Richard Rodgers
![Rodgers at the St. James Theatre in 1948](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Rodgers.jpg)
Rodgers is known for his songwriting partnerships, first with lyricist Lorenz Hart and then with Oscar Hammerstein II. With Hart he wrote musicals throughout the 1920s and 1930s, including ''Pal Joey'', ''A Connecticut Yankee'', ''On Your Toes'' and ''Babes in Arms.'' With Hammerstein he wrote musicals through the 1940s and 1950s, such as ''Oklahoma!'', ''Flower Drum Song'', ''Carousel'', ''South Pacific'', ''The King and I'', and ''The Sound of Music''. His collaborations with Hammerstein, in particular, are celebrated for bringing the Broadway musical to a new maturity by telling stories that were focused on characters and drama rather than the earlier light-hearted entertainment of the genre.
Rodgers was the first person to win all four of the top American entertainment awards in theater, film, recording, and televisionan Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tonynow known collectively as an EGOT. In addition, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, making him the first ever to receive all five awards (later joined by Marvin Hamlisch). In 1978, Rodgers was in the inaugural group of Kennedy Center Honorees for lifetime achievement in the arts. Provided by Wikipedia