Biography
Born on May 13, 1885, British lyricist Douglas Furber earned his chief renown by co-authoring "The Bells of St. Mary's," while a later revival of his stage work Me and My Girl delivered additional acclaim decades after his death. His initial professional strides came through a partnership with Australian-born composer A. Emmett Adams, whom he encountered in Southampton in 1914; the pair produced "The Bells of St. Mary's," which publishers first declined yet which became a major American success in 1917. Subsequent hits followed, among them "Lambeth Walk" written with Noel Gay, "Limehouse Blues" composed in 1924 with Philip Braham, and "God Send You Back to Me," a 1925 Adams collaboration whose sheet-music sales exceeded one million copies. Furber also sang and acted in a pair of Broadway revues across 1924-1925. In 1937 he and Noel Gay created the musical comedy Me and My Girl. During 1945 "The Bells of St. Mary's" regained popularity when Bing Crosby cut it as the title song for his newest film. Furber died in London on February 20, 1961; twenty-seven years afterward, Me and My Girl reached Broadway in a version whose lyrics and book had been revised and updated. The production proved successful, running from 1986-1989 and receiving two 1987 Tony nominations, for Best Score and Best Book.