Born in New York City, New York on June 7, 1928, Charles Strouse was an award-winning composer and lyricist best known for writing the music for iconic Broadways musicals such as Bye Bye Birdie and Annie as well as penning the opening theme to the TV series All in the Family. Initially wanting to focus on a classical music career, Charles Strause was encouraged to pursue ‘light music’ that would inspire a wider audience. Starting a musical collaboration with lyricist Lee Adams in 1952, the two wrote many songs together – including the off-Broadway musical A Pound for Your Pocket (1959) - before writing 1960’s Bye Bye Birdie, their first Broadway musical. The show was an enormous success and won Charles Strouse his first Tony Award. Bye Bye Birdie got the film treatment in 1963 and has become one of the most cherished musicals in celluloid history. He followed that success with a series of musicals that didn’t quite match the popularity of Bye Bye Birdie including All American (1962), Golden Boy (1964), and It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman (1966) before winning another Tony Award for 1970’s Applause. Charles Strouse’s next massive hit was 1977’s Annie, which featured “Tomorrow,” a song that is now considered a pop culture standard. Amongst other mildly successful musicals, he also worked on ‘sequel’ productions of his most popular musicals including Bring Back Birdie (1981), Annie 2: Miss Hannigan’s Revenge (1989), and Annie Warbucks (1993). During his successful career as a Broadway composer, Charles Strouse also wrote the scores for several films including Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Annie (1982), Ishtar (1987), and All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989). His work for television included the music for HBO’s Lyle, Lyle Crocodile and others. Outside of Bye Bye Birdie and Annie, he is best known for composing “Those Were the Days,” the theme to the controversial hit TV series All in the Family. The song, which was performed at the piano by the show’s stars Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton, has been both praised and parodied since it was first broadcast over the airwaves in 1971. A prolific composer, Charles Strouse continued to work until 2011. He died on May 15, 2025, at the age of 96.
