Paul Francis Webster

Paul Francis Webster (December 20, 1907 – March 18, 1984) was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Original Song, and was nominated 16 times for the award.

Life and career Webster was born in New York City, United States, He attended the Horace Mann School (Riverdale, Bronx, New York), graduating in 1926, and then went to Cornell University from 1927 to 1928 and New York University from 1928 to 1930, leaving without receiving a degree. After college, Webster served as an officer in the U.S. Navy.

By 1931, however, he turned his career direction to writing song lyrics. His papers are collected at Syracuse University Libraries.

Webster's first born son, Guy Webster, was a prolific photographer of musicians and bands in the 1960s and 1970s. His younger son, Mona Roger Webster, is a conceptual artist, a real estate investor and a longtime resident of Venice, California.

Webster continued writing up to 1983.

Songs by Paul Francis Webster that won the Academy Award for Best Original Song "Secret Love" (Calamity Jane, 1953) "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" (Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, 1955) "The Shadow of Your Smile" (The Sandpiper, 1965) "The Song Angels Sing" (1951) "Song of Green Mansions (1959) "The Song of Raintree County" (1957) "Spider-Man" (1967) "Sugarfoot" "Summertime in Heidelberg" (1954) "There They Are" "There's Never Been Anyone Else But You" There's a Rising Moon (1954) "Too Beautiful to Last" (1971) "The Twelfth of Never" "Two Cigarettes in the Dark" (1934) "Veni Vidi Vici" "Virgins Wrapped in Cellophane" (1932) "Who Are We?" "The Winds of Chance" (1969) "A Woman's Touch" (1953) "You Was"

Song compilation The Songs of Paul Francis Webster Award-Winning Songs By Paul Francis Webster, Robbins Music Corporation, 1964