About Tom Lehrer
Thomas Andrew Lehrer (; April 9, 1928 – July 26, 2025) was an American musician and mathematician. He recorded pithy, humorous, and often political songs that became popular in the 1950s and 1960s. His songs parodied popular musical forms, often with original melodies. Lehrer's early performances dealt with non-topical subjects and dark humor in songs such as "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park". In the 1960s, he produced songs about timely social and political issues, particularly for the U.S. version of the television show That Was the Week That Was. Lehrer quoted a friend's explanation: "Always predict the worst and you'll be hailed as a prophet." In the early 1970s, Lehrer largely retired from public performance to devote his time to teaching mathematics and musical theater history at the University of California, Santa Cruz. == Early life == Thomas Andrew Lehrer was born in New York City on April 9, 1928, and grew up on Manhattan's Upper East Side. He was the son of Morris James Lehrer (1897–1986), a successful necktie designer, and Anna Lehrer (née Waller; 1905–1978) and older brother of Barry Waller Lehrer (1930–2007). Lehrer told an interviewer that he recalled an idyllic childhood on Manhattan's Upper West Side that included attending Broadway shows with his family and walking through Central Park day or night. He and his family were ethnically Jewish, following a generally secular lifestyle that included attending Jewish Sunday school but also celebrating Christmas; he remarked that his ties to Judaism were "more to do with the delicatessen than the synagogue (...) and 'God' was primarily an expletive(.)" As a child, he loved logic puzzles and math.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.