On this day in 1910, composer Frank Loesser was born to Jewish parents in New York City. His half-brother, Arthur, was a talented concert pianist, and his father was a piano teacher. Frank also had an ear for music and, allegedly, could play the piano by ear at age four. However, he disdained his father’s attempts to educate him in classical composition, as well as other forms of education. He was expelled from high school and later flunked out of the City College of New York. Friends of the family later remarked that they expected Arthur, not Frank, whom they affectionately called the ‘evil of the two Loessers,’ to achieve renown in the musical world.

After his father died suddenly in 1926, Loesser was forced to seek work to support his family. He constantly composed while he worked as an author, an editor, and a salesman, but his music began to find a foothold in the mid 30’s. As a songwriter, he made his way to Hollywood, where he earned a contract with Universal, and afterwards, Paramount. His fame continued to climb while he served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, when he released famous war propaganda music such as, “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition,” and “The Ballad of Roger Young.”

In 1948, Loesser received a request to write the music for the Broadway musical Where’s Charley? and sold the rights to his song, “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” which earned an Academy Award the following year. His next musical, Guys and Dolls, earned him his first Tony award. He went on to write The Most Happy Fella, Greenwillow, and How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.

Though he began his career as a rebel who couldn’t finish high school, Frank Loesser’s resilience and determination to give his unique gift of music to the world created treasures the world continues to enjoy long after his death. His storied career reminds us of the Chasidic maxim, beautifully articulated by Martin Buber, “Every single person is a new phenomenon and is called upon to fulfill their particularity in this world. Only once this is accomplished shall the messiah come.”

What gifts do we have to bestow upon the world, and what must we do to share them?

— Rabbi Josh Knobel