Sought-after composer, Tony winner Richard Adler, a composer and lyricist whose towering early successes on Broadway in the 1950s - the smash hits The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees - were followed abruptly by the death of his creative collaborator, died Thursday at his home in Southampton, N.Y. He was 90.
His family announced the death.
With Jerry Ross, Adler wrote music and lyrics for The Pajama Game (1954), a comedy about labor agitation in a pajama factory, and Damn Yankees (1955), a Faustian romp about a man who sells his soul to the devil so he may lead his beloved Washington Senators to victory on the baseball diamond.
Each show ran for more than 1,000 performances, and each won the Tony Award for best musical.
By mid-1955, Adler and Ross songs had sold millions of recordings and made the two men among the most soughtafter creators of American musical theater. But their collaboration - just five years in all - ended a few months later with Ross’ death, at 29, from bronchiectasis, a lung disease.
Afterward, Adler, a largely self-taught composer, wrote relatively little for Broadway. He confined his output mainly to symphonic works and advertising jingles and also embarked on a producing career.
Adler was married several times, including to actress Sally Ann Howes. Survivors include his wife, Susan A. Ivory; three children, Andrew Adler, Katherine Adler and Charles Shipman; and three grandchildren. A son, Christopher Adler, died in 1984.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 8 on 06/25/2012