Digital Media Center
Bryant-Denny Stadium, Gate 61
920 Paul Bryant Drive
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0370
(800) 654-4262

© 2024 Alabama Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Fresh Air Remembers Broadway's Richard Adler

Celebrated composer and lyricist Richard Adler has died at the age of 90.
Bob Gomel
/
Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Celebrated composer and lyricist Richard Adler has died at the age of 90.

This interview was originally broadcast on Aug. 9, 1990.

In 1955, The New York Times called Richard Adler and his writing partner, Jerry Ross, "Broadway's hottest young composers." Together, they wrote the music and lyrics for The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees, two shows that became known for the songs "Hey There," "Steam Heat," "Hernando's Hideaway" and "Whatever Lola Wants."

Both The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees won a Tony Award for best musical, and both were directed by George Abbott. But everything changed for Adler when Ross died in 1955 at the age of 29, just months after Damn Yankees opened.

Last Thursday, Adler died at his home in Southampton, N.Y. He was 90 years old. He spoke to Fresh Air's Terry Gross in 1990, after the publication of his memoir You Gotta Have Heart.

Copyright 2021 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

News from Alabama Public Radio is a public service in association with the University of Alabama. We depend on your help to keep our programming on the air and online. Please consider supporting the news you rely on with a donation today. Every contribution, no matter the size, propels our vital coverage. Thank you.