Paul Francis Webster was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 lyricist

Lyrics

Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...

 who won three Academy Awards for Best Song and was nominated sixteen times for the award.

Biography

He was born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, the son of Myron Lawrence Webster and Blanche Pauline Stonehill Webster. He attended the Horace Mann School

Horace Mann School

Horace Mann School is an independent college preparatory school in New York City, New York, United States founded in 1887 known for its rigorous course of studies. Horace Mann is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League, educating students from all across the New York tri-state area from...

 (Riverdale, Bronx, New York), graduating in 1926, and then went to Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

 from 1927 to 1928 and New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

 from 1928 to 1930, leaving without receiving a degree. He served in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 and then became a dance

Dance

Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

 instructor at a studio in New York City. By 1931, however, he turned his career direction to writing song lyrics

Lyrics

Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...

. His first professional lyric was Masquerade (music by John Jacob Loeb) which became a hit in 1932, performed by Paul Whiteman

Paul Whiteman

Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...

.

In 1935 Twentieth Century Fox signed him to a contract to write lyrics for Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...

's films, but shortly afterward he went back to freelance writing. His first hit was a collaboration in 1941 with Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

 on the song "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)

I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)

"I Got It Bad " is a pop and jazz standard with music by Duke Ellington and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster published in 1941...

".

After 1950, Webster worked mostly for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

. He won two Academy Awards

Academy Awards

An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 in collaboration with Sammy Fain

Sammy Fain

Sammy Fain was an American composer of popular music.-Biography:Sammy Fain was born in New York City. In 1923, Fain appeared with Artie Dunn in a short film directed by Lee De Forest filmed in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process. In 1925, Fain left the Fain-Dunn act to devote himself to...

, in 1953 and 1955, and another with Johnny Mandel

Johnny Mandel

Johnny Mandel is an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. Among the musicians he has worked with are Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, and Shirley Horn.-Life:...

 in 1965. Altogether, sixteen of his songs received Academy Award nominations; among lyricists, he is second only to Johnny Mercer

Johnny Mercer

John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...

, who was nominated eighteen times, in number of nominations. In addition, a large number of his songs became major hits on the popular music

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

 charts.

He is the most successful songwriter of the 1950s on the U.K. charts. In 1967 he was asked to write the famed lyrics for the Spider-Man theme song

Spider-Man theme song

"Spider-Man" is the theme song of the 1967 cartoon show Spider-Man, composed by Academy Award winner Paul Francis Webster and Robert "Bob" Harris...

 of the television cartoon. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame

Songwriters Hall of Fame

The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...

 in 1972.

He died in Beverly Hills, California

Beverly Hills, California

Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...

 and is buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California

Culver City, California

Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883, up from 38,816 at the 2000 census. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Culver...

.

Songs by Paul Francis Webster that won the Academy Award for Best Original Song

• "Secret Love" (1953)
• "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
  Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (song)
  "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" is a popular song with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. The song was publicized first in the movie, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing , winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song...
  
  " (1955)
• "The Shadow of Your Smile
  The Shadow of Your Smile
  "The Shadow of Your Smile", also known as "Love Theme from The Sandpiper", is a popular song. The music was written by Johnny Mandel with the lyrics written by Paul Francis Webster...
  
  " (1965)

Nominated for the award

• "Remember Me to Carolina" (1944)
• "Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)" (1956)
• "April Love" (1957)
• "A Certain Smile" (1958)
• "A Very Precious Love" (1958)
• "The Green Leaves of Summer" (1960)
• "Love Theme From El Cid (The Falcon and the Dove)" (1961)
• "Tender Is the Night" (1962)
• "Love Song From Mutiny on the Bounty (Follow Me)" (1962)
• "So Little Time" (1963)
• "A Time for Love" (1966)
• "Strange Are The Ways of Love" (1972)
• "A World that Never Was" (1976)

Songs winning Grammy Awards for best song of the year

• "The Shadow of Your Smile" (love theme from The Sandpiper
  The Sandpiper
  The Sandpiper is a 1965 film starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, directed by Vincente Minnelli.-Plot:Laura Reynolds is a free-spirited, unwed single mother living with her young son Danny in an isolated California beach house...
  
  , 1966)

Other songs with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster

• "Anastasia"
• "April Love"
• "Baltimore Oriole"
• "Billy-A-Dick"
• "Black Coffee
  Black Coffee (1948 song)
  "Black Coffee" is a song. The music was written by Sonny Burke, the lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. The song was published in 1948. Sarah Vaughan charted with this song in 1949 on Columbia. Peggy Lee first released her version in 1953...
  
  "
• "Black Hills Of Dakota"
• "Blowing Wild (The Ballad Of Black Gold)"
• "Boy On A Dolphin"
• "A Certain Smile
  A Certain Smile (song)
  "A Certain Smile" is a popular song. It was written for the 1958 film of the same name based on the novel A Certain Smile by Françoise Sagan. The song was nominated for the 1958 Academy Award for Best Original Song....
  
  "
• "The Deadwood Stage"
• "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief
  Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief
  "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief" is a popular song published in 1945, with music written by Hoagy Carmichael and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. The biggest-selling version of the song was recorded by Betty Hutton on June 29, 1945. The recording was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 220...
  
  "
• "The First Snowfall"
• "Friendly Persuasion
  Friendly Persuasion (song)
  "Friendly Persuasion" is a popular song with music by Dimitri Tiomkin and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. It was published in 1956 and appeared in the 1956 film of the same name.The best-known version of the song was recorded that year by Pat Boone...
  
  "
• "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)"
• "I'll Remember Tonight"
• "Invitation"
• "How It Lies, How It Lies, How It Lies!"
• "Jump for Joy"
• "The Lamplighter's Serenade"
• "Like Young"
• "The Loveliest Night Of The Year
  The Loveliest Night of the Year
  "The Loveliest Night of the Year" is a popular song.The music was first published as a waltz called "Sobre las olas" in 1888 written by Juventino P. Rosas. In 1950 the music was adapted by Irving Aaronson with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster for the movie The Great Caruso...
  
  "
• "Man On Fire"
• "Maverick"
• "My Moonlight Madonna"
• "Padre"
• "Rainbow On The River"
• "Somewhere My Love" (1966) (The lyrics, which are Webster's original work, are sung to the melody of "Lara's Theme
  Lara's Theme
  "Lara's Theme" is the generic name given to a leitmotif written for the film Doctor Zhivago by composer Maurice Jarre. Soon afterward, it became the basis of the song "Somewhere My Love."- Original composition :...
  
  " from the film Doctor Zhivago) (needs citation)
• "The Song Of Raintree County"
• "Spider-Man
  Spider-Man theme song
  "Spider-Man" is the theme song of the 1967 cartoon show Spider-Man, composed by Academy Award winner Paul Francis Webster and Robert "Bob" Harris...
  
  " (1967)
• "There's Never Been Anyone Else But You"
• "The Twelfth Of Never
  The Twelfth of Never
  "The Twelfth of Never" is a popular song recorded by Johnny Mathis and later by artists including Cliff Richard and Donny Osmond. The song's title comes from the popular expression "the 12th of Never," which is used as the date of a future occurrence that will never come to pass...
  
  "
• "Two Cigarettes In The Dark"
• "Veni Vidi Vici"
• "Who Are We?"
• "You Was"