Out in Film: Jerry Herman

Idol worship: Jerry Herman, composer/lyricist.

- He is the Tony and Grammy Award winning composer of three legendary musicals: Hello, Dolly!; Mame and La Cage aux Folles; the latter featured the future gay anthem, "I Am What I Am". With these shows, he was the first composer/lyricist in history to have three musicals run more than 1,500 performances on Broadway.

- Other Broadway tuners he has created include Milk and Honey, Dear World, Mack & Mabel and The Grand Tour, plus the revue Jerry's Girls.

- In addition to the film versions of Dolly and Mame (we're still waiting for the La Cage movie musical), he wrote the score for the Christmas-themed made-for-TV movie Mrs. Santa Claus and was the subject of the recent documentary Words and Music by Jerry Herman.

- His classic Dolly songs "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" and "It Only Takes a Moment" were featured in the Disney/Pixar hit WALL-E, available on DVDnext Tuesday.

- Currently, revivals of both La Cage aux Folles and Mack & Mabel are playing in London.