Alan Jay Lerner

@Lyricists, Family and Family ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Alan Jay Lerner was a renowned American librettist and lyricist American Juilliard School Writers Poets Virgo Celebrities Alan Jay Lerner was an American librettist and lyricist who along with Frederick Loewe created some of the most renowned and enduring works of musical theatre. He started his musical career by creating lyrics for Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding musical show. Together with Loewe, he created several successful musicals. They achieved their first success with the musical Brigadoon, which bagged the New York Drama Critics Circle award for best musical. Some of their successful musical works include The Patsy called Life of the Party and What’s Up? Their joint work that received wide acknowledgement was My Fair Lady. In New York itself a total of 2,717 performances of this musical were staged. After their split, Alan also worked with Kurt Weill and Burton Lane. He was credited for the creation of more than 500 radio scripts. He was the script writer of An American in Paris, an American musical film. His autobiography, The Street Where I Live, is a vivid account of his and Loewe’s successful collaborations on My Fair Lady, Gigi and Camelot. His representation of the history of theatre in his book The Musical Theatre: A Celebration is an interesting description full with personal anecdotes which also reflects his witty personality.

Personal Details

Birthday: August 31, 1918 Died on: June 14, 1986 Nationality: American Famous: Lyricists, Juilliard School, Writers, Poets Spouses: Liz Robertson (m. 1981–1986), Nancy Olson (m. 1950–1957), Sandra Payne (m. 1974–1976) Siblings: Samuel Alexander Lerner Childrens: Jennifer Lerner, Liza Lerner Information Detail Birthday August 31, 1918 Died on June 14, 1986 Nationality American Famous Lyricists, Juilliard School, Writers, Poets Spouses Liz Robertson (m. 1981–1986), Nancy Olson (m. 1950–1957), Sandra Payne (m. 1974–1976) Siblings Samuel Alexander Lerner Childrens Jennifer Lerner, Liza Lerner Universities Juilliard School Notable Alumnis Juilliard School Birth Place New York City Gender Male Father Joseph Jay Lerner Mother Edith Adelson Lerner Sun Sign Virgo Born in New York City Famous as American lyricist Died at Age 67

New York City

Alan Jay Lerner born at Unsplash Birth Place

He married eight times - Ruth Boyd (1940–1947), Marion Bell (1947–1949), Nancy Olson (1950–1957), Micheline Muselli Pozzo di Borgo (1957–1965), Karen Gunderson (1966–1974), Sandra Payne (1974–1976), Nina Bushkin (1977–1981) and Liz Robertson (1981–1986). He breathed his last due to lung cancer, at the age of 67 in Manhattan. Unsplash Personal Life

He was born in New York City to father Edith Adelson Lerner and mother Joseph Lerner who were prosperous retailers. His brother Samuel Alexander Lerner set up and owned Lerner Stores, a renowned retailer of women’s fashions and accessories. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He attended Bedales School in England. Later, he took admission at The Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut where John F. Kennedy was his classmate. During this period he created The Choate Marching Song. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

During the summer of 1936 and 1937, he attended the Julliard School of Music, New York City. In 1938 and in 1939, he created lyrics for Hasty Pudding musical show at Harvard. In 1940, he completed his graduation from Harvard. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

From 1940 to 1942, he wrote above 500 radio scripts. In the initial days of his career, he wrote Your Hit Parade which continued until he met Austrian composer Frederick Loewe in 1942. Unsplash Career

Together, they did a musical collaboration of Barry Connor's farce The Patsy called Life of the Party in 1942, for a Detroit Stock Company which enjoyed a nine week successful run. Unsplash Career

The duo also joined hands with Arthur Pierson for What’s Up?. This ran for 63 performances and was followed by The Day Before Spring which led to establishing one of the most successful partnerships of Broadway. Unsplash Career

In 1947, the first hit of this partnership was Brigadoon which was followed by Paint Your Wagon. It was less successful. Lerner also worked with Kurt Weill on a stage musical show - Love Life in 1948. Unsplash Career

In 1951, he worked with Burton Lane for the movie Royal Wedding. In the same year, he wrote the script for An American in Paris. Produced by Arthur Freed and directed by Vincente Minnelli, it won an Oscar award. Unsplash Career

Based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, Lerner created lyrics for the musical My Fair Lady in 1956. Under Broadway production, this musical received huge success. Directed by Moss Hart, it ran successfully till 1962. Unsplash Major Works

Information	Detail
Birthday	August 31, 1918
Died on	June 14, 1986
Nationality	American
Famous	Lyricists, Juilliard School, Writers, Poets
Spouses	Liz Robertson (m. 1981–1986), Nancy Olson (m. 1950–1957), Sandra Payne (m. 1974–1976)
Siblings	Samuel Alexander Lerner
Childrens	Jennifer Lerner, Liza Lerner
Universities	Juilliard School
Notable Alumnis	Juilliard School
Birth Place	New York City
Gender	Male
Father	Joseph Jay Lerner
Mother	Edith Adelson Lerner
Sun Sign	Virgo
Born in	New York City
Famous as	American lyricist
Died at Age	67

Alan Jay Lerner

American

Aug 31, 1918

Biography

Personal Details

New York City