The Lindsay and Crouse partnership stands today as the longest collaboration of any writers in theatrical history, lasting for 32 years.

Howard Lindsay was born in 1889 and died in 1968. He became an actor at 19 and went on to become a successful Broadway playwright and director.

Russel Crouse was born in 1893 and died in 1966. After serving in the Navy, he worked on New York newspapers, gaining his first renown through a signed column in The Post. In 1932 he became head of the publicity department for the Theatre Guild and in 1933 wrote his first Broadway show, collaborating with Corey Ford on the musical comedy Hold Your Horses.

From 1934 on, Crouse wrote only with Lindsay. In addition to The Sound of Music, their hits include: Anything Goes and Red, Hot and Blue (with scores by Cole Porter); Call Me Madam (score by Irving Berlin); the long-running play Life with Father (which originally starred Lindsay); the Pulitzer Prize-winning State of the Union; and The Great Sebastiens, written for the Lunts.

Their producing credits included The Hasty Heart, Detective Story and Arsenic and Old Lace.