Global Courant
NEW YORK — Tony and Grammy Award-winning lyricist Sheldon Harnick, who, along with composer Jerry Bock, formed the premier musical theater songwriting duos of the 1950s and 1960s with shows like “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Fiorello!” and “The Apple Tree,” died. He turned 99.
Known for his wry, subtle humor and deft puns, Harnick died of natural causes in his sleep in New York City on Friday, said Sean Katz, Harnick’s publicist.
Broadway performers paid their respects on social media, performing “Schmigadoon!” writer Cinco Paul called him “one of the greatest musical theater lyricists of all time” and actor Jackie Hoffman fondly wrote, “Like all brilliantly fussy lyricists, he was a pain in the tuchus.”
Bock and Harnick first had success with the music and lyrics of “Fiorello!”, winning them each Tonys and a rare Pulitzer Prize in 1960. In addition, Harnick was nominated for Tonys in 1967 for “The Apple Tree,” in 1971 for “The Rothschilds,” and in 1994 for “Cyrano – The Musical.” But their masterpiece was “Fiddler on the Roof.”
Bock and Harnick were first introduced in a restaurant by actor Jack Cassidy after the opening night of “Shangri-La”, a musical in which Harnick had helped with the lyrics. Harnick-Bock’s first musical was “The Body Beautiful” in 1958.
“I think in all the years we worked together I only remember one or two arguments – and those were at the beginning of the collaboration when we were still feeling each other,” says Harnick, who worked with Bock for 13 years. recalled in a 2010 interview with The Associated Press. “Once we got past that, he was great to work with.”
They would form one of the most influential partnerships in Broadway history. Producers Robert E. Griffith and Hal Prince loved the songs from “The Body Beautiful,” and they hired Bock and Harnick to write the score for their next production, “Fiorello!”, a musical about the reformist mayor of New York City.
Bock and Harnick then collaborated on “Tenderloin” in 1960 and “She Loves Me” three years later. Neither was a hit – although “She Loves Me” won a Grammy for best score from a cast album – but their next was a monster that is still performed worldwide: “Fiddler on the Roof.” It earned two Tony Awards in 1965.
Based on stories by Sholom Aleichem that were adapted into a libretto by Stein, “Fiddler” dealt with the experience of Eastern European Orthodox Jews in the Russian village of Anatevka in the year 1905. It starred Zero Mostel as Teyve, had an almost eight-year-old run and offered the world such beautiful songs as “Sunrise, Sunset,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” and “Matchmaker, Matchmaker.” The most recent Broadway revival starred Danny Burstein as Tevye and earned a Tony nomination for best revival.
In a masterpiece of laughter and tenderness, Harnick’s lyrics were poignant and honest, as when the hero Tevye sings: “Lord who made the lion and the lamb/You decided I should be what I am/Would it be a vast eternal plan spoil/If I were a rich man?”
Bock and Harnick went on to write both the book and score for “The Apple Tree” in 1966, and the score for “The Rothschilds”, with a book by Sherman Yellen, in 1970. It was the last collaboration between the two: Bock decided that it was time he became his own lyricist and released two experimental albums in the early 1970s.
Harnick then collaborated with Michel Legrand on “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” in 1979 and a musical of “A Christmas Carol” in 1981; Mary Rodgers on a version of “Pinocchio” in 1973; Arnold Black on a musical of “The Phantom Tollbooth;” and Richard Rodgers on the score of “Rex” in 1976, a Broadway musical about Henry VIII.
He also wrote lyrics for the song “William Wants a Doll” for the TV special “Free to Be… You and Me” by Marlo Thomas and several original opera librettos, including “Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines” and “Love in Two Countries.” He won a Grammy for writing the libretto for “The Merry Widow” with Beverly Sills.
His work for television and film has ranged from songs for the 1991 HBO animated film “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” with music by Stephen Lawrence, to lyrics for the opening number of the 1988 Academy Awards broadcast. He wrote the theme songs for two movies, both with music by Cy Coleman: “The Heartbreak Kid” in 1972 and “Blame it On Rio” in 1984.
In 2014, The York Theater Company off-Broadway revived several of Harnick’s early works, including “Malpractice Makes Perfect,” “Dragons,” and “Tenderloin.” “She Loves Me” was last revived on Broadway in 2016 in a Tony-nominated show starring Zachary Levi.
Born and raised in Chicago, Harnick earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Northwestern University School of Music after serving in the military during World War II. Trained in the violin, he decided to try his luck as a songwriter in New York.
His early songs included ‘The Ballad of the Shape of Things’, later recorded by the Kingston Trio, and the Cole Porter spoof ‘Boston Beguine’ from the ‘New Faces of 1952’ revue.
He and his wife, artist Margery Gray Harnick, had two children, Beth and Matthew, and four grandchildren. Harnick was previously married to actress Elaine May. He was a longtime member of the Dramatists Guild and Songwriters Guild.
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Mark Kennedy is present
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