Rudolf Friml (1881-1972) was an operetta composer, born in the Austro-Hungarian city of Prague, now in Czechoslovakia. He studied music at the conservatory in Prague and began his career by accompanying violinist Jan Kubelik on his European and American concert tours.
In 1906 Friml was traveling in the United States and decided to remain there. That year he made his American debut as a concert pianist at Carnegie Hall. During the next six years he appeared with both the Boston and Philadelphia symphony orchestras. He also composed instrumental and concert pieces.
In 1912 Friml supplied the score for The Firefly, an immediate success. During the next 18 years he had 20 musicals on Broadway, the most familiar and popular being Rose Marie and The Vagabond King.
His New York success followed him to Hollywood, where for the next 20 years he supervised the filming of his stage successes and wrote scores for both musical and dramatic pictures.
