English composer and songwriter Lionel Bart was BOTD in 1930. Born in London’s East End to Polish Jewish immigrants, he grew up in poverty, winning a scholarship to St Martin’s Art College when he was 16. After serving in the Royal Air Force during World War Two, he began writing pop songs, most notably Livin’ Doll, which became a No 1 hit for Cliff Richard. After the success of his first stage musical, Fings Ain’t What They Used T’Be, he tackled a life long ambition to adapt Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist into a stage musical. Oliver! premiered in 1959 in London, with music, lyrics and book by Bart. It became a stratospheric hit, followed by a successful Broadway transfer, winning Bart a Tony Award for his score. A successful film adaptation followed, winning six Oscars including Best Picture. A newly minted millionaire, Bart lived lavishly, hosting sex- and drug-filled parties in his London mansion attended by Princess Margaret, the Beatles, Noël Coward, Judy Garland, Joan Collins, Rudolf Nureyev and the Rolling Stones. He had further success with the theme song to the 1963 James Bond film From Russia With Love, and moderate successes with his next two musicals Blitz! and Maggie May. His career tanked after the failure of his Robin Hood musical Twang!! and 1969’s La Strada, which closed on Broadway after just one performance. A combination of overspending, bad business decisions and rampant drug abuse left him deeply in debt, forcing him to sell the rights to Oliver! and his other work. Declared bankrupt in 1972, he disappeared from public life, and spent the next two decades struggling with depression and alcoholism. In 1994, theatre producer Cameron Mackintosh staged a successful West End revival of Oliver!, paying Bart a share of the production royalties. Unhappily gay, Bart spent much of his life hiding his homosexuality, coming out just a few years before his death in 1999, aged 68.