Howard Dietz

Howard Dietz
Name	Howard Dietz
Birth date	January 8, 1896
Birth place	New York City, New York, United States
Death date	April 7, 1983
Death place	Weston, Connecticut, United States
Occupation	Lyricist, librettist, publicist, executive
Known for	"The Best Things in Life Are Free", "Ziegfeld Follies" contributions, MGM publicity

Howard Dietz was an American lyricist, librettist, and publicist whose career bridged Broadway, Hollywood, and corporate publicity in the 20th century. He is best known for songwriting partnerships, musical revues, and for shaping the public image of major entertainment institutions and corporations. Dietz's work connected the worlds of Broadway, Hollywood studios, and advertising during eras dominated by figures such as Florenz Ziegfeld, Irving Berlin, and studio executives at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Early life and education

Dietz was born in New York City and raised amid the cultural milieu of Manhattan and the broader New York metropolitan area. He attended Columbia University, where he participated in student theatrical activities and contributed to campus publications alongside contemporaries who would enter Tin Pan Alley, Vaudeville, and Broadway circuits. His formative years overlapped with influential figures such as George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, and Lorenz Hart, all prominent in the same New York artistic networks. During this period Dietz became acquainted with the milieu surrounding the Ziegfeld Follies and the flourishing revue and musical tradition centered on Times Square and the Theatre District, Manhattan.

Career

Dietz began his professional life composing lyrics and libretti for Broadway revues and collaborated with composers active in Tin Pan Alley and the American musical theater scene. He moved between New York and Hollywood as the studio system expanded in the 1920s and 1930s, ultimately joining the publicity apparatus of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at a time when studios relied on star-driven promotion tied to figures like Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, and Judy Holliday. As a publicist and executive at MGM, Dietz worked with advertising agencies and trade publications such as Variety and The Hollywood Reporter and helped craft campaigns that involved industry practices seen at Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and RKO Radio Pictures.

Dietz also engaged with theatrical producers and impresarios including Florenz Ziegfeld, David Belasco, and later Broadway producers who collaborated with composers like Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Loesser, and Harold Arlen. His public relations strategies intersected with studio publicity trends exemplified by executives such as Louis B. Mayer and publicists who shaped celebrity culture alongside photographers and columnists working for The New York Times, Photoplay, and Life.

Major works and collaborations

Dietz's most enduring songs emerged from collaborations with composers such as Arthur Schwartz, with whom he wrote standards recorded by vocalists of the eras including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and Tony Bennett. Notable songs include "The Best Things in Life Are Free," a number that entered the repertoire alongside show tunes from Girl Crazy and works by Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin. He provided lyrics and libretti for revues and shows associated with the Ziegfeld Follies tradition and contributed material that was featured in productions staged at venues like the Winter Garden Theatre and the Shubert Theatre.

In Hollywood, Dietz's role at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer connected him to film musicals and star vehicles that featured composers and lyricists such as Arthur Freed, Nacio Herb Brown, and Mancini (Henry Mancini). His collaborations extended to orchestrators, arrangers, and bandleaders like Victor Young and Paul Whiteman, and his songs were used in recordings issued by labels including Columbia Records, Decca Records, RCA Victor, and Capitol Records. Performers across jazz, pop, and musical theater traditions—such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Ella Fitzgerald—interpreted material from the American Songbook to which Dietz contributed.

Personal life

Dietz maintained friendships and professional relationships with numerous artists, executives, and cultural figures in New York and Los Angeles. He moved in circles that included Florenz Ziegfeld, Irving Berlin, and later studio executives at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and colleagues from Columbia University alumni networks. He lived in the New England area later in life and engaged with civic and cultural institutions that preserved the legacy of American musical theater, including archives and societies connected to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and historical collections held by universities and museums.

Legacy and honors

Dietz's songs became part of the Great American Songbook and have been preserved through recordings, revivals, and scholarly work on Broadway and Hollywood musicals. His influence is visible in retrospectives of the Ziegfeld Follies era, histories of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and studies of American popular song alongside figures like George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, and Irving Berlin. Institutions that document theatrical and musical history, including library special collections and performing-arts archives associated with Columbia University, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and museum exhibitions on American popular music, often reference his contributions. Honors and acknowledgments for Dietz have appeared in compendia and anthologies of lyricists and songwriters who shaped 20th-century American entertainment alongside peers represented by the Songwriters Hall of Fame and similar organizations.

Category:American lyricists Category:20th-century American songwriters