Out in Film: Stephen Sondheim

Idol worship: Stephen Sondheim, composer-lyricist/ show tune legend.
- What he's known for: His sophisticated, complex and richly rewarding compositions that revolutionized American musical theater, words and music that continue to inspire fevered devotion among his many and varied aficionados.
- Awards on his mantel: Multiple Tony Awards (including A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods); two Grammys (for Sweeney and "Send in the Clowns"); a Pulitzer Prize (for Sunday in the Park With George); an Oscar (for the song "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)" from Dick Tracy); the lifetime achievement award from the Kennedy Center Honors.
- Other choice projects: The lyricist behind West Side Story and Gypsy; co-writer (with Anthony Perkins) of The Last of Sheila; composed the score for Reds and songs for The Birdcage.
- Onscreen appearances: In various Broadway-themed documentaries, as well as appearing as himself in the movie Camp and on The Simpsons.
- Bet you didn't know: Once wrote an unofficial original musical based on Mary Poppins; early in his career, he was a writer on the TV version of Topper; his voice can be heard on the original cast album for Gypsy, as Rose's father during the song "Some People".
- Yes, it's true: He and fellow composer Andrew Lloyd Webber were both born on a March 22; was mentored by Broadway legend Oscar Hammerstein II; loves games and puzzles.
- TV tribute: Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry is a huge Sondheim fan, titling each episode to date after one of his songs.
- Can we quote you on that: "My idea of heaven is not writing."
- Where you can see his work now: Onscreen in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
- Upcoming projects: Broadway revivals of Sunday in the Park With George, Gypsy and West Side Story; the television debut of the recent production of Company on PBS; a possible film version of Follies.
- Where you can learn more: In The Sondheim Review, the only professional magazine devoted exclusively to the work of one composer.

Links via Imdb.com, YouTube.com, BroadwayWorld.com, Playbill.com and SondheimReview.com.