Adolph Green

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Adolph Green (1998)

Adolph Green (born December 2, 1914 in New York City , New York , † October 23, 2002 ) was an American songwriter , screenwriter and actor . In his more than 60 years of ongoing collaboration with Betty Comden he wrote lyrics for Broadway - musicals as On the Town , as well as scripts for musical films like Singin 'in the Rain .

Life

Adolph Green grew up as the son of Hungarian immigrants in the Bronx, New York . At the end of the 1930s he tried his hand at acting and met Betty Comden. With her and Judith Tuvim, who later became a movie star as Judy Holliday , he formed the group The Revuers in 1939 , which performed successfully at the New York nightclub Village Vanguard . Betty Comden and Adolph Green wrote a number of sketches and songs for the Revuers . During this time they were often accompanied by the young conductor and pianist Leonard Bernstein .

After an unsuccessful attempt as an actor in Hollywood , Comden and Green returned to New York. There Bernstein offered them to work on a musical based on a ballet by Jerome Robbins . On the Town was created with Bernstein's music and the lyrics by Comden and Green . Comden and Green also played two of the leading roles in this musical, which depicts three sailors going ashore in New York.

After On the Town , Comdom and Green worked on various Broadway shows as songwriters and librettists, but without much success. Therefore, they went to Hollywood again, but this time as screenwriters. The Broadway Dancers , the film that reunited Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire after 10 years, was her first original screenplay in 1949. In the same year, On the Town by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen was filmed as Today we go for a stroll with Kelly and Frank Sinatra in the leading roles. With Kelly and Donen as directors, Comden and Green also worked on their most famous film, Singin 'in the Rain, in 1952 . With Moses Supposes , Comden and Green also wrote a song for Singin 'in the Rain (the other songs were all from the early years of the sound film). A year later, Comden and Green wrote the script for Curtain Up! (Engl. The Band Wagon ), a musical with Fred Astaire that takes an ironic look behind the scenes of Broadway. Many see the characters Lester and Lily Marton portrayed by Oscar Levant and Nanette Fabray as autobiographical traits of Betty Comden and Adolph Green; however, in real life they were never more than good friends. For the curtain up! they received their first of two Oscar nominations. 1955 was another Oscar nomination for the screenplay of predominantly cheerful (It's Always Fair Weather) , originally as a continuation of On the Town was conceived.

In the mid-1950s, Betty Comden and Adolph Green concentrated more on Broadway again. The musical Wonderful Town was created with Leonard Bernstein in 1953 . A year later they contributed some songs to the successful production of Peter Pan with Mary Martin in the leading role. In 1956 they wrote the musical Bells are Ringing (music: Jule Styne ) for their friend Judy Holliday , which was filmed in 1960 by Vincente Minnelli .

In 1958, Comden and Green returned to the stage themselves when they presented some of their old skits and songs in A Party with Betty Comden & Adolph Green . In the following years Comden and Green worked with composers like André Previn and Cy Coleman for stars like Yves Montand , Lauren Bacall and Carol Burnett . Her greatest successes in the 1970s were musical versions of the classic films All About Eva and Twentieth Century . Also, in 1977, their party with Betty Comden & Adolph Green resumed.

In the 1980s, Comden and Green had one of their few failures with A Doll's Life , but most of their old musicals were revived. In 1991, The Will Rogers Follies (music: Cy Coleman) was the last musical by Comden and Green premiered. In the same year they were awarded the prestigious Kennedy Prize .

In later years, Betty Comden and Adolph Green worked together almost every day until his death in October 2002. During their career as a team, they have won seven Tony Awards , including Wonderful Town , Hallelujah, Baby! , Applause and The Will Rogers Follies for Best Musicals.

Filmography (selection)

literature

  • Thomas S. Hischak: The Oxford Companion to the American Musical: Theater, Film, and Television . Oxford University Press, 2008, ISBN 0-19-533533-3 .
  • Adolph Green, Playwright and Lyricist, Dies at 87 . In: The New York Times , October 25, 2002; obituary

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Green, Adolph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American screenwriter, librettist, and actor
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH October 23, 2002
Place of death New York City , New York, United States