HARNICK, Sheldon 1924–

PERSONAL

Full name, Sheldon Mayer Harnick; born April 30, 1924, in Chicago, IL; son of Harry M. and Esther (maiden name, Kanter) Harnick; brother of Jay Harnick (a director, producer, performer, and stage manager); married Mary Boatner, August 29, 1950 (marriage annulled, May, 1957); married Elaine May (a writer, comedienne, actress, and director), 1962 (divorced, 1963); married Margery Gray (an actress), October 8, 1965; children: (with Gray) Beth, Matthew. Education: Northwestern University School of Music, graduated in 1949; studied violin at Boguslawski Musical College.

Addresses: Manager—David J. Cogan, 350 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10118.

Career: Lyricist, composer, and performer. Collaborator with composers, including Jerry Bock. Professional violinist in the Chicago, IL area and Midwest; theatre staff member of the Green Mansions summer resort, for parts of 1955, 1956, and 1957; lyricist for songs for industrial shows; contributor of material for New York City mayor John V. Lindsay for Press Club shows, 1966, 1970–73. Member of the nominating committee for the Richard Rodgers Awards competition for musical theatre; former member of the Tony Administration Committee (the nominating committee for the Antoinette Perry Awards); participant at workshops, concerts, galas, benefits, awards presentations, and other events. Military service: U.S. Army, 1943–46, served in Signal Corps and affiliated with USO shows.

Member: Dramatists Guild, Songwriters Guild of America, Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

Awards, Honors: Pulitzer Prize, best new American drama, Antoinette Perry Award, best musical, and New York Drama Critics Circle Award, best musical, all with others, all 1960, for Fiorello!; Grammy Award nomination (with others), National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, best score from an original cast show album, 1963, for the recording of She Loves Me; Antoinette Perry Award nomination (with others), best musical, 1964, for She Loves Me; Antoinette Perry awards, best composer and lyricist and (with others) best musical, and New York Drama Critics Circle Award (with others), best musical, all 1965, and Page One Award, Newspaper Guild of New York, all for Fiddler on the Roof; Antoinette Perry Award nominations, best composer and lyricist and (with others), best musical, both 1967, for The Apple Tree; Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best lyrics, 1971, for The Rothschilds; Grammy Award nomination (with others), best new opera recording, c. 1979, for The Merry Widow; Emmy Award nomination (with Larry Grossman), outstanding achievement in music and lyrics, 1981, for the song "In the Beginning," from The Way They Were; Johnny Mercer Award, Songwriters Hall of Fame, 1990; Marc Blitzstein Memorial Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1993, for contributions to musical theatre; Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best original score, 1994, for Cyrano—The Musical; Laurence Olivier Award (with others), Society for West End Theatre, best musical revival, 1995, for She Loves Me; honorary doctorates of humane letters, Illinois Wesleyan University, 1996, and Muskingum College, 1997; Pioneer Award (with Jerry Bock), Melting Pot Theater Company, 2003, received award at the show Tonight at Eight: A Celebration of the Musicals of Bock and Harnick, The Supper Club, New York City, 2003; honoree, Sunrise, Sunset—The Songs of Sheldon Harnick, various productions, beginning 2003; Town Hall Friends of the Arts Award, Town Hall Benefit Gala, 2004; honoree at gala, Encompass New Opera Theatre, National Arts Club, New York City, 2004; Lifetime Achievement Award, Guild Hall Academy of the Arts, 2005; honoree, Lyrics & Lyricist: A Celebration of Sheldon Harnick (also known as Celebration of Sheldon Harnick), 92nd Street Y, New York City, 2005; Spirit of American Creativity Award (with Jerry Bock), Foundation for a Creative America; Jewish Cultural Achievement Award (with Jerry Bock), National Foundation for Jewish Culture, performing arts field; inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame; other Grammy Award nominations; platinum and gold record certifications, Recording Industry Association of America.

CREDITS

Stage Appearances:

Sondheim: A Musical Tribute (benefit concert), Shubert Theatre, New York City, 1973.

Voice of the White Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland, Bil Baird Marionettes, off–Broadway production, 1975.

Show & Tell (benefit gala), Laura Belle Theatre, New York City, 2001.

Some Enchanted Evenings, Town Hall Theatre, New York City, 2002.

Musical Makers, Acorn Theatre, New York City, 2003.

Sing for a Cure: A Valentine Cabaret Salute to Richard Rodgers (benefit), Richard Rodgers Theatre, New York City, 2003.

Broadway Talks, 92nd Street Y, New York City, 2004.

His Words Are Music: The Broadway Lyrics of Sheldon Harnick, John Drew Theater at Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY, 2004.

Lyrics & Lyricist: A Celebration of Sheldon Harnick (also known as Celebration of Sheldon Harnick), 92nd Street Y, 2005.

Appeared in other productions, including cabaret productions at the Rainbow and Stars, 1990.

Film Appearances:

Voices of Barney Beanbag and Socko the Sockworm, Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (animated musical; also known as Raggedy Ann & Andy), Twentieth Century–Fox, 1976.

Himself, Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There (documentary; also known as Broadway, Broadway: The Golden Age, and Broadway: The Movie), Dada Films, 2003.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Himself, Broadway: The American Musical (documentary), PBS, 2004.

Television Appearances; Specials:

She Loves Me (musical), PBS, 1979.

Music by Richard Rodgers, PBS, 1990.

Himself, Richard Rodgers: The Sweetest Sounds (documentary), PBS, 2001.

RECORDINGS

Albums:

Evening with Sheldon Harnick, DRG, 1971.

Regards to the Lindsay Years, 1973.

Musical Life in Concert, DRG, 1994.

Harnick's music has been featured in cast albums and several other recordings and translated for foreign recordings.

WRITINGS

Stage Lyrics; Musicals:

Leonard Sillman's "New Faces of 1952" (revue; also known as New Faces of 1952), Royale Theatre, New York City, 1952–53.

Two's Company (revue; also known as Charles Sherman's Musical Revue), Alvin Theatre, New York City, 1952–53.

Horatio, Margo Jones Theatre, Dallas, TX, 1954, later produced under the title Smiling, the Boy Fell Dead, Cherry Lane Theatre, New York City, 1961.

(Uncredited) The Amazing Adele, 1956.

(Uncredited) Additional lyrics, Shangri–La, NY, 1956.

Portofino, Adelphi Theatre, New York City, 1958.

The Body Beautiful, Broadway Theatre, New York City, 1958–61.

Fiorello!, Broadhurst Theatre, New York City, 1959.

Vintage '60 (revue), Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York

City, 1960.

Tenderloin, 46th Street Theatre, New York City, 1960–61.

Never Too Late, Playhouse Theatre, New York City, 1962–65.

Man in the Moon, Biltmore Theatre, New York City, 1963.

She Loves Me, Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New York City, 1963–64, other productions, including Criterion Center Stage Right, New York City, 1993, Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York City, 1993–94, and Savoy Theatre, London, beginning 1994.

To Broadway, with Love, New York World's Fair, 1964–65.

Fiddler on the Roof, Imperial Theatre, New York City, 1964–67, Majestic Theatre, New York City, 1967–70, Broadway Theatre, New York City, 1970–72, several other productions, including Winter Garden Theatre, New York City, 1976–77, Lincoln Center, New York State Theater, New York City, beginning 1981, additional song added to production at Minskoff Theatre, New York City, beginning 2004.

(With others) Wet Paint, Renata Theatre, New York City, 1965.

The Apple Tree, Shubert Theatre, New York City, 1966–67, revised production later produced.

The Rothschilds, Lunt–Fontanne Theatre, New York City, 1970–72.

Pinocchio, Bil Baird Marionettes, off–Broadway production, 1973.

Alice in Wonderland, Bil Baird Marionettes, off–Broadway production, 1975.

Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines (opera), Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, 1975.

Rex, Lunt–Fontanne Theatre, 1976.

Dr. Heidigger's Fountain of Youth (opera), National

Arts Club, New York City, 1978.

Frustration—A Mini–Opera (opera), Encompass Theatre, New York City, 1979.

The Madwoman of Central Park West, 22 Steps, 1979.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (stage version of film), New York Shakespeare Festival, New York City, 1979.

It's a Wonderful Life, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1986, other productions, including Beck Center for Cultural Arts—Main Stage, Cleveland, OH, 2000, and Surflight Theatre, Beach Haven, NJ, 2000.

Barbara Cook: A Concert for the Theatre (concert), Ambassador Theatre, New York City, 1987.

(With others) Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Imperial Theatre, New York City, 1989–90.

Love in Two Countries (two one–act operas), Music Theatre Works, Theatre at St. Peter's Church, New York City, 1991.

(With others) Cyrano–The Musical, Neil Simon Theatre, New York City, 1993–94, Theatre Hagen, Hagen, Germany, c. 1994.

Back from Broadway (benefit concert), Vivian Beaumont Theatre, 2002.

(With others) Free to Be ... You and Me, Greenwich House Theatre, New York City, 2002.

Mostly Sondheim (concerts), Vivian Beaumont Theatre, 2002.

Dragons, Luna Stage Company, Montclair, NJ, 2003.

Sunrise, Sunset—The Songs of Sheldon Harnick (revue), Jewish Theatre of New England, 2003.

American Musical Theater Salutes Series, John Drew Theater at Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY, 2004.

Barbara Cook's Broadway (concerts), Vivian Beaumont Theatre, 2004.

Moments of Being, with Betsy, Stella Adler Theatre, New York City, 2004.

Lyrics & Lyricist: A Celebration of Sheldon Harnick (also known as Celebration of Sheldon Harnick), 92nd Street Y, New York City, 2005.

Stage Lyrics; Major Tours:

A Christmas Carol, Christmas tours, 1981, 1982.

Sunrise, Sunset—The Songs of Sheldon Harnick (revue), 2004–2005.

Stage Lyrics; English Translations and Adaptations:

Igor Stravinski, L'histoire du soldat, Bil Baird Marionettes, Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 1967.

(English translation) Maurice Ravel, L'enfant et les sortileges, Manhattan School of Music, New York City, 1971.

(English version) Franz Lehar, The Merry Widow (operetta; also known as Die luestige Witwe), San Diego Opera, San Diego, CA, 1977.

(English translation) Georges Bizet, Carmen, Houston Opera, Houston, TX, 1981, later Vivian Beaumont Theatre, New York City, 1984.

Joseph Canteloube, Songs of the Auvergne (concert), New York City, 1982.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, L'oca del Cairo (also known as The Goose from Cairo), Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, 1982.

(Translations of Yiddish songs with Jim Friedman) Ghetto, Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, 1986.

Charles Ives, "Elgie," Ives, Songs, Lincoln Center, New York State Theater, New York City, 1988.

J. S. Bach, The Contest between Phoebus and Pan (cantata), Stony Brook, NY, 1988.

J. S. Bach, The Appeasement of Aeolus (cantata), Stony Brook, NY, 1990.

Involved in the adaptation or translation of the musical pieces The Heiress, by Jean–Michel Damase; Le monde ou l'on s'ennuie (also known as A World Where Boredom Reigns), by Edouard Pailleron; Le voyage de Monsieur Perrichon (also known as Monsieur Perrichon's Vacation), by Eugene Labiche and Edouard Martin; Un education manquee (also known as A Flawed Education), by Emmanuel Chabrier; (with Michel Legrand) L'amour fantome; and Renard.

Stage Music; Musicals:

Dragons, Luna Stage Company, Montclair, NJ, 2003.

Stage Songs:

John Murray Anderson's "Almanac" (revue), New York City, 1953.

The Shoestring Revue, New York City, 1955.

The Littlest Revue, New York City, 1956.

Shoestring '57 (revue), off–Broadway production, 1957.

(Uncredited) Baker Street (also known as Baker Street: A Musical Adventure of Sherlock Holmes), Broadway Theatre and Martin Beck Theatre, both New York City, 1965.

(With others) City Center Encores! Broadway Bash!, City Center, New York City, 2001.

Vickie Phillips: Different Dreams, Different Times, Don't Tell Mama, New York City, 2002.

Tonight at Eight: A Celebration of the Musicals of Bock and Harnick, The Supper Club, New York City. 2003.

Songwriter for Kaleidoscope, New York City; also songwriter for Julius Monk cabaret shows.

Writings for the Stage; Books for Musicals:

The Apple Tree (based on various short stories), Shubert Theatre, New York City, 1966–67, revised production later produced.

It's a Wonderful Life, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1986, other productions, including Beck Center for Cultural Arts—Main Stage, Cleveland, OH, 2000, and Surflight Theatre, Beach Haven, NJ, 2000.

Continuity, Good Company (also known as Good Company—Songs That Made It from Shows That Didn't), Berkshire Theatre Festival, Stockbridge, MA, 1997.

(With Norton Juster) The Phantom Tollbooth (based on Juster's book), Harwich Junior Theatre, Cape Cod, MA, 2002, Wheelock Family Theatre, Boston, MA, 2003.

Dragons (based on the play by Yevgeny Schwarz), Luna Stage Company, Montclair, NJ, 2003.

Writings for the Stage; Opera Librettos:

Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, 1975.

Dr. Heidigger's Fountain of Youth, National Arts Club, New York City, 1978.

Cyrano–The Musical, Neil Simon Theatre, New York City, 1993–94, Theatre Hagen, Hagen, Germany, c. 1994.

Coyote Tales, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, 1998.

Writings for the Stage; Other:

Texts, Sutter's Gold—A Cantata (cantata), Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston, MA, 1980.

Film Lyrics:

Fiddler on the Roof (musical), United Artists, 1971.

Title song and other songs, Blame It on Rio, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1984.

Die Schelme von Schelm (animated; also known as Aaron's Magic Village, The Real Shlemiel, and Le monde est un grand chelm), Avalanche Releasing, 1995.

Contributed lyrics to songs for unproduced films.

Film Scores:

(With Michel Legrand) Die Schelme von Schelm (animated; also known as Aaron's Magic Village, The Real Shlemiel, and Le monde est un grand chelm), Avalanche Releasing, 1995.

Film Songs:

Title song, The Heartbreak Kid, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1972.

Harnick's songs have been featured in films, television broadcasts, and video collections.

Television Lyrics; Specials:

(With Ogden Nash) Art Carney Meets Peter and the Wolf, ABC, 1958.

"William's Doll," Marlo Thomas and Friends in Free to Be ... You and Me (also known as Free to Be ... You and Me), ABC, 1974.

She Loves Me, PBS, 1979.

The Way They Were, syndicated, 1981.

"The Man with the Sign" (version of "Stars and Stripes Forever"), I Love Liberty, ABC, 1982.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit (animated), HBO, 1991.

Translated the lyrics of the aria "Questa o quella" into English for a Placido Domingo television special, 1985.

Television Lyrics; Pilots:

Title song lyrics, Marriage Is Alive and Well, NBC, 1980.

Television Music and Lyrics; Series:

Cavalcade of Stars, DuMont, c. 1952.

We'll Get By, CBS, 1975.

Television Music; Episodic:

"The Canterville Ghost," ABC Stage 67, ABC, 1966.

Television Music and Lyrics; Pilots:

We'll Get By, CBS, 1975.

Albums:

Evening with Sheldon Harnick, DRG, 1971. Regards to the Lindsay Years, 1973. Musical Life in Concert, DRG, 1994.

Harnick's music has been featured in cast albums, such as The Apple Tree, Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello!, The Merry Widow, and She Loves Me; and several other recordings and translated for foreign recordings.