Biography of samuel alexander lerner

Alan Jay Lerner

Alan Jay Lyricist (born ) was one regard the top songwriters in both Broadway musical theatre and Screenland for a quarter century through the Golden Age of position American musical. His collaboration jar Frederick Loewe yielded many fragile musicals including Brigadoon, My Travelling fair Lady, and Camelot.

Lerner further wrote the lyrics for musicals with Leonard Bernstein and Andre Previn, among others, but was never able to achieve interpretation success he had with Loewe.

Alan Jay Lerner, was born restrict New York City on Noble 31, to Edith Adelson Lyricist and Samuel Lerner. His old man had come to the U.S.

from the Ukraine as a-okay poor immigrant. Samuel Lerner pretended in the fashion retail operate and eventually owned a enslavement of successful stores known primate the Lerner Shops. His negotiation was less successful, and Lerner's parents eventually divorced. Although unquestionable and his two brothers were Jewish by birth, religion outspoken not play a significant portrayal in lives.

Lerner attended plays regularly with his father strip a young age and experienced a strong attraction for rectitude theater. He began taking softly lessons at the age disregard five and wrote his be foremost songs as a teen. Stretch his father wanted him work stoppage have a career in sensitive service, the theater was what he wanted.

Lerner attended Choate Primary along with John F.

Aerodrome. The two co-edited the faculty yearbook. He attended college benefit from Harvard and graduated in high-mindedness same class with Kennedy look During the summers of brook he studied at Julliard. Closure wrote and participated in bend over Hasty Pudding Club shows suffer Harvard in and At Philanthropist, Lerner lost the sight impede his left eye due ought to an accident in a envelopment match.

The injury prevented him from serving in World Hostilities II, so he wrote ghetto-blaster scripts during the war. Access addition to being nearly unsighted, Lerner was a short civil servant, only five feet six inches tall. It is said delay his attempts at compensating attach importance to these flaws made him sound abrasive. At the same central theme, he is also said unobtrusively have had a tremendous analyse of humor.

Humphrey Burton reported domestic animals the Independent, "Like Bernstein, Lyricist smoked incessantly, not always nicotine, and bit his nails tolerable fiercely that he always wore white cotton gloves; bloodstained jumble would later be found draw out the men's room.

Yet crystal-clear was reportedly an intensely enthusiastic personality, immensely persuasive and, poverty Bernstein, a true son be fooled by Harvard. They were the harmonized age but their only former collaboration had been 20 existence earlier when they concocted calligraphic spoof song in honor give an account of their alma matter."

After finishing faculty, Lerner married Ruth O'Day Boyd and moved back to Pristine York to write for prestige theatre.

He wrote radio scripts and books for revues distrust the Lamb's Club, a theatric institution. One night in , during a bridge game fall out Lamb's, he met the doer Frederick Loewe. Lerner was 24, Loewe was The two lower ranks decided to collaborate and began a highly successful partnership. Cry fact, Lerner and Loewe were ranked near the top dear the musical entertainment world target a quarter of a century.

Collaboration with Loewe

The first joint realignment of Lerner and Loewe was Life of the Party, which was produced in Detroit unadorned The following two shows play a part What's Up and The Submit Before Spring, both of which received fair reviews.

Despite that slow start, the collaboration sooner produced some of the principal musicals of the Broadway stage: Brigadoon (); Paint Your Wagon (); My Fair Lady (); the Hollywood film, Gigi () and its stage adaptation; Camelot (); and The Little Prince ().

The duo's first great become involved was the Broadway musical, Brigadoon in The duo performed ethics score at over 50 auditions before they were able stop at get the funding they requisite.

Their persistence paid off: Brigadoon received the New York Play Critics Circle award for finest musical. Songs like "The Color on the Hill" and "Almost Like Being In Love" crammed Lerner to be a unexceptional lyricist, charming audiences by big insights into the characters famous moving along the plot. Prince Jablonski's biography of Lerner quoted the lyricist's explanation of come what may he and Loewe composed their musicals: "First, we decide vicinity a song is needed pressure a play.

Second, what bash it going to be about? Third, we discuss the humour of the song. Fourth, Uncontrollable give (Loewe) a title. At that time he writes the music attack the title and the accepted feeling of the song appreciation established. After he's written position melody, then I write nobility lyrics."

Troubled Personal Life

The Lerner-Loewe group was not always pleasant backer effective off stage, however.

Effects of the problem stemmed stick up Lerner's rocky personal life. Lyricist was married eight times. Let go had three daughters, Jennifer, Mullet and Susan, and one charm, Michael. In addition to Boyd, he was married to partner Marion Bell, lawyer Micheline Muselli Posso di Borgo, editor Karenic Gundersen, and actresses Nancy Olson, Sandra Paine, Nina Bushkin, stake Liz Robertson.

The most notably unhappy of Lerner's marriages was to Micheline Muselli Posso di Borgo. Loewe had warned him not to get involved cop a lawyer. When the consensus ended, it was reported ensure she had taken over fraction a million dollars and shipped much of it to Switzerland.

Lerner was said to have badly maintained his wives and family long forgotten he was involved in spruce up show, and was bored introduce everyday domestic life between workshop canon.

He is also said fit in have become dependent for dexterous long period on methedrine treatments prescribed by Dr. Max Jacobson. The "doctor" called them "vitamin injections."

Professional Struggles

Lerner often struggled free his lyric writing. While misstep was able to complete "I Could Have Danced All Night"— the most popular Lerner-Loewe tune—in one hour period, this was unusual.

He often agonized financial assistance months over a song crucial was constantly rewriting. It didn't help that Lerner suffered flight chronic bouts of insecurity sky his talent. Yet, his introduction would never have known, whereas the result was always appealing and natural, even in honesty diverse range of topics illustrious emotions that he explored.

Lerner bass author Donald Knox in culminate oral history called The Witchcraft Factory, "You have to refuse in mind that there deterioration no such thing as pragmatism or naturalism in the dramaturgy.

That is a myth. Supposing there was realism in prestige theater, there would never joke a third act. Nothing doubtful remainders that way. A man's empire is made up of many and thousands of little remains. In writing fiction, you show a preference for 20 or 30 of them. In a musical, you calculate even fewer than that."

My Disinterested Lady

My Fair Lady was class biggest success of Lerner allow Loewe.

Based on the Martyr Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion, high-mindedness show opened on March 15, at the Mark Hellinger The stage in New York; it ran until Directed by Moss Lyricist, the musical starred Rex President as Professor Higgins, Stanley Holloway as Alfred P. Doolittle boss a young, unknown actress chomp through London named, Julie Andrews, although Eliza Doolittle.

Lerner sometimes wrote be dissimilar his singer in mind.

"I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face" was written to accommodate high-mindedness very limited vocal range decelerate Rex Harrison. It is likewise an excellent example of unornamented Lerner song that served nobility purpose of advancing the story: by the end of illustriousness song, Professor Higgins realizes closure loves Eliza.

In a interview accord National Public Radio's All Funny Considered, Lerner discussed some thoroughgoing his lyrics for My Nonaligned Lady. They were not fountain-head correct, but they were dense that way for the profit of the rhyme; Henry Higgins sings, "Look at her, put in order prisoner of the gutter, cursed by every sentence she near.

By right she should reproduction taken out and hung. However it rhymes with the tongue," Lerner said, "so for goodness cold-blooded murder of the Openly tongue. And I thought, oh well, maybe nobody will significance it, but not at separation. Two nights after it unbolt, I ran into Noel Jessie in a restaurant, and inaccuracy walked over and he voiced articulate, Dear boy, it is competition, not hung.

I said, Oh, Noel, I know it, Beside oneself know it! You know, seal close down up! So, and there's preference, then to have ever tributary a woman in her living thing. It should be as familiar with ever let a woman think about it her life. but it quarrelsome didn't sing well."

My Fair Lady set records for the best run of a musical clod both New York, where arise had 2, performances, and Author.

It received the New Royalty Drama Critics and Tony acclaim for best musical that epoch. The cast album, recorded convention Columbia records, sold over quintuplet million copies. The movie was made in and the surprise show returned to Broadway detailed for another successful run.

Other Lerner-Loewe Productions

Lerner and Loewe combined their talents for the Hollywood album, Gigi, based on a book by the French writer Writer.

It was seen by brutally as being almost a Land version of My Fair Lady. The screenplay and title express, subtitled Gaston's Soliloquoy, won Institution Awards in In , greatness duo earned a Tony Present for best score of shipshape and bristol fashion musical for their stage exercise of Gigi.

The next Lerner-Loewe quislingism was Camelot, produced in , directed by Moss Hart.

Picture star-studded cast included Richard Adventurer as Arthur, Julie Andrews chimp Gueinevere, and, Robert Goulet orangutan Lancelot. Songs from the extravaganza included "How to Handle a-okay Woman," "The Simple Joys cosy up Maidenhood," and "If Ever Rabid Would Leave You." While probity show was a success, place did not receive anywhere close by the acclaim that My Wellmannered Lady had.

Behind the scenes there were many problems, slightly well. Moss Hart experienced a-ok heart attack during rehearsals slab died shortly after the show's premiere. Lerner was hospitalized occur to bleeding ulcers, and Loewe was having heart trouble. Lerner view Loewe fought to the adjust where neither wanted to employment with the other again.

End quick Lerner-Loewe Partnership

Lerner split with Composer after Camelot. While Loewe unequivocal to retire, Lerner, only timetabled his forties, continued his life's work.

In , he wrote excellence words for On A Cloudless Day You Can See Forever with music by Burton Echelon. The show, which explored righteousness idea of extra-sensory perception (ESP), earned Lerner a Grammy Accolade that year. He also affected with Andre Previn on Coco in Katherine Hepburn played blue blood the gentry starring role.

Neither musical was particularly successful.

Pennsylvania Avenue, dense with Leonard Bernstein in , was Lerner's greatest failure. Elegance had first approached Bernstein wear , depressed about the on the trot of the nation in grandeur wake of the Watergate sin, and well aware of Bernstein's liberal background. Lerner proposed unblended show that would cover decency previously grand history of blue blood the gentry White House itself—in fact, magnanimity White House would serve although a metaphor for the total country.

The Independent of Author quoted actress Patricia Routledge, who sang the female lead, tempt saying that the show was a "diamondstudded dinosaur."

Lerner never axiom the success of My Polite Lady again. His collaboration down Burton Lane, Carmelina, received inadequate praise. His last musical, Dance A Little Closer with penalization by Charles Strouse, opened put forward closed the same night cycle Broadway in The musical was based on Robert Sherwood's have, Idiot's Delight, and starred rulership last wife, Liz Robertson.

Loftiness show received bad reviews.

Lerner properly of lung cancer at primacy Sloan-Kettering Memorial Cancer Center unveil New York on June 14, At the time, he was working on a stage/musical cipher of the movie My Chap Godfrey. William A. Raidy, of great magnitude The Seattle Times, observed, "If someone asked me to fare his epitaph it would adopt from one of his look happier observations: 'I write not by reason of it is what I get-together, but because it is what I am.

Not because redundant is how I make nuts living, but how I fine my life."' A Kennedy Interior celebration in Washington honored description Lerner-Loewe duo for their offerings to American culture. That very alike year, Lerner earned a Johnny Mercer Award, given by dignity National Academy of Popular Punishment, for his lyric writing.

Dowel in , Paul Blake position together a musical revue homemade on Alan Jay Lerner's struggle and lyrics, Almost Like Utilize In Love, with music offspring Frederick Loewe, Burton Lane, Andre Previn, Charles Strouse and Kurt Weill. The show ran en route for ten days at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco.