Alan Jay Lerner

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BIRTHDAY

August 31, 1918

New York City, New York, USA

DIED

June 14, 1986

RECENT CREDITS

Elegy (FILM) Aug. 8, 2008

Married Life (FILM) Mar. 7, 2008

Confetti (FILM) Sep. 15, 2006

The Lake House (FILM) Jun. 16, 2006

50 First Dates (FILM) Feb. 13, 2004

View all Alan Jay Lerner Credits

BIOGRAPHY

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Scion of the Lerner Shops fortune whose elegant lyrics reflected the sophisticated world of style and wit in which he lived. A chance meeting in 1942 with German-born composer Frederick Loewe who was fourteen years his senior resulted in one of the most productive and prosperous collaborations in the American musical theater. Wedded to Loewe's operetta-inspired melodious tunes, Lerner's lyrics and his archly romantic and literary librettos--which skillfully integrated music, character and story into a seamless whole--elevated the post-war musical to new heights of sophistication and intelligence. Together Lerner and Loewe created a string of Broadway hits all of which Lerner adapted to film: "Brigadoon" (1954), "My Fair Lady" (1964) "Camelot" (1967) and "Paint Your Wagon" (1969).

After Loewe's retirement in 1960, Lerner collaborated far less successfully with Burton Lane ("On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" and "Carmelina") Andre Previn ("Coco"), Leonard Bernstein ("1600 Pennsylvania Avenue") and Charles Strouse ("Dance a Little Closer").

Hailed by Leonard Bernstein as a "gentleman genius," Lerner also wrote the screenplay for "Royal Wedding" (1951), and won Oscars for his scripts for "An American in Paris" (1952) and the nine Oscar-winner, "Gigi" (1958), Lerner and Loewe's first original screen musical. In 1974 Loewe came out of retirement to create another original screen musical "The Little Prince". Three of Lerner's eight marriages were to actresses: Marion Bell (1947-48), Nancy Olson (1950-57) and Liz Robertson (1981 until his death in 1986).

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