Carolyn Leigh
American lyricist for Broadway, film, and popular songs
About Carolyn Leigh
Lived 1926 – 1983 (aged 57). Carolyn Leigh was an American composer, songwriter, lyricist, poet, writer and librettist.
Carolyn Leigh (August 21, 1926 – November 19, 1983) was an American lyricist for Broadway, film, and popular songs. She is best known as the writer with partner Cy Coleman of the pop standards "Witchcraft" and "The Best Is Yet to Come". With Johnny Richards, she wrote the million-seller "Young at Heart" for the 1954 film Young at Heart, starring Frank Sinatra.
Biography Leigh was born to a Jewish family in the Bronx, New York, graduated from Hunter College High School, Queens College, and New York University. Always writing stories and poems, in 1951, when urged to write songs by a musical publisher who gave her a contract, she wrote "I'm Waiting Just for You" with Henry Glover, and two years later, "Young at Heart." She wrote the lyrics for two other unproduced musicals,Caesar's Wife, again with music by Pockriss, about Julius Caesar's third wife, Calpurnia, and Juliet, based on the Fellini movie Juliet of the Spirits, with music by Morton Gould.
Leigh was working with Marvin Hamlisch on the musical Smile when she died on November 19, 1983, of a heart attack. Leigh was inducted posthumously into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985.
Tony Award nominations Little Me (1963) - Tony Award for Best Original Score How Now, Dow Jones (1968) - Tony Award for Best Original Score
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Important facts
People in Carolyn Leigh's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Carolyn Leigh's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Carolyn Leigh?
American lyricist for Broadway, film, and popular songs (1926–1983)
When was Carolyn Leigh born?
Carolyn Leigh was born on 21 August 1926 in The Bronx.
When did Carolyn Leigh die?
Carolyn Leigh died on 19 November 1983 in New York City.
What was Carolyn Leigh's occupation?
Carolyn Leigh was a composer, songwriter, lyricist, poet, writer and librettist.
What nationality was Carolyn Leigh?
Carolyn Leigh was American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Carolyn Leigh. https://biography.guide/carolyn-leigh-composer/
MLA: "Carolyn Leigh." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/carolyn-leigh-composer/.
Chicago: "Carolyn Leigh." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/carolyn-leigh-composer/.
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