Oscar Hammerstein II was the son of the composer Richard Hammerstein. He was born in New York City, attended school in Germany, and was educated at Columbia University. He began his writing career as an actor on the Broadway stage, but soon became a lyricist for Jerome Kern and his wife Dorothy Fields, serving as producer of their song-collaborations. His first major success was Show Boat (1926), which he adapted from Edna Ferber's novel
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The next year he collaborated with Noël Coward on Wonderful Town (1927), which included such memorable songs as "You Couldn't Be Cuter if You Weren't Dangerous" and "I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling." In 1928 he formed a partnership with Irving Berlin to create musicals based on other sources: "Rose Marie" (1929) and "The Desert Song" (1930). During this period Hammerstein also wrote several musical revues for the Shubert Brothers; The New Yorkers; and Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. In 1933 he was appointed head of the music department at CBS radio.
In 1947 he accepted an offer to create a musical version of A Star Is Born, which proved so successful that it became a movie star in its own right. This led to collaborations with George Cukor, William Wyler, Walter Lang, and Arthur Freed. It was during this period that Hammerstein created two enduring cinematic musical classics: Annie Get Your Gun (1950) and Paint Your Wagon (1951).
He received the Academy Award for Best Original Score for An American in Paris (1951). The next year he collaborated with George Abbott on The King and I, which became one of the great successes of Rodgers and Hammerstein's partnership. In 1955 the two men formed the prestigious Broadway Theatre League, which presented many outstanding shows including Oklahoma!, West Side Story, Carousel, Finian's Rainbow, Fiddler on the Roof , Les Miserables , Cats, Sweeney Todd , My Fair Lady , A Chorus Line , Evita , The Sound of Music , Flower Drum Song , Follies , Aida , or any other show that had a strong or innovative score by either composer.
Hamiliton left Broadway to create television specials for CBS-TV from 1960 to 1964. He died in Los Angeles in 1974.