Bob Hilliard

Bob Hilliard
Background information
Birth name	Bob Hilliard
Born	28 January 1918 New York City, New York
Died	February 1, 1971 (aged 53) Hollywood, California
Occupations	Lyricist
Years active	1938 - 1971

Bob Hilliard (28 January 1918^[1] - 1 February 1971^[2]) was an American lyricist, born in New York.

Career

After attending New York secondary schools, Hilliard began work as a lyricist on Tin Pan Alley. Beginning in the 1930s through the 1950s, Hilliard co-wrote such hits as:-

• "Any Day Now"
• "A Poor Man's Roses (or a Rich Man's Gold)"
• "A Strawberry Moon"
• "Au Revoir Is Goodbye with a Smile"
• "The Autumn Waltz"
• "A Very Merry Unbirthday to You"
• "Be My Life's Companion"
• "The Big Brass Band from Brazil"
• "Bouquet of Roses"
• "Civilization" aka "Bongo, Bongo, Bongo"
• "The Coffee Song"
• "Dear Hearts and Gentle People"
• "Dearie"
• "Don't Ever Be Afraid to Go Home"
• "Don't You Believe It"
• "Every Street's a Boulevard in Old New York"
• "Feet of Clay"
• "From the Candy Store on the Corner to the Chapel on the Hill"
• "How Do You Speak To An Angel?".
• "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning"
• "Mexican Divorce"
• "Money Burns a Hole in My Pocket"
• "Moonlight Gambler"
• "My Little Corner of the World"
• "No Well On Earth"
• "Our Day Will Come"
• "Please Stay"
• "Seven Little Girls (Sitting in the Back Seat)"
• "Stay With the Happy People"
• "The Thousand Islands Song"
• "Tower of Strength"
• "Very Good Advice"
• "Wanted Man"
• "(Why Did I Tell You I Was Going To) Shanghai"
• "You're Following Me"

In the early 1960s, Hilliard had another success as joint composer of "Our Day Will Come". The song became a # 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1963 for Ruby & the Romantics.

He also experienced success on Broadway with Angel in the Wings and Hazel Flagg. However, he is probably most celebrated as the lyricist for the film score to Alice in Wonderland. This included providing the words to the song - "I'm Late".

Throughout his career, Hilliard collaborated with many composers and lyricists including Burt Bacharach, Carl Sigman, Jule Styne, Mort Garson, Sammy Mysels, Dick Sanford, Milton DeLugg, Philip Springer, Lee Pockriss and Sammy Fain.

Married to Jacqueline Dalya,^[3] Hilliard was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983.

Bob Hilliard died, at the age of 53, in Hollywood, California, on 1 February 1971.^[2]

References

External links

• Bob Hilliard at the Songwriters Hall of Fame
• Mini biography at Composers/Lyricists Database website
• Bob Hilliard biography at Allmusic website
• Biography at IMDb
• Biography and songwriter credit listing