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Richard Adler (August 3, 1921 – June 21, 2012) was an American lyricist, writer, composer and producer of several Broadway shows. He is best known for his work with Jerry Ross on the musicals The Pajama Game (1954) and Damn Yankees (1955).
At the same time Bennett's recording was topping the charts, Adler and Ross began their career in Broadway theater with John Murray Anderson's Almanac, a revue for which they provided most of the songs.
Adler and Ross's second Broadway effort, The Pajama Game, opened in May 1954 and was a popular as well as a critical success, winning Tony Awards as well as the Donaldson Award and the Variety Drama Critics Award. Three songs from the show were covered by popular artists and made the upper reaches of the US Hit Parade: Patti Page's version of "Steam Heat" reached No. 9; Archie Bleyer took "Hernando's Hideaway" to No. 2; and Rosemary Clooney's recording of "Hey There" made it to No. 1.
Opening almost exactly a year later, their next vehicle, Damn Yankees replicated the awards and success of the earlier show. Cross-over hits from the show were "Heart", recorded by Eddie Fisher, and "Whatever Lola Wants", by Sarah Vaughan.
The duo had authored the music and lyrics for three great Broadway successes in three years, and had seen over a half-dozen of their songs reach the US top ten, two of them peaking at No. 1. However, their partnership was cut short when Ross died of leukemia in November 1955, aged 29.
Ross is believed to have died from complications related to the lung disease bronchiectasis.
His later musicals included Kwamina, which he wrote for his then-wife, Sally Ann Howes, who starred in the show opposite Terry Carter. The musical centered around an interracial love story and was too controversial in a time when civil rights were hotly contested. It has not had a Broadway revival.
Adler wrote the musical Olympus 7-0000 for the show ABC Stage 67. His last original Broadway musical was 1976's Music Is (lyrics by Will Holt, music by Adler), based on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
In 2000, Debelah Morgan based her song "Dance With Me" on a sample of the Adler & Ross song "Hernando's Hideaway" from The Pajama Game. Adler & Ross consequently received co-composer credits on the track, which reached No. 8 on the US Billboard charts—and made Adler the unlikely 79-year-old co-composer of a 21st-century popular R&B hit.
In 2001, some Adler & Ross songs originally written for The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees were featured in the Broadway musical Fosse, about the work of Bob Fosse.
He also composed several symphonic and ballet pieces, including one to celebrate the Statue of Liberty's centennial.
Adler staged and produced several shows for U.S. presidents; the most notable of these was a 1962 Madison Square Garden birthday celebration for John F. Kennedy that included Marilyn Monroe singing a version of Happy Birthday to the president in her trademark breathy voice.
He is a member of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
Richard was a Democrat and, along with Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman John Bailey, Lena Horne, Carol Lawrence, Sidney Salomon, Vice-Chairwoman of the DNC Margaret B. Price, and Secretary of the DNC Dorothy Vredenburgh Bush, visited John F. Kennedy at The White House on November 20, 1963, two days prior to his assassination.
Personal life
Adler was married three times. His second marriage was to English actress Sally Ann Howes in 1958. She adopted his two sons, Andrew and Broadway lyricist Christopher, after the death of his first wife in 1964. Howes appeared in her husband's TV musical Gift of the Magi, based on the O. Henry short story of that name, and starred in his Broadway theatre musical Kwamina. They divorced in 1966. Christopher died of AIDS-related cancer in 1984 at age 30.
Death
Adler died on June 21, 2012, at his home in Southampton, New York, at age 90. He was survived by his third wife, Susan A. Ivory; his son, Andrew; his daughter, Katherine; and his stepson, Charlie Shipman.Simonson, Robert. "Richard Adler, Composer of 'Pajama Game' and 'Damn Yankees', Dies at 90" Playbill.com, June 22, 2012
Selected works
Broadway and television work
As composer/lyricist, unless otherwise noted:
Broadway revivals
Popular songs
Awards, nominations and honors
Autobiography
External links
Categories: 1921 Births, 2012 Deaths, Military Personnel From New York City, Songwriters From New York, Tony Award Winners, Jewish American Songwriters, Broadway Composers And Lyricists, Broadway Theatre Producers, New York Democrats, United States Navy Personnel Of World War Ii, United States Navy Reservists, 21st-century American Jews
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