Thomas Andrew Lehrer (/ˈlɛərər/; born April 9, 1928) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, satirist, and mathematician, who later taught mathematics and musical theater.

Lehrer's early performances dealt with non-topical subjects and black humor (also known as dark comedy) in songs such as "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park".

"[1] 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.

Thomas Andrew Lehrer was born on April 9, 1928, to a secular Jewish family and grew up on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

[9] Lehrer was considered a child prodigy and entered Harvard College, where one of his professors was Irving Kaplansky,[10][11] at the age of 15 after graduating from Loomis School.

[17] Lehrer remained in Harvard's doctoral program for several years, taking time also for his musical career and to work as a researcher at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.

Lehrer once stated that he invented the Jello shot during this time, as a means of circumventing the naval base's ban on alcoholic beverages.

[18] Despite holding a master's degree in an era when American conscripts often lacked high school diplomas, Lehrer served as an enlisted soldier, achieving the rank of specialist third class, which he described as being a "corporal without portfolio".

[34]Lehrer had a breakthrough in the United Kingdom on December 4, 1957, when the University of London awarded a doctor of music degree honoris causa to Princess Margaret, and the public orator, Professor J. R. Sutherland, said it was "in the full knowledge that the Princess is a connoisseur of music and a performer of skill and distinction, her taste being catholic, ranging from Mozart to the calypso and from opera to the songs of Miss Beatrice Lillie and Tom Lehrer.

It was there that his music achieved real sales popularity, as a result of the proliferation of university newspapers referring to the material, and inadvertently due to the BBC, which in 1958 banned from broadcast 10 of the 12 songs on the album.

[39] While in New Zealand, he penned lyrics critical of the All Blacks' upcoming tour of Apartheid-era South Africa and Prime Minister Walter Nash's stance on it.

[44] At least two of his songs were not included on any of his LPs: a reworking of Noël Coward's "That is the End of the News" (with some new lyrics)[45] and a comic explanation of how Britain might adapt to the coming of decimal currency.

[42] The live recording included bonus tracks "L-Y" and "Silent E", two of the ten songs that he wrote for the PBS children's educational series The Electric Company.

[30] The album liner notes promote his songs with self-deprecating humor, such as quoting a New York Times review from 1959: Mr. Lehrer's muse is "not fettered by such inhibiting factors as taste".

[47] Lehrer toured Sweden, Norway and Denmark in 1967;[48] his concert in Oslo was recorded for Danish television and subsequently released on DVD some 40 years later.

[49] He performed as a prominent international guest at the Studenterforeningen (student association) in Copenhagen, which was televised, and he commented on stage that he might be America's "revenge for Victor Borge".

"[52] In the 1970s, Lehrer concentrated on teaching mathematics and musical theater, although he also wrote ten songs for the educational children's television show The Electric Company.

[56] Lehrer made a rare TV appearance on BBC's Parkinson show in conjunction with the Tomfoolery premiere in 1980 at the Criterion Theatre in London, where he sang "I Got It from Agnes".

On June 7 and 8, 1998, Lehrer performed in public for the first time in 18 years at the Lyceum Theatre, London as part of the show Hey, Mr. Producer!

[60] In 2000, Lehrer commented that he doubted his songs had any real effect on those not already critical of the establishment: "I don't think this kind of thing has an impact on the unconverted, frankly.

I'm fond of quoting Peter Cook, who talked about the satirical Berlin Kabaretts of the 1930s, which did so much to stop the rise of Hitler and prevent the Second World War.

"[6] In 2003, Lehrer commented that his particular brand of political satire is more difficult in the modern world: "The real issues I don't think most people touch.

It included live and studio versions of his first two albums, That Was The Year That Was, the songs that he wrote for The Electric Company, some previously unreleased material, and a small hardbound lyrics book with an introduction by Dr. Demento.

Lehrer went on to describe his official response to the request to use his song: "As sole copyright owner of 'The Old Dope Peddler', I grant you motherfuckers permission to do this.

[68] His statement releasing all his works into the public domain concludes with this note: "This website will be shut down at some date in the not too distant future, so if you want to download anything, don't wait too long.

Lehrer wrote in a letter to the producer Per-Anders Boquist that, "Not knowing any Swedish, I am obviously not equipped to judge, but it sounds to me as though Mr. Ekborg is perfect for the songs", along with further compliments to pianist Leif Asp for unexpected additional flourishes.

[76] From January 16 to February 25, 2006, the play Letters from Lehrer, written and performed by Canadian Richard Greenblatt, ran at CanStage in Toronto.

[77] In the March 16, 2006, issue of New York magazine, Donald Fagen of Steely Dan named Tom Lehrer among the writers who had influenced him and his songwriting partner Walter Becker.

[80][81] Performers influenced by Lehrer's style include American political satirist Mark Russell,[82] Canadian comedian and songwriter Randy Vancourt, and the British duo Kit and The Widow.

The American Mathematical Society database lists him as co-author of two papers: Two of Lehrer's songs were reprinted, with his permission, in Mad magazine:[87] ... Public Domain...