Betty Comden | |
|---|---|
 Comden circa 1939 | |
| Born | Basya Cohen (1917-05-03)May 3, 1917 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | November 23, 2006(2006-11-23) (aged 89) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupations | Actress, librettist, lyricist, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1944–2005 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Betty Comden (May 3, 1917 – November 23, 2006) was an Americanlyricist,playwright, andscreenwriter who contributed to numerousHollywood musicals andBroadway shows of the mid-20th century. Her writing partnership withAdolph Green spanned six decades: "the longest running creative partnership in theatre history."[1] The musical-comedy duo of Comden and Green collaborated most notably with composersJule Styne andLeonard Bernstein, as well enjoyed success withSingin' in the Rain, as part of the famed "Freed unit" atMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Betty Comden was bornBasya Cohen[2] inBrooklyn, New York in 1917,[3] the younger child of Leo Cohen (originally Astershinsky), a lawyer, and Rebecca (née Sadvoransky) Cohen, an English teacher.[4] Both were Russian immigrants and observant Jews. She had an older brother, Nathaniel ("Nat"), bornc. 1915.[5] Basya "attendedErasmus Hall High School and studied drama atNew York University, graduating in 1938," according toThe New York Times.[6]
In 1938, mutual friends introduced her toAdolph Green, an aspiring actor. Along with the youngJudy Holliday andLeonard Bernstein, Comden and Green formed a troupe called the Revuers, which performed at theVillage Vanguard, a club inGreenwich Village.[7] Due to the act's success, the Revuers appeared in the1944 filmGreenwich Village,[8][9] but their roles were so small they were barely noticed, and they returned to New York.
Comden and Green's first Broadway show wasOn the Town, a 1944 musical about three sailors on leave in New York City that was an expansion of aballet entitledFancy Free on which Bernstein had been working withchoreographerJerome Robbins.[10] Comden and Green wrote the book and lyrics, which included sizable parts for themselves (as "Claire" and "Ozzie").[10] Their next musical,Billion Dollar Baby in 1945,[10] with music byMorton Gould was not a success, and their 1947 showBonanza Bound closed out-of-town and never reached Broadway.[7][11]
Comden and Green headed to California and soon found work at MGM. They wrote the screenplays forGood News andThe Barkleys of Broadway (which reunitedFred Astaire andGinger Rogers), and then adaptedOn the Town forFrank Sinatra andGene Kelly,[10] scrapping most of Bernstein's music at the request ofArthur Freed, who did not care for the Bernstein score. The duo reunited with Gene Kelly for their most successful project, the classicSingin' in the Rain, about Hollywood in the final days of the silent film era.[10] Comden and Green provided the story and screenplay; the songs were hits from the late 1920s and early 1930s byArthur Freed andNacio Herb Brown.[8]
They followed this with another hit,The Band Wagon, in which the characters of Lester and Lily, a husband-and-wife musical-writing team, were patterned after themselves.[10] As withSingin' in the Rain, the real-life team did not write the songs.[10] They wereOscar-nominated twice, for their screenplays forThe Band Wagon andIt's Always Fair Weather. Both films also receivedScreen Writers Guild Awards;On the Town did too.[8]
Comden and Green's stage work of the 1950s includedTwo on the Aisle, starringBert Lahr andDolores Gray, with music byJule Styne;Wonderful Town, a musical adaptation of the playMy Sister Eileen, with music by Bernstein; andBells Are Ringing, which reunited them with Judy Holliday and Jule Styne.[10] The score, including the standards "Just in Time", "Long Before I Knew You", and "The Party's Over", proved to be one of their richest.[12]
The duo contributed additional lyrics to the 1954 musicalPeter Pan, translated and streamlinedDie Fledermaus for theMetropolitan Opera, and collaborated with Styne on songs for the play-with-musicSay, Darling.[10] In 1958, they appeared on Broadway inA 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.
The pair wrote the screenplay forAuntie Mame in 1958.[10] TheNew York Times movie review from that year lays it out as follows:
In its superficial racing across several strata of rich society, it does catch some glimpses of behavior that flash a few glints of irony. The picture is every bit as potent, if not a good deal more so, than the play.The stage play, as written byJerome Lawrence andRobert E. Lee from the novel ofPatrick Dennis, was more like a movie script in its pile-up of pictorial business and its multiplicity of scenes. The invitation to expansion was hand-engraved in the play. Now it has been accepted by screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green and by the director,Morton DaCosta, who has reveled in the greater physical range.[13]
Comden and Green's Broadway work in the 1960s included four collaborations with Jule Styne. They wrote the lyrics forDo Re Mi, and the book and lyrics forSubways Are For Sleeping,Fade Out – Fade In, andHallelujah, Baby! TheirHallelujah, Baby! score won a Tony Award.[12]
Comden and Green wrote the libretto for the 1970 musicalApplause, an adaptation of the filmAll About Eve, and wrote the book and lyrics for 1978'sOn the Twentieth Century, with music byCy Coleman. Comden also played Letitia Primrose in that musical when original starImogene Coca left the show. Comden and Green's final musical hit was 1991'sThe Will Rogers Follies, providing lyrics toCy Coleman's music.[12] The duo's biggest failure was 1982'sA Doll's Life, an attempt to figure out what Nora did after she abandoned her husband inHenrik Ibsen'sA Doll's House, which ran for only five performances, although they receivedTony Award nominations for its book and score.[12]
In 1980, Comden was inducted into theSongwriters Hall of Fame.[1] And, in 1981, she was inducted into theAmerican Theatre Hall of Fame.[14] In the early 1980s, Comden acted inWendy Wasserstein's playIsn't It Romantic, portraying the lead character's mother.
In 1984, filmmakerSidney Lumet directed a film aboutGreta Garbo,Garbo Talks, starringAnne Bancroft andRon Silver. The producers of the film were sure that the real Garbo either could not be located or would refuse flatly to appear in a cameo. They asked a known associate of Garbo to ask the great actress if she would appear in the film, but received no response.[citation needed] So, Comden was asked to appear in the film for the brief, pivotal "over-the-shoulder" scenes.[15][16]
Comden and Green receivedKennedy Center Honors in 1991.[17][18][19]
In 1994, Comden and Green were guest callers, "Linda" and "Walter", on the long-running sit-comFrasier in the episode entitled "Burying a Grudge."[20]
Comden and Green were a creative partnership, not a romantic couple. In 1942, Comden married Siegfried Schutzman, a designer and businessman, who changed his name to Steven Kyle. He died in 1979 of acutepancreatitis. They had two children, a daughter, Susanna, and a son, Alan, who died in 1990.[21][22][23][24] She never remarried.[6]
Betty Comden died of heart failure following an undisclosed illness of several months atNew York Presbyterian Hospital inManhattan on Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2006, aged 89.[6][25] She was buried inMount Carmel Cemetery inGlendale,New York.[26]
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