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Charles Strauss, (born 7 June 1928), is an American composer and three-time winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical.

Born in New York City, Strauss is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and has studied with Aaron Copland and Nadia Boulanger. After an early career as a piano player for dance bands and then theatre rehearsals, he went on to write music ranging from Broadway hits and movie scores to chamber, orchestral works, a piano concerto, and operas. He has collaborated with Lee Adams, Alan Jay Lerner, Martin Charnin, and Sammy Cahn.

Strauss is also the creator of the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop and co-writer of the 1958 top-ten hit "Born Too Late" with Fred Tobias. His opera Nightingale, based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen, has been performed worldwide and can be heard on a CD recording starring Sarah Brightman.

Charles Strauss recently reunited with old lyricist partner Lee Adams on a charming musicalization of the movie Marty, which starred John C. Reilly in its 2002 world premiere in Boston. Despite excellent box office and announcements of its imminent Broadway opening, the show has not been produced again (though the ballad "Stars" appeared on the recent CD The Musicality of Charles Strauss). His last project was a musical called You Never Know, which opened in Providence, Rhode Island on April 28, 2005.

• Bye Bye Birdie (1960), winner of a Tony Award and the London Critics Best Foreign Musical Award
• It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman (1966)
• Applause (1970), based on the film All About Eve and the winner of a Tony Award and the London Critics Best Foreign Musical Award
• Annie (1977), winner of a Tony Award and two Grammy Awards
• Charlie & Algernon (1981), nominated for a Tony Best Score award
• Bring Back Birdie (1981)
• Dance a Little Closer (1983)
• Rags (1986)
• Nick & Nora (1993)
• Annie Warbucks (1993)

• Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
• The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968)
• There Was a Crooked Man (1970)
• Just Tell Me What You Want (1980)
• Ishtar (1987)
• All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)

The musical play Bye Bye Birdie was made into a film starring Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke and Ann-Margret in 1963; Annie was filmed in 1982, and again for television in 1999.

• Charles Strauss at the Internet Movie Database
• Charles Strauss at the Internet Broadway Database
• Charles Strauss - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
• Return To Broadway - Working in the Theatre Seminar video at American Theatre Wing.org, April 1996