Tom Lehrer obit

Tom Lehrer, Influential Satirist Whose Topical Songs Poked and Prodded America in the ’50s and ’60s, Dies at 97

 He was not on the list.

Tom Lehrer, the sardonic singer-songwriter-pianist who rose to national fame after his dark, tartly funny topical songs were used on the comedic ‘60s TV news show “That Was the Week That Was,” has died at age 97.

Friends said that he was found dead in his home in Cambridge, Mass., on Saturday.

Lehrer, who acquired an underground audience in the early ‘50s with a pair of self-released albums, was by trade a professor who taught mathematics, first at Harvard and later in his career at UC Santa Cruz. He told one concert audience, “I don’t like people to get the idea that I have to do this for a living. I mean, it isn’t as though I had to do this. I could be making, oh, $3,000 a year just teaching.”

Nonetheless, his musical career took a back seat to academic work for most of his life.

A pioneer of musical black comedy during the optimistic Eisenhower years in America, Lehrer influenced the work that came later from such musical satirists as Randy Newman, “Weird Al” Yankovic and Harry Shearer.

The lean, bespectacled Lehrer essayed such then-taboo subjects as sexuality (“The Masochism Tango”), drug addiction (“The Old Dope Peddler”), homosexuality in the Boy Scouts (“Be Prepared”) and militarism (“It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier”) on his early, self-released albums. Lehrer was lofted to fame by the caustic material he wrote for “TW3,” NBC’s U.S. spinoff of a popular British show hosted by the young David Frost.

His 1965 Reprise album “That Was the Year That Was” climbed to No. 18 on the American charts. Its razor-edged songs skewered prejudice (“National Brotherhood Week”), nuclear proliferation (“So Long Mom”) the Catholic Church (“The Vatican Rag”) and, appropriately, education (“The New Math”).

Born in New York to a Jewish family, Lehrer began studying piano at the age of 7; classically trained, he also had a youthful interest in the American pop songbook. He developed into a facile keyboardist who could essay virtually any style.

A math prodigy, he entered Harvard College at the age of 15 and graduated magna cum laude in 1946; he received his masters degree from the school just a year later, and fitfully worked on a doctorate there for 15 years. (He mocked the school’s stuffiness in his early song “Fight Fiercely, Harvard.”) He taught early on not only at Harvard but also at MIT and Wellesley, but his love of musical theater led him to try his hand at songwriting. In 1951, he wrote material for a Harvard musical revue. In 1953, he recorded a solo album, “Songs of Tom Lehrer,” in a single session at a Boston studio for $40; its cover depicted Lehrer as a devil playing the piano in hell. Initially sold on Boston campuses, it became a cult hit that sold 10,000 copies.

A second LP, “More of Tom Lehrer,” appeared belatedly in 1959, after Lehrer’s stretch in the Army. It included such fixtures of his live repertoire as “The Elements” (a rapid-fire recitation of the periodic table, in the manner of his hero Danny Kaye, set to a melody drawn from Gilbert & Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance”), “The Masochism Tango” and the black-hearted ode to spring “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.” The album led Time magazine to lump Lehrer with such “sick” comedians of the era as Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl.

The material from the sophomore album was also recorded live at Harvard as “An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer,” and later released by Reprise. “Songs of Tom Lehrer” was re-recorded in its entirety for the label in 1966. His national breakthrough came in 1965 with his solo recital of the satirical topical songs he penned for “TW3.” While still maintaining his academic career, Lehrer was popular enough to tour occasionally as a solo performer before overseas audiences, punctuating his mordant material with a lupine grin.

After writing a handful of songs for the PBS educational series “The Electric Company” and appearing at fundraisers for Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern in 1972, Lehrer returned to academia for the remainder of his life, teaching math and musical theater for many years at the University of California Santa Cruz.

However, his material was recalled fondly. His music became a staple of Dr. Demento’s syndicated radio show. “Tomfoolery,” a revue of his work, was mounted in London in 1980. Rhino Records released a boxed set of his material, “The Remains of Tom Lehrer,” in 2000; Shout! Factory re-released his catalog digitally, and issued a DVD of a 1967 concert in Oslo, Norway.

Lehrer never married and leaves no children.

 

Actor

Pollution

Short

Bird (voice)

1967

 

Composer

Alex Sebastian Laibach in Romansinfrabelic Break Fast (2024)

Romansinfrabelic Break Fast

Short

Composer

2024

 

The Electric Company (1971)

The Electric Company

8.1

TV Series

Composer

1971–1977

 

Steve Allen, 1965 - Copyright 1968, 2000 MPTV.NET - photo credit: Gabi Rona

That Was the Week That Was

8.1

TV Series

Composer

1963–1985

 

Music Department

Alex Sebastian Laibach in Romansinfrabelic Break Fast (2024)

Romansinfrabelic Break Fast

Short

performer

2024

 

I Hold Your Hand in Mine (2022)

I Hold Your Hand in Mine

Short

music

2022

 

The Life and Times of Death (2019)

The Life and Times of Death

Short

musician

2019

 

The Life and Times of Death: Prologue (2018)

The Life and Times of Death: Prologue

Video

musician

2018

 

Rodney Brooks, Robert Krulwich, Jacob Ward, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Sherry Turkle, Carla Wohl, Ziya Tong, Kristi Curry Rogers, David Pogue, Raymond Rogers, Mary Schweitzer, Peter Standring, Manel Esteller, Derek Briggs, Brian Hare, Jacob Ward, David Spergel, Jim Gillogly, Chad Cohen, James Sanborn, Jennifer Wittmeyer, Ed Scheidt, Elonka Dunin, Said Musa, Arlie Petters, Bernice Waight, Jean-Pierre Issa, and Randy Jirtle in Nova ScienceNow (2005)

Nova ScienceNow

8.5

TV Series

music theme

2006

1 episode

 

Marty Back Together Again

TV Series

composer: songs

1974

3 episodes

 

Thanks

Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver in Annette (2021)

Annette

6.3

thanks: Leos Carax

2021

 

Advent Comedy Calendar 2020 by We Are Thomasse (2020)

Advent Comedy Calendar 2020 by We Are Thomasse

TV Series

thanks

2020

1 episode

 

Soundtrack

Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver in Annette (2021)

Annette

6.3

lyrics: "National Brotherhood Week"music: "National Brotherhood Week" (uncredited)

2021

 

We Drive Econo (2020)

We Drive Econo

Short

writer: "Rickety Tickety Tin"

2020

 

Boys State (2020)

Boys State

7.6

lyrics: "The Elements" (uncredited)

2020

 

Bob Odenkirk in Better Call Saul (2015)

Better Call Saul

9.0

TV Series

performer: "The Elements"writer: "The Elements"

2018

1 episode

 

The Gateway Bug (2017)

The Gateway Bug

7.9

performer: "Pollution"writer: "Pollution"

2017

 

Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead (2015)

Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead

7.2

performer: "Fight Fiercely, Harvard"writer: "Fight Fiercely, Harvard"

2015

 

A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for A Living Planet (2012)

A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for A Living Planet

6.9

performer: "Pollution'writer: "Pollution'

2012

 

Michele Errico, Giuseppe Russo, and Giglia Marra in The Cure (2011)

The Cure

Short

performer: "Wernher von Braun"writer: "Wernher von Braun"

2011

 

Mayim Bialik, Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg, Jim Parsons, Melissa Rauch, and Kunal Nayyar in The Big Bang Theory (2007)

The Big Bang Theory

8.1

TV Series

writer: "The Elements" (uncredited)

2010

1 episode

 

Ian Fleming and Geoffrey Boothroyd in Timeshift (2002)

Timeshift

7.0

TV Series

performer: "Who's Next?", "Pollution"writer: "Who's Next?", "Pollution"

2008

1 episode

 

Porträtt av en motvillig herre (2008)

Porträtt av en motvillig herre

Short

music: "The Old Dope Peddler"performer: "The Old Dope Peddler"

2008

 

Flitter, Flutter-Thud

Short

performer: "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park"writer: "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park"

2007

 

Wilmer Valderrama, Rocky Carroll, Gary Cole, Katrina Law, Sean Murray, Brian Dietzen, and Diona Reasonover in NCIS (2003)

NCIS

7.8

TV Series

lyrics: "The Elements"performer: "The Elements" (uncredited)

2007

1 episode

 

Lauren Graham in Gilmore Girls (2000)

Gilmore Girls

8.2

TV Series

lyrics: "The Elements" (uncredited)

2006

1 episode

 

Nacha

TV Movie

writer: "Envenenando palomas en Plaza San Martín (Poisoning Pigeons in the Park)", "Tango masoquista"

1977

 

Pollution

Short

performer: "Pollution"writer: "Pollution" (uncredited)

1967

 

Rock Hudson and Mary Peach in A Gathering of Eagles (1963)

A Gathering of Eagles

6.1

lyrics: "The Sac Song"music: "The Sac Song"

1963

 

Self

The Electric Company's Greatest Hits & Bits (2006)

The Electric Company's Greatest Hits & Bits

7.2

TV Movie

Self (voice)

2006

 

Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh (1998)

Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh

8.7

TV Special

Self

1998

 

Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary

TV Movie

Self

1991

 

How to Prevent a Nuclear War

Short

Self

1987

 

Michael Parkinson in Parkinson (1971)

Parkinson

7.3

TV Series

Self

1980

1 episode

 

The Weekend Starts Here

TV Series

Self

1970–1971

 

Merv Griffin in The Merv Griffin Show (1962)

The Merv Griffin Show

6.6

TV Series

Self

1966–1967

3 episodes

 

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House

TV Movie

Self

1966

 

The Frost Report (1966)

The Frost Report

7.6

TV Series

Self

1966

13 episodes

 

Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie in Today (1952)

Today

4.6

TV Series

Self

1966

1 episode

 

Mike Douglas in The Mike Douglas Show (1961)

The Mike Douglas Show

7.1

TV Series

Self

1966

1 episode

 

Johnny Carson in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962)

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

8.5

TV Series

Self - Guest

1965

1 episode

 

BP Super Show (1959)

BP Super Show

TV Series

Self - Comedian

1960

1 episode

 

Archive Footage

For All Mankind (2019)

For All Mankind

8.1

TV Series

Self - performer 'Wernher von Braun' (archive footage, uncredited)

2019

1 episode

 

Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America (2009)

Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America

7.4

TV Series

Self (archive footage)

2009

1 episode

 

Comedy Songs: The Pop Years

6.5

TV Movie

Self (archive footage)

2008

 

Heroes of Comedy (1992)

Heroes of Comedy

6.8

TV Series

Self (archive footage)

2000

1 episode

 

Michael Parkinson in Parkinson (1971)

Parkinson

7.3

TV Series

Self (archive footage)

1981

1 episode

 

Oj - är det redan fredag? (1970)

Oj - är det redan fredag?

TV Series

Self (archive footage)

1970

1 episode