Bob Merrill (born Henry Robert Merrill Levan) was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter. He was one of the most successful songwriters of the 1950s on the US and UK single charts. He wrote musicals for the Broadway stage, including Carnival! (music and lyrics) and Funny Girl (lyrics).
Merrill played an important role in American popular music; though not able to play a musical instrument, he tapped out many of the hit parade songs of the 1950s on a toy xylophone, including "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?", "Mambo Italiano" and "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake" as well as writing music and lyrics for several Broadway shows including Funny Girl.
He was nominated for the Tony Award eight times, but never won. However, in 1961 he won the New York Drama Critics Award for his work on Carnival!. Merrill's screenwriting credits include W. C. Fields and Me (1976), and the television movies Portrait of a Showgirl (1982) and The Animated Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1998). Among Merrill's television credits were two holiday specials, Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962) and The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood (1965), written for Liza Minnelli.
