Born in New York City; educated at Williams College, Williamstown, MA. Preeminent figure of the contemporary American musical theater whose sophisticated lyrics (West Side Story, Gypsy, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) and scores (A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park With George, Into the Woods) have virtually spawned a new school of theatrical composition, lifting musicals from rousing banality into a loftier, more cerebral realm. Several of Sondheim's musical efforts have been successfully transposed to the screen and he has contributed fine music to a handful of films, including Alain Resnais's STAVISKY (1974) and Warren Beatty's REDS (1981) and DICK TRACY (1990). Since the 1960s, Sondheim has shown a Joycean fascination with language. He was instrumental in popularizing the British Crossword puzzle in the US in the late 60s. In 1973 he co-wrote with actor Anthony Perkins the comic mystery THE LAST OF SHEILA; both dialogue and mise-en-scène are replete with puns, anagrams and other alliterative wordplays. The solution to the mystery is itself semiotic. The film remains one of the most significant inside jokes ever played on the moviegoing public. Sondheim contributed songs to THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION (1976), POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE (1990) and THE BIRDCAGE (1996).  Best Achievement in Music (Original Song) 1990: DICK TRACY "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)" - Music & Lyric 1 nomination, 1 Award