Paul Jabara

Paul Frederick Jabara (January 31, 1948 – September 29, 1992) was an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He wrote Donna Summer's Oscar-winning "Last Dance" from Thank God It's Friday (1978), as well as "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)", Summer's international hit duet with Barbra Streisand. He also co-wrote the Weather Girls' iconic hit "It's Raining Men" with Paul Shaffer.

Jabara was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Lebanese family. He graduated from Fort Hamilton High School in 1965, and briefly attended Long Island University in Brooklyn. His sisters, Delores and Claudette, also graduated from the same high school.

Jabara's Broadway debut was in the original cast of the stage musical Hair. He originated the role of King Herod in the London production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

In 1969, he appeared in John Schlesinger's film Midnight Cowboy, as a hippie handing out pills ("Up or Down?") at the counterculture party.

He moved to Los Angeles in the 1970s and acted in a number of films during the decade. He took over the role of Frank-N-Furter in the Los Angeles production of The Rocky Horror Show when Tim Curry left the production to film the movie version in England. He also appeared in Schlesinger's 1975 film The Day of the Locust, where he sang a cover of the Marlene Dietrich song "Hot Voo-Doo" in drag.

Jabara played the role of a lovelorn and nearsighted disco-goer named Carl in the 1978 film Thank God It's Friday. He contributed the song "Last Dance" to the film's soundtrack, which went on to win an Academy Award and a Grammy Award. He also contributed as a singer on two tracks on the original soundtrack.

In 1981, Jabara starred in another John Schlesinger film, the comedy Honky Tonk Freeway, as truck driver/songwriter T. J. Tupus, hauling lions and a rhino. He also made appearances in The Lords of Flatbush (1974) and Legal Eagles (1986).

Jabara wrote the book, music, lyrics and starred in the aborted Broadway musical Rachael Lily Rosenbloom (And Don't You Ever Forget It) when he was 24 years old. The musical starred Ellen Greene, and played the Broadhurst Theatre in New York City in 1973. It closed in previews prior to its official opening and was never reviewed by the press. No recording was made of the score, which featured both Jabara's trademark disco music and traditional Broadway-style numbers.