A Profile on Ann Ronell

Ann's Early Life and Start in Music

Ann Ronell (born as Anna Rosenblatt) was an American composer, lyricist, and librettist born on December 25, 1908 in Omaha, Nebraska. Her parents were Morris and Mollie Rosenblatt. After high school, Ronell attended Wheaton College for two years before transferring to Radcliffe College in order to pursue an education more focused on music. At Radcliffe she studied music and literature with teachers such as Walter Piston. She also wrote music for college plays and provided reviews and interviews for the college’s music publication. Among these interviews was George Gershwin, who she ended up building a friendship/mentorship with. He hired Ronell as a rehearsal pianist and brought her to Broadway. It was at this time that she changed her name to “Ann Ronell”. The start of her musical career also included teaching music and coaching singers. 

 

Ann's Musical Output and Success

Ronell’s musical output was pretty broad. She was one of the first successful women of Tin Pan Alley. Some of her most popular songs include Baby’s Birthday Party (1931), Candy Parade (1932), and Willow Weep for Me (1932) – which was a contribution to the Jazz standards repertoire and has been recorded by many artists such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra. After moving to Hollywood in 1933, she was the first woman to become a music director and composer for motion pictures such asChampagne Waltz (1937) and Blockade (1938). She also wrote the well known Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? alongside Frank Churchill for the Disney cartoon Three Little Pigs at the request of Walt Disney. After this she continued to score more Disney short films. She also wrote scores for movies such aMainstreet to Broadway and The Story of G.I. Joe – which she received two oscar nominations for – Best Score and Best Song (“Linda”). She also wrote music and lyrics for Broadway musicals such as Count Me In (1942). She is also known for her contribution to “opera in the American manner” which included rewriting text in English so that it was more accessible to the general public. Some of these works include her adaptation of Martha and Gypsy Baron.

Ann's Personal and Later Life

As for her personal life, she married film producer Lester Cowan in 1937, however they never had any children. She eventually returned to New York in the 1960s and served on boards for musical and theatrical associations. She was also inducted into the National Academy of Popular Music’s Song Writers Hall of Fame in 1991. She died in New York on December 25, 1993 at the age of 85.

Oxford Music: Ann Ronell

Jazz Standards: Ann Ronell