Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist.
During the summers of 1936 and 1937, Lerner studied music composition at Juilliard.
During the summers of 1936 and 1937, Lerner studied music composition at Juilliard.
Instead he wrote radio scripts, including Your Hit Parade, until he was introduced to Austrian composer Frederick Loewe, who needed a partner, in 1942 at the Lamb's Club.
It enjoyed a nine-week run and encouraged the duo to join forces with Arthur Pierson for What's Up?, which opened on Broadway in 1943.
It was followed in 1951 by the Gold Rush story Paint Your Wagon.
This was the same team who would later join with Lerner and Loewe to create Gigi. In 1956, Lerner and Loewe unveiled My Fair Lady.
In 1957, Lerner and Leonard Bernstein, another of Lerner's college classmates, collaborated on "Lonely Men of Harvard," a tongue-in-cheek salute to their alma mater. ==Career== Due to his eye injury, Lerner could not serve in World War II.
The film won all of its nine Oscar nominations, a record at that time, and a special Oscar for co-star Maurice Chevalier. The Lerner-Loewe partnership cracked under the stress of producing the Arthurian Camelot in 1960, with Loewe resisting Lerner's desire to direct as well as write when original director Moss Hart suffered a heart attack in the last few months of rehearsals and died shortly after the show's premiere.
In 1960, he was elected as the twelfth president of the non-profit organization.
He continued to serve as the Guild's president until 1964. ==Personal life== For nearly twenty years, Lerner was addicted to amphetamines; during the 1960s he was a patient of Max Jacobson, known as "Dr.
When brought to the screen in 1964, the movie version won eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Rex Harrison. Lerner and Loewe's run of success continued with their next project, a film adaptation of stories from Colette, the Academy Award-winning film musical Gigi, starring Leslie Caron, Louis Jourdan and Maurice Chevalier.
He continued to serve as the Guild's president until 1964. ==Personal life== For nearly twenty years, Lerner was addicted to amphetamines; during the 1960s he was a patient of Max Jacobson, known as "Dr.
In 1965 Lerner collaborated again with Burton Lane on the musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, which was adapted for film in 1970.
One persistent fiction, widely publicized, was that his divorce settlement from Micheline Muselli Pozzo di Borgo (his fourth wife) cost him an estimated $1 million in 1965.
In 1965 Lerner collaborated again with Burton Lane on the musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, which was adapted for film in 1970.
Lerner was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971. In 1973, Lerner coaxed Loewe out of retirement to augment the Gigi score for a musical stage adaptation.
Lerner was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971. In 1973, Lerner coaxed Loewe out of retirement to augment the Gigi score for a musical stage adaptation.
Four of his eight wives – Olson, Payne, Bushkin, and Robertson – were actresses. His seventh wife, Nina Bushkin, whom he married on May 30, 1977, was the director of development at Mannes College of Music and the daughter of composer and musician Joey Bushkin.
He would sometimes write songs with someone in mind, for instance, "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face" from My Fair Lady was written with Rex Harrison in mind to complement his very limited vocal range. Lerner said of writing: In a 1979 interview on NPR's All Things Considered, Lerner went into some depth about his lyrics for My Fair Lady.
After their divorce in 1981, Lerner was ordered to pay her a settlement of $50,000.
The world of musical comedy (Edition 4, 1984), Da Capo Press, ==Further reading== Lerner, Alan Jay (1985).
Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist.
Lerner's pattern of financial mismanagement continued until his death from cancer in 1986, when he reportedly owed the US Internal Revenue Service over US$1,000,000 in back taxes and was unable to pay for his final medical expenses. ==Death== On June 14, 1986, Lerner died of lung cancer in Manhattan at the age of 67.
who expresses his opinions in a forthright, warm and personal manner." A book of Lerner's lyrics entitled A Hymn To Him, edited by a British writer Benny Green, was published in 1987. At the time of Lerner's death, he had been working with Gerard Kenny and Kristi Kane in London on a musical version of the film My Man Godfrey.
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