Broadway composer-lyricist Richard Adler dies at 90

PanARMENIAN.Net - Composer-lyricist Richard Adler, whose evergreen pop standards include "Heart," "Hey There," "Hernando's Hideaway," "Whatever Lola Wants" and "Steam Heat," died June 21 at his home in Southampton, N.Y. He was 90, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Fresh out of the U.S. Naval Reserve after World War II, Adler partnered with co-composer and lyricist Jerry Ross, receiving the mentorship of Broadway great Frank Loesser. Their first notable collaboration was on the song "Rags to Riches," which became a No. 1 hit for Tony Bennett in 1953.

After getting their feet wet on Broadway with the 1953 revue John Murray Anderson's Almanac, which starred Harry Belafonte, Adler and Ross went on to write music and lyrics for two of the biggest midcentury musical smashes: The Pajama Game, which opened in 1954, and Damn Yankees the following year. Both shows played more than 1,000 performances and won consecutive Tony Awards for best musical.

During the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, Adler staged and produced a number of presidential entertainments, including the legendary 1962 birthday bash at which President Kennedy was serenaded by Marilyn Monroe, singing her immortal "Happy Birthday, Mr. President."