Alan Jay Lerner

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Alan Jay Lerner (born August 31, 1918 in New York ; † June 14, 1986 ibid) was an American author and songwriter of the Great American Songbook . He worked u. a. with Frederick Loewe .

Live and act

A boxing accident in which he lost his left eye saved him from military service during World War II . After attending the Juilliard School of Music and successfully completing a Harvard degree, Lerner initially worked as a broadcast editor. At the same time he also wrote songs for various radio shows. In 1942 his congenial collaboration began with the musical composer Frederick Loewe , whose previous partner had been drafted into the Navy. Their first collaboration was a show in Detroit , Life of the Party . Although their personal relationship was always difficult, they wrote a number of songs together for Broadway over several years . Lerner also worked briefly with Kurt Weill in 1948 for the Love Life project , from which the song " Green-Up Time " came. In 1951 he wrote the screenplay for the film An American in Paris , which was provided with music by George Gershwin ; Lerner received an Oscar for this in 1952 . He then wrote the musical Paint Your Wagon (1951) with Loewe ; My Fair Lady (1956) became her greatest success . For the musical film Gigi (1958) Lerner received another two Oscar; for the best (adapted) script and together with Loewe for the best song , " Gigi ".

After the difficulties with the joint Camelot project in 1960, Loewe withdrew from show business, and Lerner even refused to work together when Lerner wanted to turn the film Gigi into a stage show in 1973 .

Lerner tried to build on these successes after 1960, but pieces like Coco (1969, music by André Previn ) and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (music by Leonard Bernstein ) were unsuccessful. Only the piece On a Clear Day You Can See Forever with Burton Lane from 1965 was received by the audience.

Alan Jay Lerner was married to actress Nancy Olson from 1950 to 1957 .

Musicals

Filmography

literature

  • Ken Bloom: The American Songbook - The Singers, the Songwriters, and the Songs . Black Dog & Leventhal, New York City 2005, ISBN 1-57912-448-8 .
  • Edward Jablonski: Alan Jay Lerner: A Biography. Henry Holt & Co., 1996, ISBN 0-8050-4076-5 .
  • Gene Lees : The Musical Worlds of Lerner and Loewe. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln 2005, ISBN 0-8032-8040-8 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  • Alan Jay Lerner: The Street Where I Live. Da Capo Press. Norton, New York 1978, ISBN 0-393-07532-X .
  • Dominic McHugh (Ed.): Alan Jay Lerner: A Lyricist's Letters. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-994927-4 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  • Doris Shapiro: We Danced All Night: My Life Behind the Scenes With Alan Jay Lerner. Barricade Books, 1989, ISBN 0-942637-98-4 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lerner, Alan Jay
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American author and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH New York , New York , United States
DATE OF DEATH June 14, 1986
Place of death New York , New York , United States