acquired quite a following as a recording artist and nightclub act. In 1959 he moved to New York to compose and conduct the music for the television series The CBS Workshop. His songwriting talents have produced more than 900 songs, performed by such artists as Danny Kaye, Henry Mancini, Glen Yarbrough and the Kingston Trio, just to name a few. His songs include "Love's Been Good to Me," "Rock Gently" and "The World I Used to Know," which along with many others have helped earn McKuen more than 40 gold and platinum records worldwide.
Besides pop/rock songs, Rod McKuen has written both film and classical music. His scores for THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE and A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN earned him two Academy Award nominations. His symphonies, concertos, suites and song cycles have been performed by orchestras throughout the world and are guaranteed to bring in large audiences. "The City: A Suite for Narrator and Orchestra" was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Music. Before 1981, when McKuen stopped performing, he had performed in more than 300 concerts around the world.
Another passion of the prolific singer/composer is writing poetry, which takes up most of his time. McKuen became a best-selling author with Listen to the Warm and Stanyan Street and Other Sorrows during the '60s. His poetry is studied in schools, colleges, universities and seminaries around the world. In his literary career, McKuen earned the Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman Awards for poetry and the Brandeis University Literary Trust Award for his contributions to poetry.
In 1982, McKuen suffered from a bout of depression and withdrew himself from the public realm for 10 years. He still produces poetry in his Beverly Hills home. With an outstanding list of credits including singer, actor, writer, poet, songwriter and composer, Rod McKuen has made a generous contribution to the arts and a name for himself in many different categories. ~ Kim Summers, All Music Guide
Nominated for Music (Best Song) 1969: THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODY "Jean" - Music & Lyric
Nominated for Music (Best Original Song Score) 1970: A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN (w. John Scott Trotter, Bill Melendez, Al Shean & Vince Guaraldi)
2 nominations