Robert Stolz

Robert Stolz was born on August 25, 1880 in Graz, Austria-Hungary.

After the state examination for music in 1896 he worked among others as a director of music before he was able to publish his first composition in 1903 - the operetta "Schön Lorchen". Beside it he often worked as a conductor in Berlin and Vienna.

From 1899 he held successive conducting posts at Maribor (then called Marburg), Salzburg and Brno before succeeding Artur Bodanzky at the Theater an der Wien in 1907.

Robert Stolz was married five times. His first and second wives (Grete Holm and Franzi Ressel), were singers. His third wife was Josephine Zernitz and the fourth was named Lilli. His fifth wife Yvonne Louise Ulrich, called "Einzi" (1912-2004) or "die Einzige", for her role assisting German and Austrian artists in exile in Paris during the Second World War, was his manager until his death. She had one daughter from her first marriage, whom Robert Stolz adopted: Clarissa.

He made his film debut as a composer already in 1913 for the movie "Der Millionenonkel", but only with the talkies his music showed to advantage completely.

After serving in the Austrian Army in World War I, Stolz devoted himself mainly to cabaret, and moved to Berlin in 1925.

He wrote the music for German and Austrian productions. To these movies belong "Zwei Herzen im 3/4 Takt" (1930), "Hokuspokus" (1930), "Konfetti" (36), "Die Austernlilli" (1937) and "Zauber der Bohème" (1937).

Left Berlin in 1933 after the national socialists came to power. Helped Jewish refugees to flee while based in Vienna. After Austria's Anschluss to Germany in 1938, Stolz emigrated to the United States via Switzerland and France. He worked for several years both in New York (where he performed "A Night in Vienna" at Carnegie Hall) and in Hollywood (where he was twice nominated for Academy Awards).

After the Anschluss in 1938, he moved again, first to Zürich and then to Paris, where in 1939 he was interned as an enemy alien. With the help of friends he was released and in 1940 made his way to New York.

He wrote the score for two movies - "Spring Parade" (1940) and "It Happened Tomorrow" (1944) - and was nominated for the Oscar for both movies.

Robert Stolz was denaturalized form the German Reich in 1942 and his property was confiscated.

He also contributed the film music to the post-war Austrian film. To his last cinematical works belong "Anni" (1948), "Tanz ins Glück" (1951), "Die Deutschmeister" (1955) and "Der Kongress amüsiert sich" (1965).

In 1952, he began to compose for the Vienna Ice Revue. He dedicated his first of 19 ice operettas ("Eternal Eve") to European Champion Eva Pawlik.

Robert Stolz made the Operetta in 1957 with Rudolf Weys and Robert Gilbert "Kleiner Schwindel in Paris". One of the songs is: "Verliebte muss man gar nicht erst in Stimmung bringen".

In the 1960s and 1970s he made numerous recordings of operettas by composers such as Johann Strauss, Franz Lehár, Emmerich Kálmán, and Leo Fall, whom he had known previously.

In 1970, to mark his 90th birthday, he was made an Honorary Citizen of Vienna.

For his engagement for the Jews during World War II he was awarded with the Jerusalem medal in 1971.

After his death in Berlin in 1975, Robert Stolz received the honour of a lying-in-state in the foyer of the Vienna State Opera House.

He was a composer, known for 13 Sins (2014), Spring Parade (1940) and It Happened Tomorrow (1944). He was married to Yvonne Louise Ulrich, Josephine Zernitz, Franzi Ressel, Grete Holm and Lilli.