GREEN, Adolph 1915-2002

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born December 2, 1915, in New York, NY; died October 23, 2002, in New York, NY. Lyricist and author. Together with partner Betty Comden, Green wrote some of the most well-known lyrics sung in Broadway and Hollywood musicals during the twentieth century. He met Comden while an undergraduate student at New York University, where he studied drama but never graduated. At the suggestion of their friend Judy Holliday, the pair formed a cabaret act in 1938 called the Revuers and performed at the Village Vanguard in New York's Greenwich Village beginning in 1939. There, Comden and Green were often joined by Leonard Bernstein, who played piano for the musical act for free just for the love of music. While performing at the Blue Angel in 1944 they were offered a job to write for a Twentieth Century-Fox film called Greenwich Village. Although the film did not do well, it led to the pair collaborating on the stage book and lyrics for On the Town, which was later adapted for a film starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra and which featured such famous songs as "New York, New York." During the 1940s and 1950s Green and Comden wrote many other popular songs for musicals like Good News (1947), Take Me out to the Ball Game (1949), Bells Are Ringing (1956), and Singin' in the Rain (1952) and also penned the screenplay for Auntie Mame (1958). They also contributed the songs "Never Never Land" and "Wendy" to the 1954 Broadway version of Peter Pan that starred Mary Martin. Although Green and Comden's career did suffer some flops, particularly the 1982 musical A Doll's Life, they had more successes than failures and were awarded with seven Antoinette Perry ("Tony") awards and numerous Grammy awards. Green also acted in some of his stage and film productions, including the 1982 films My Favorite Year and Garbo Talks.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

books

Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television, Volume 38, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2001.

periodicals

Chicago Tribune, October 25, 2002, section 2, p. 9.

Los Angeles Times, October 25, 2002, p. B14.

New York Times, October 25, 2002, p. A32.

Times (London, England), October 28, 2002.

Washington Post, October 25, 2002, p. B6.