{{Unreferenced|date=November 2007}}
'''Alan Jay Lerner''' ([[August 31]], [[1918]] – [[June 14]], [[1986]]) was an [[United States|American]] [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] [[lyricist]] and [[librettist]].

Born in [[New York City]], he was the son of Joseph Jay Lerner, the brother of the owner of the [[Lerner Stores]], a chain of dress shops. The founder and owner of Lerner Stores was Samuel Alexander Lerner. Alan Jay Lerner was educated at [[Bedales School]], [[Choate Rosemary Hall]], and [[Harvard]], where he befriended classmate [[John F. Kennedy]]. Like [[Cole Porter]] at [[Yale]] and [[Richard Rodgers]] at [[Columbia University|Columbia]], his career in musical theater began with his collegiate contributions to the annual Harvard [[Hasty Pudding]] musicals.

Following graduation, Lerner wrote scripts for [[radio]], including ''[[Your Hit Parade]]'', until he was introduced to a down-on-his-heels [[Austria]]n composer [[Frederick Loewe]], who needed a lyricist, in 1942. Their first collaboration was a musical adaptation of Barry Connor's farce ''The Patsy'' called ''Life of the Party'' for a [[Detroit]] [[Stock company (acting)|stock company]]. It enjoyed a nine-week run and encouraged the duo to join forces with Arthur Pierson for ''[[What's Up?]]'', which opened on Broadway in 1943. It ran for 63 performances and was followed two years later by ''[[The Day Before Spring]]''. One of Broadway's most successful partnerships had been established.

Their first hit was ''[[Brigadoon]]'' (1947), a romantic fantasy set in a mystical Scottish village, directed by [[Robert Lewis]]. It was followed in 1951 by the less successful [[California Gold Rush|Gold Rush]] story ''[[Paint Your Wagon]]''.

Lerner poured his excess energy into collaborations with [[Kurt Weill]] on the stage musical ''[[Love Life]]'' (1948) and [[Burton Lane]] on the movie musical ''[[Royal Wedding]]'' (1951). In that same year Lerner also wrote the [[Academy Awards|Oscar-winning]] original [[screenplay]] for ''[[An American in Paris (Movie)|An American in Paris]]'', produced by [[Arthur Freed]] and directed by [[Vincente Minnelli]]. This was the same team who would later join with Lerner and Loewe to create ''[[Gigi (1958 film)|Gigi]]''.

In 1956 Lerner and Loewe unveiled ''[[My Fair Lady]]''. Their adaptation of [[George Bernard Shaw]]'s ''[[Pygmalion (play)|Pygmalion]]'' retained his social commentary and added unusually appropriate songs for the characters of Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins, played originally by [[Julie Andrews]] and [[Rex Harrison]]. It was hugely popular and set box-office records in [[New York]] and [[London]]. When brought to the screen in 1964, the movie version would win eight [[Academy Awards|Oscars]].

Lerner and Loewe's run of success continued with their next project, a film adaptation of stories from [[Colette]], the [[Academy Award]] winning film musical ''[[Gigi (1958 film)|Gigi]]'', starring [[Leslie Caron]]. The film won all of its nine Oscar nominations, a record at that point in time, and a special Oscar for co-star [[Maurice Chevalier]].

The Lerner-Loewe partnership cracked under the stress of producing the [[King Arthur|Arthurian]] ''[[Camelot (musical)|Camelot]]'' in 1960, with Loewe resisting Lerner's desire to direct as well as write. ''Camelot'' was a hit nonetheless, with a poignant coda; immediately following the assassination of [[John F. Kennedy]], his widow told [[Life Magazine]] that JFK's administration reminded her of the "one brief shining moment" of Lerner and Loewe's ''Camelot.'' To this day ''Camelot'' is invoked to describe the [[idealism]], [[Romance (genre)|romance]], and [[tragedy]] of the Kennedy years.

Loewe retired to [[Palm Springs, California]] while Lerner went through a series of unsuccessful musicals with such composers as [[Andre Previn]] (''[[Coco (musical)|Coco]]''), [[John Barry (composer)|John Barry]] (''[[Lolita, My Love]]''), [[Leonard Bernstein]] (''[[1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (musical)|1600 Pennsylvania Avenue]]''), [[Burton Lane]] (''[[Carmelina]]'') and [[Charles Strouse]] (''[[Dance a Little Closer]]'', based on the film, ''[[Idiot's Delight]]'', (nicknamed ''Close A Little Faster'' by Broadway wags because it closed on opening night). Most biographers blame Lerner's professional decline on the lack of not only a strong composer but a strong director Lerner could collaborate with as [[Neil Simon]] did with [[Mike Nichols]] or [[Stephen Sondheim]] did with [[Harold Prince]] ([[Moss Hart]], who had directed ''[[My Fair Lady]],'' died shortly after ''[[Camelot (musical)|Camelot]]'' opened). In 1965 Lerner collaborated again with [[Burton Lane]] in the musical [[On a Clear Day You Can See Forever]], which was adapted for film in 1970. Lerner was inducted into the [[Songwriters Hall of Fame]] in 1971.

In 1973 Lerner coaxed Fritz Loewe out of retirement to augment the ''Gigi'' score for a [[Gigi (musical)|musical stage adaptation]]. The following year they collaborated on a musical film version of ''[[The Little Prince (film)|The Little Prince]]'', based on the classic children's tale by [[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]]. This film was a critical and box office failure, but has become a cult favorite, with the soundtrack recording and the film itself back in print (on CD and DVD) after many years of being unavailable.

In 1978 he penned ''The Street Where I Live'', his account of three of his and Loewe's successes, ''My Fair Lady'', ''Gigi'', and ''Camelot'' along with autobiographical information. In the last year of his life he published ''The Musical Theatre: A Celebration'', a well-reviewed history of the theatre replete with personal anecdotes and his trademark wit. A book of Lerner's lyrics entitled ''A Hymn To Him'', edited by [[Benny Green]], was published in 1987.

At the time of Lerner's death, he had just begun to write lyrics for ''[[The Phantom of the Opera (musical)|The Phantom of the Opera]]'', and was replaced by [[Charles Hart (lyricist)|Charles Hart]]. He had turned down an invitation to write the English-language lyrics for the musical version of ''[[Les Miserables (musical)|Les Miserables]]''. He also had been working with Gerard Kenny in London on a musical version of the classic film ''[[My Man Godfrey]]''.

Lerner had an addictive personality; for more than twenty years he battled an [[amphetamine]] [[addiction]], and he would marry eight times. The drugs and divorces cost him much of his wealth. When he died, he reportedly owed the [[US Internal Revenue Service|IRS]] over $1,000,000 (USD) in back taxes.

Lerner died from [[lung cancer]] in [[Manhattan]] at the age of 67. At the time of his death he was married to actress [[Liz Robertson]], who was thirty-six years his junior.

==Films==
*''Secret Places'', 1984 (title song lyricist)
*''[[Tribute (film)|Tribute]]'', 1980 ("It's All for the Best," lyricist)
*''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', 1960 (lyricist)
*''[[Royal Wedding]]'', 1951 (lyricist)

==External links==
* {{ibdb name|id=3945|name=Alan Jay Lerner}}
* {{imdb name|id=0503585|name=Alan Jay Lerner}}
* {{Shof|id=42|name=Alan Jay Lerner}}
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9988255 Alan Jay Lerner's biographic sketch] at [[Find A Grave]]

{{Lerner and Loewe}}
{{Great American Songbook}}

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[[Category:1918 births]]
[[Category:1986 deaths]]
[[Category:American biographers]]
[[Category:American lyricists]]
[[Category:American songwriters]]
[[Category:American Theatre Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters]]
[[Category:Lung cancer deaths]]
[[Category:American musical theatre librettists]]
[[Category:American musical theatre lyricists]]
[[Category:Old Bedalians]]
[[Category:People from New York City]]
[[Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:Kennedy Center Honors recipients]]
[[Category:Jewish composers and songwriters]]
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