Meredith Willson

Birth Name:

Robert Meredith Willson

Birth Place:

Mason City, Iowa, United States

Profession

Soundtrack, Music department, Writer

President Ronald Reagan posthumously presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1987
From 1921 to 1923 he played the flute in John Philip Sousa's band
Quote: "(On creating the characters and background for "The Music Man") "I didn't have to make up anything․ I simply remembered Mason City in Iowa as closely as I could the way it was when I was a boy growing up․""
Served as a musical director on many NBC radio shows in the late 1930s
Wrote and composed the music for the Broadway classic "The Music Man," which contained the signature song turned standard "Seventy-six Trombones․"
Played with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra from 1924 to 1929
Wrote three autobiographies, "And There I Stood With My Piccolo," "Eggs I Have Laid" and "But He Doesn't Know the Territory․"

Fast Facts