Perhaps the great pioneering Broadway composer, Kern is credited with the creation of the first truly American musical theatre.The son of an upper-middle class new York family, Jerome studied at Heidleberg University in Germany and them went straight into composing for Broadway. His first big hit was They Didn't Believe Me from the 1914 show The Girl From Utah.
In collaboration with P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton Kern created a series of shows called the Princess shows, after the theatre in which the majority were mounted - featuring charming melodies combined with witty books and lyrics. These light, bright, quintessentially American shows signalled a break with the middle-European operettas which had until then dominated musical theatre in New York. Together with Hammerstein, Kern was responsible for another hugely influential change when the pair created Showboat in 1927.
In 1934 Kern went to Hollywood to work on the film of Roberta, based on his Broadway show. He had a new melody for which lyrics were required, and the studio invited Dorothy Fields to oblige. The result was Lovely to Look At. Kern liked Dorothy's work on this number, and on her rewriting of I Won't Dance, also for Roberta. More importantly, he liked her. Since Hammerstein, his regular partner was not enamoured of Hollywood, Kern was delighted to establish a new partnership with Dorothy. The result was a harmonious, affectionate relationship and a slew of great songs.
The partnership's first, operetta-style film score, for I Dream Too Much was poorly received. The next, however, was far better suited to Dorothy's talents. It was the immortal Fred and Ginger movie Swing Time, with an embarrassment of song riches, such as Never Gonna Dance, Pick Yourself Up, A Fine Romance, Bojangles of Harlem, and the Oscar-winning The Way You Look Tonight.
Over the next few years, the pair contributed songs to three more films, all forgotten today except for some of the exquisite songs, such as Remind Me.
When Dorothy returned to New York in 1939, Kern stayed in Hollywood, working with lyricists Johnny Mercer and Ira Gershwin. In 1945 Dorothy enticed him back to New York to discuss her project for a musical about Annie Oakley; shortly after his arrival, he died from the effects of a stroke.
A decade after her friend's death, Fields set words to three unused Kern melodies, including April Fooled Me.
Surprisingly, there appears to be no sizeable website devoted to Kern. For biographical information, see the following site: Jerome Kern
Also the Tunesmiths Database : Kern.
Another site includes the moving eulogy delivered by Oscar Hammerstein at Kern's funeral.