Charlie Smalls

Charlie Smalls (October 25, 1943 – August 27, 1987) was an African-American composer and songwriter, best known for writing the music for the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz.

A musical prodigy, Smalls attended the Juilliard School at age eleven in 1954, staying until 1961. In 1968, he appeared on the "Some Like It Lukewarm" episode of The Monkees (episode #56, original airdate March 4, 1968), chatting at a piano with singer Davy Jones. He wrote a song for John Cassavetes's 1968 film Faces called "Never Felt Like This Before". He also wrote the score for the 1976 film, Drum. He also wrote the song "From Me To You" for the Hugh Masekela 1966 albumHugh Masekela's Next Album.

After graduating from the High School of Performing Arts, Smalls toured as a member of the New York Jazz Repertory Company before beginning work on The Wiz. An African-American retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Wiz was adapted into a feature film, starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, by Motown Productions and Universal Pictures in 1978.

Smalls won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Score for his work on The Wiz. He died at age forty-three in Belgium, during emergency surgery to repair a burst appendix. He is survived by his son Michael.

At the time of his death, Smalls was working on a new musical. He had begun working on Miracles, a musical adaption of The Man Who Could Work Miracles by H.G. Wells. He had recorded some songs with Geoffrey Holder and The Harlem Boys Choir.