Editing Adolph Green

{{short description|American dramatist (1914–2002)}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = 
| image              = Adolph Green.jpg
| caption            = Green wearing the [[Kennedy Center Honors]]
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1914|12|2}}
| birth_place        = [[The Bronx]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age |2002|10|23|1914|12|2}}
| death_place        = [[New York City]], U.S.
| occupation         = Playwright, songwriter
| years_active       = 1944–2002
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Elizabeth Reitell|1941|end=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Allyn Ann McLerie]]|1945|1953|end=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Phyllis Newman]]<br>|1960|<!--2002|end=his death-->}}
}}
| children           = [[Adam Green (journalist)|Adam Green]]<br/>[[Amanda Green]]
}}

'''Adolph Green''' (December 2, 1914 – October 23, 2002) was an American [[lyricist]] and [[playwright]] who, with long-time collaborator [[Betty Comden]], penned the [[screenplays]] and songs for musicals on [[Broadway (theatre)|Broadway]] and in [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]]. Although they were not a romantic couple, they shared a unique comic genius and sophisticated wit that enabled them to forge a six-decade-long partnership. They received numerous accolades including four [[Tony Awards]] and nominations for two [[Academy Awards]] and a [[Grammy Award]]. Green was inducted into the [[Songwriters Hall of Fame]] in 1980 and [[American Theatre Hall of Fame]] in 1981.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/03/theater/26-elected-theater-hall-fame-26-broadway-voted-into-theater-hall-fame.html ''The New York Times'', March 3, 1981 – ''26 Elected to the Theater Hall of Fame'']</ref> Comden and Green received the [[Kennedy Center Honor]] in 1991.

They started their career alongside [[Leonard Bernstein]] on stage where they received the [[New York Drama Critics' Circle]] for Best Musical for ''[[Wonderful Town]]'' (1953). On Broadway they wrote the music and lyrics to musicals such as ''[[On the Town (musical)|On the Town]]'' (1944), ''[[Two on the Aisle]]'' (1951), ''[[Peter Pan (1954 musical)|Peter Pan]]'' (1954), ''[[Bells Are Ringing (musical)|Bells Are Ringing]]'' (1956), and ''[[Applause (musical)|Applause]]'' (1970). They won four [[Tony Awards]] as composer and lyricist for ''[[Hallelujah, Baby!]]'' (1967), ''[[On the Twentieth Century]]'' (1978), and ''[[The Will Rogers Follies]]'' (1991). As performers they starred in ''[[A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green]]'' (1958).

They gained notoriety in film collaborating with [[Stanley Donen]], [[Gene Kelly]] and [[Vincente Minnelli]] as part of [[Arthur Freed]]'s production unit at [[Metro Goldwyn Mayer]]. Perhaps their greatest collaboration was for the film ''[[Singin' in the Rain]]'' (1952), although they received two [[Academy Award]] nominations for screenplays for the musicals ''[[The Band Wagon]]'' (1953), and ''[[It's Always Fair Weather]]'' (1955). They also wrote the scripts for the classic movie musicals ''[[The Barkleys of Broadway]]'' (1949), ''[[On the Town (film)|On the Town]]'' (1949), ''[[Auntie Mame (film)|Auntie Mame]]'' (1958), and ''[[Bells Are Ringing (film)|Bells Are Ringing]]'' (1960).

== Early life and education ==
Green was born in [[the Bronx]] to [[Hungary|Hungarian]] [[Jewish]] immigrants Helen (née Weiss) and Daniel Green. He was the youngest of three sons and had two older brothers, Louis (circa 1907-?) and William (circa 1910-?).{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} After high school, he worked as a runner on [[Wall Street]] while he tried to make it as an actor.

== Career ==
=== 1938–1947 ===
[[File:Leonard Bernstein in his apartment, New York, N.Y., between 1946 and 1948 (William P. Gottlieb 00671).jpg|thumb|left|160px|Comden and Green collaborated with [[Leonard Bernstein]] on ''[[Wonderful Town]]'' ]]
He met Comden through mutual friends in 1938 while she was studying drama at [[New York University]]. They formed a troupe called the Revuers, which performed at the [[Village Vanguard]], a club in [[Greenwich Village]]. Among the members of the company was a young comedian named Judy Tuvim, who later changed her name to [[Judy Holliday]], and Green's good friend, a young musician named [[Leonard Bernstein]], whom he had met in 1937 at Camp Onota (a summer camp in Pittsfield MA where Bernstein was the music counselor), frequently accompanied them on the piano. 
Together, Comden and Green's act earned success and a movie offer. The Revuers traveled west in hopes of finding fame in ''[[Greenwich Village (film)|Greenwich Village]]'', a 1944 movie starring [[Carmen Miranda]] and [[Don Ameche]], but their roles were so small they barely were noticed, and they quickly returned to New York. Their first Broadway effort teamed them with Bernstein for ''[[On the Town (musical)|On the Town]]'', a musical romp about three sailors on leave in New York City that was an expansion of a [[ballet]] entitled ''[[Fancy Free (ballet)|Fancy Free]]'' on which Bernstein had been working with [[choreographer]] [[Jerome Robbins]]. Comden and Green wrote the lyrics and book, which included sizeable parts for themselves. Their next two musicals, ''Billion Dollar Baby'' (1945) and ''Bonanza Bound'' (1947) were not successful, and once again they headed to California, where they immediately found work at MGM.

=== 1948–1969 ===
<!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: [[File:Comden&Green2.JPG|right|frame|Green on the cover of [[Blossom Dearie]]'s tribute LP, ''[[Blossom Dearie Sings Comden and Green]]'' (1959)]] -->
They wrote the screenplay for ''[[Good News (1947 film)|Good News]]'' (1947), starring [[June Allyson]] and [[Peter Lawford]], ''[[The Barkleys of Broadway]]'' for [[Ginger Rogers]] and [[Fred Astaire]], and then adapted ''[[On the Town (film)|On the Town]]'' (1949) for [[Frank Sinatra]] and [[Gene Kelly]], scrapping much of Bernstein's music at the request of [[Arthur Freed]], who did not care for the Bernstein score. They reunited with Kelly for their most successful project, the classic ''[[Singin' in the Rain]]'' (1952), about Hollywood in the final days of the [[silent film]] era. The film was directed by [[Gene Kelly]] and [[Stanley Donen]] and starred Kelly, [[Debbie Reynolds]] and [[Donald O'Connor]]. Together Comden and Green received a nomination for the [[Writers Guild of America Award|Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Musical]]. Considered by many film historians to be the best movie musical of all time, it ranked No. 10 on the list of the 100 best American movies of the 20th century compiled by the [[American Film Institute]] in 1998. 
[[File:Singin' in the Rain trailer screenshot.jpg|thumb|right|Gene Kelly in ''Singin' in the Rain'']]

They followed this with another hit, and another musical ''[[The Band Wagon]]'' (1953), in which the characters of Lester and Lily, a husband-and-wife team that writes the play for the show-within-a-show, were patterned after themselves. The film was directed by [[Vincente Minnelli]] and starred [[Fred Astaire]], [[Cyd Charisse]], [[Nanette Fabray]] and [[Oscar Levant]]. They reunited with Donen and Kelly with another musical ''[[It's Always Fair Weather]]'' (1955). They were [[Academy Award|Oscar]]-nominated twice, for their screenplays for ''The Band Wagon'' and ''[[It's Always Fair Weather]]'', both of which earned them a [[Writers Guild of America|Screen Writers Guild Award]], as did ''[[On the Town (film)|On the Town]]''. Their stage work during the next few years included the revue ''[[Two on the Aisle]]'' (1951), starring [[Bert Lahr]] and [[Dolores Gray]], ''[[Wonderful Town]]'' (1953), an adaptation of the comedy hit ''[[My Sister Eileen]]'', with [[Rosalind Russell]] and [[Edie Adams]] as two sisters from Ohio trying to make it in the [[Big Apple]], and ''[[Bells Are Ringing (musical)|Bells Are Ringing]]'' (1956), which reunited them with Judy Holliday as an operator at a telephone answering service. The score, including the standards "[[Just in Time (song)|Just in Time]]", "Long Before I Knew You," and "[[The Party's Over (1956 song)|The Party's Over]]" proved to be one of their richest.

Comden and Green returned to films with [[Morton DaCosta]]'s ''[[Auntie Mame (film)|Auntie Mame]]'' (1958) starring [[Rosalind Russell]] and Minnelli's ''[[Bells Are Ringing (film)|Bells Are Ringing]]'' (1961) starring [[Judy Holliday]] and [[Dean Martin]]. In 1958, they appeared on Broadway in ''[[A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green]]'', a revue that included some of their early sketches. It was a critical and commercial success, and they brought an updated version back to Broadway in 1977. In 1964 they wrote the screenplay for the [[black comedy]] ''[[What a Way to Go!]]'' starring [[Shirley MacLaine]], [[Paul Newman]], [[Robert Mitchum]], Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, and [[Dick Van Dyke]]. The film was a commercial success but received mixed reviews.

=== 1970–2002 ===
Among their other credits are the [[Mary Martin]] version of ''[[Peter Pan (1954 musical)|Peter Pan]]'' for both Broadway and television, a streamlined ''[[Die Fledermaus]]'' for the [[Metropolitan Opera]], and stage musicals for [[Carol Burnett]], [[Leslie Uggams]], and [[Lauren Bacall]], among others. Their many collaborators included [[Garson Kanin]], [[Cy Coleman]], [[Jule Styne]], and [[André Previn]]. The team was not without its failures. In 1982, ''[[A Doll's Life]]'', an exploration of what Nora did after she abandoned her husband in [[Henrik Ibsen]]'s ''[[A Doll's House]]'', ran for only five performances, although they received [[Tony Award]] nominations for its book and score. In 1980, Green was inducted into the [[Songwriters Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/C60 |title=Adolph Green at the Songwriters Hall of Fame |access-date=November 6, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140515185939/http://songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/C60 |archive-date=May 15, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> And, in 1981, he was inducted into the [[American Theatre Hall of Fame]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/03/theater/26-elected-theater-hall-fame-26-broadway-voted-into-theater-hall-fame.html ''The New York Times'', March 3, 1981 – ''26 Elected to the Theater Hall of Fame'']</ref> The following year Green appeared in the comedy ''[[My Favorite Year]]'' (1982) starring [[Peter O'Toole]]. The next year they wrote the book for the musical ''[[Singin' in the Rain (musical)|Singin' in the Rain]]'' for the [[West End (theatre)|West End]] in London in 1983 and then for Broadway in 1985. The production earned two [[Tony Award]] nominations including for [[Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical|Best Book of a Musical]] for Comden and Green.

In 1989, he appeared as Dr. Pangloss in Bernstein's [[Candide (operetta)|Candide]]. Comden and Green received [[Kennedy Center Honors]] in 1991. Also in 1991 they returned to Broadway in with the musical ''[[The Will Rogers Follies]]''. The musical focuses on the life and career of famed [[humor]]ist and performer [[Will Rogers]], using as a backdrop the [[Ziegfeld Follies]]. The production earned six [[Tony Awards]] including the [[Tony Award for Best Musical]] and the [[Tony Award for Best Original Score]] for Comden and Green.

==Personal life==
Green was married to actress [[Allyn Ann McLerie]]<ref name=vaill200>{{cite book|author= Amanda Vaill|title= Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=xuPMxB0waisC&pg=PA200|access-date= May 16, 2011|date= May 6, 2008|publisher= Broadway Books|isbn= 978-0-7679-0421-6|page=200}}</ref> from 1945 to 1953.<ref>McPhee, Ryan. [http://www.playbill.com/article/stage-and-screen-star-allyn-ann-mclerie-dies-at-91# "Stage and Screen Star Allyn Ann McLerie Dies at 91"] Playbill, June 3, 2018</ref>

Green's third wife was actress [[Phyllis Newman]], who had understudied Holliday in ''Bells Are Ringing''. They married in 1960, and remained so until Green's death in 2002. The couple had two children, [[Adam Green (journalist)|Adam]] and [[Amanda Green|Amanda]], both of whom are songwriters.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/25/obituaries/25GREE.html "Adolph Green, Playwright and Lyricist Who Teamed With Comden, Dies at 87"]''The New York Times'', October 25, 2002</ref>

His Broadway memorial, with [[Lauren Bacall]], [[Kevin Kline]], [[Joel Grey]], [[Kristin Chenoweth]], [[Arthur Laurents]], [[Peter Stone (writer)|Peter Stone]], and [[Betty Comden]] in attendance was held at the [[Shubert Theatre (Broadway)|Shubert Theater]] on December 4, 2002.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/04/arts/theater/04MEMO.html "A Broadway Memorial? That's Entertainment"]''The New York Times'', December 4, 2002</ref>

== Credits ==
=== Broadway ===
* ''[[On the Town (musical)|On the Town]]'' (1944)
* ''[[Billion Dollar Baby]]'' (1945)
* ''[[Two on the Aisle]]'' (1951)
* ''[[Wonderful Town]]'' (1953)
* ''[[Peter Pan (1954 musical)|Peter Pan]]'' (1954)
* ''[[Bells Are Ringing (musical)|Bells Are Ringing]]'' (1956)
* ''[[Say, Darling]]'' (1958)
* ''[[A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green]]'' (1958)
* ''[[Do Re Mi (musical)|Do Re Mi]]'' (1960)
* ''[[Subways Are for Sleeping]]'' (1961)
* ''[[Fade Out – Fade In]]'' (1964)
* ''[[Hallelujah, Baby!]]'' (1967)
* ''[[Applause (musical)|Applause]]'' (1970)
* ''[[Lorelei (musical)|Lorelei]]'' (1974)
* ''[[On the Twentieth Century]]'' (1978)
* ''[[The Madwoman of Central Park West]]'' (1979)
* ''[[A Doll's Life]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Singin' in the Rain (musical)|Singin' in the Rain]]'' (1985)
* ''[[The Will Rogers Follies]]'' (1991)

=== Hollywood ===
* ''[[Good News (1947 film)|Good News]]'' (1947)
* ''[[The Barkleys of Broadway]]'' (1949)
* ''[[On the Town (film)|On the Town]]'' (1949)
* ''[[Singin' in the Rain]]'' (1952)
* ''[[The Band Wagon]]'' (1953)
* ''[[It's Always Fair Weather]]'' (1955)
* ''[[Auntie Mame (film)|Auntie Mame]]'' (1958)
* ''[[Bells Are Ringing (film)|Bells Are Ringing]]'' (1960)
* ''[[What a Way to Go!]]'' (1964)
* ''[[My Favorite Year]]'' (1982)

'''Acting credits'''
* ''[[Greenwich Village (film)|Greenwich Village]]'' (1944) as Revuer (uncredited)
* ''[[Simon (1980 film)|Simon]]'' (1980) as Commune Leader
* ''[[My Favorite Year]]'' (1982) as Leo Silver
* ''[[Lily in Love]]'' (1984) as Jerry Silber
* ''[[Garbo Talks]]'' (1984) as himself
* ''[[I Want to Go Home (1989 film)|I Want to Go Home]]'' (1989) as Joey Wellman
* ''Candide'' (1991, TV Movie) as Dr. Pangloss / Martin
* ''[[Frasier]]'' (1994, TV Series) as Walter (voice)
* ''[[The Substance of Fire]]'' (1996) as Mr. Musselblatt (final film role)

==Awards and nominations==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Award 
!Category
!Work
!Result
|-
|rowspan=2|1950
|rowspan=3|[[Writers Guild of America Award|WGA Award]]
|rowspan=3|Best Written American Musical
|''[[The Barkleys of Broadway]]''
|{{nom}}
|-
|''[[On the Town (musical)|On the Town]]''
|{{won}}
|-
|rowspan=2|1953
|''[[Singin' in the Rain]]''
|{{won}}
|-
|[[New York Drama Critics' Circle|New York Drama Critics' Circle Award]]
|Best Musical
|''[[Wonderful Town]]''
|{{won}}
|-
|rowspan=2|1954
|[[Academy Awards]]
|[[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Writing, Story and Screenplay]]
|rowspan=2|''[[The Band Wagon]]''
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Writers Guild of America Award|WGA Award]]
|Best Written American Musical
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=2|1956
|[[Academy Awards]]
|[[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Writing, Story and Screenplay]]
|rowspan=2|''[[It's Always Fair Weather]]''
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=2|[[Writers Guild of America Award|WGA Award]]
|rowspan=2|Best Written American Musical
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=2|1961
|rowspan=2|''[[Bells Are Ringing (film)|Bells Are Ringing]]''
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Grammy Award]]
|[[Grammy Award for Best Sound Track Album or Recording of Original Cast From a Motion Picture or Television|Best Soundtrack Album]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|1968
|rowspan=7|[[Tony Award]]
|[[Tony Award for Best Original Score|Best Composer and Lyricist]]
|''[[Hallelujah, Baby!]]''
|{{won}}
|-
|rowspan=2|1978
|[[Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical|Best Book of a Musical]]
|rowspan=2|''[[On the Twentieth Century]]''	
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Tony Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]]
|{{won}}
|-
|rowspan=2|1983
|[[Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical|Best Book of a Musical]]
|rowspan=2|''A Doll's House''	
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Tony Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|1986
|[[Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical|Best Book of a Musical]]
|''[[Singin' in the Rain (musical)|Singin' in the Rain]]''	
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan=2|1991
|[[Tony Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]]
|rowspan=2|''[[The Will Rogers Follies]]''
|{{won}}
|-
|[[New York Drama Critics' Circle|New York Drama Critics' Circle Award]]
|Best Musical
|{{won}}
|-
|1995
|[[National Board of Review|National Board of Review Award]]
|colspan=2|Distinction in Screenwriting
|{{won}}
|-
|2001
|[[Writers Guild of America Award|WGA Award]]
|colspan=2|Laurel Award for Screen Writing Achievement
|{{won}}
|}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* ''Off Stage'', a memoir by Betty Comden published in 1995

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* {{IBDB name}}
* {{playbill person}}
* {{IMDb name|0337582}}
* {{Iobdb name|6551|Adolph Green}}
* [http://archives.nypl.org/the/21750 Adolph Green papers, 1944–2002], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]]
* [http://archives.nypl.org/the/21757 Comden and Green papers, 1933–2003], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]]
* [http://www.nypl.org/blog/2012/01/13/lost-musicals-hollywood-edition-comden-and-greens-wonderland New York Public Library Blog on Comden and Green's Unproduced Screenplay Wonderland]

{{Comden and Green}}
{{Navboxes
| title = Awards for Adolph Green
| list =
{{Kennedy Center Honorees 1990s}}
{{TonyAward MusicalBook}}
{{TonyAward MusicalScore}}
{{Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Musical}}
{{Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement}}
}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Adolph}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:Writers from the Bronx]]
[[Category:American musical theatre librettists]]
[[Category:American musical theatre lyricists]]
[[Category:Broadway composers and lyricists]]
[[Category:American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:Jewish American songwriters]]
[[Category:Kennedy Center honorees]]
[[Category:Tony Award winners]]
[[Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Songwriters from New York (state)]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]
[[Category:20th-century American songwriters]]