Oscar Hammerstein II six for lyrics or book, and two as producer of the Best Musical ("South Pacific" and "The Sound of Music"). Rodgers and Hammerstein began writing together before the era of the Tonys: "Oklahoma!" opened in 1943 and "Carousel" in 1945, and the Tony Awards were not awarded until 1947. They won a special Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for "Oklahoma!" and, with Joshua Logan, the annual Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950 for "South Pacific". The Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theater Studies at Columbia University was established in 1981 with a $1-million gift from his family. His advice and work
Oscar Hammerstein II Hammerstein's musicals were named to the "Songs of the Century" list as compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Corporation: Hammerstein won two Oscars for best original song—in 1941 for "The Last Time I Saw Paris" in the film "Lady Be Good", and in 1945 for "It Might as Well Be Spring" in "State Fair." In 1950, the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York." Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards,