Larry Adler | |
|---|---|
.jpg) A photo of Adler in City Center in New York City in January 1947 by William Gottlieb | |
| Born | Lawrence Cecil Adler (1914-02-10)February 10, 1914 Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
| Died | August 6, 2001(2001-08-06) (aged 87) London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, actor, musician |
| Years active | 1931–2001 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives | Jerry Adler (brother) |
Lawrence Cecil Adler (February 10, 1914[1] – August 6, 2001) was an Americanharmonica player and film composer. Known for playing major works, he played compositions byGeorge Gershwin,Ralph Vaughan Williams,Malcolm Arnold,Darius Milhaud andArthur Benjamin. During his later career, he collaborated withSting,Elton John andKate Bush.
Adler was born inBaltimore, Maryland, to Sadie Hack and Louis Adler. They were a Jewish family. He graduated fromBaltimore City College high school. He taught himself harmonica, which he called amouth organ.[2] He played professionally at 14. In 1927, he won a contest sponsored by theBaltimore Sun, playing aBeethovenminuet, and a year later he ran away from home to New York. After being referred byRudy Vallée, Adler got his first theatre work, and caught the attention of orchestra leader Paul Ash, who placed Adler in a vaudeville act as "a ragged urchin, playing for pennies".[3]
From there, he was hired byFlorenz Ziegfeld and then byLew Leslie again as an urchin. He broke the typecasting and appeared in a dinner jacket in the 1934Paramount filmMany Happy Returns, and was hired by theatrical producerC. B. Cochran to perform in London. That same year, he playedRhapsody in Blue for Gershwin who exclaimed "the Goddam thing sounds as if I wrote it for you!"[4] He became a star in the United Kingdom and the Empire, where, it has been written, harmonica sales increased 20-fold and 300,000 people joined fan clubs.[3]
Adler was one of the first harmonica players to perform major works written for the instrument, often written for him: these includeJean Berger'sConcerto for Harmonica and Orchestra "Caribbean" (1941),Cyril Scott'sSerenade (harmonica and piano, 1936),Vaughan Williams'Romance in D flat for harmonica, piano and string orchestra; premiered New York, 1952,[5]Milhaud'sSuite Anglaise (Paris, May 28, 1947),Arthur Benjamin's Harmonica Concerto (1953),Malcolm Arnold'sHarmonica Concerto, Op. 46 (1954, written forThe Proms) andNaresh Sohal's Concerto for harmonica, percussion and strings (1966). He recorded all except the ScottSerenade and the Sohal, some more than once. Earlier, Adler had performed transcriptions of pieces for other instruments, such asviolin concertos byBach andVivaldi – he played his arrangement of Vivaldi's Violin Concerto in A minor with theSydney Symphony. Other works he played in harmonica arrangements were byBartók, Beethoven (Minuet in G),Debussy,Falla,Gershwin (Rhapsody in Blue),Mozart (slow movement from the Oboe Quartet, K. 470),Poulenc,Ravel (Boléro),Stravinsky andWalton.
During the 1940s, Adler and the dancerPaul Draper formed an act and toured nationally and internationally, performing individually then together in each performance. One popular number was Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm". During theMcCarthy era he was accused of being a communist and refused to cooperate with theHouse Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). After being blacklisted and an unsuccessful libel suit decided in 1950, he moved to the United Kingdom in 1951 and settled in London,[6][7] where he remained the rest of his life. Another source indicates he stayed in London from 1949.[2]
The 1953 filmGenevieve brought him anOscar nomination for his work on thesoundtrack, and considerable wealth.[2] His name was originally removed from the credits in the United States due toblacklisting. His other film scores includedA Cry from the Streets (1958),The Hellions (1961),The Hook (1963),King & Country (1964) andA High Wind in Jamaica (1965). He also scored a hit with thetheme song of the FrenchJacques Becker movieTouchez pas au grisbi withJean Gabin, written byJean Wiener.
In 1959, a reviewer from theVillage Voice called Adler "a great artist" after watching his twice-nightly performances at the Village Gate.[8]
In 1964, in an interview, asked what he thought of the Beatles, he said that "Lennon and McCartney have little musical talent". In 1994, for his 80th birthday, Adler andGeorge Martin produced an album ofGeorge Gershwin songs,The Glory of Gershwin, on which they performed "Rhapsody in Blue".The Glory of Gershwin reached number 2 in theUK albums chart in 1994.[9] Adler was a musician and showman. Concerts to supportThe Glory of Gershwin showed he was a competent pianist. He opened each performance with Gershwin's "Summertime", playing piano and harmonica simultaneously. The album includedPeter Gabriel,Oleta Adams,Elton John,Sting,Jon Bon Jovi andRichie Sambora,Meat Loaf,Sinéad O'Connor,Robert Palmer,Cher,Kate Bush,Elvis Costello,Courtney Pine,Issy Van Randwyck,Lisa Stansfield andCarly Simon, all of whom sang Gershwin tunes with an orchestra and Adler adding harmonica solos.
Adler appeared in five movies, includingSidewalks of London (1938), in which he played a harmonica virtuoso named Constantine. His other film appearances were inThree Daring Daughters (1948) playing himself;Music for Millions (1944) playing Larry;The Singing Marine (1937) playing Larry; andThe Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936). He was a prolific letter writer, his correspondence withPrivate Eye becoming popular in the United Kingdom.
Adler wrote anautobiography entitledIt Ain't Necessarily So in 1985, and was food critic forHarpers & Queen. He appeared on theJack Benny radio program[10]several times, entertaining disabled soldiers in the US during World War II. A further biography,Me and My Big Mouth appeared in 1994 but he toldThe Free-Reed Journal: "That's a lousy book and I don't like it; it's ghosted. ... [It] has a certain amount of factual material but the author completely missed my style and my voice. That's why I hate the book."[5]
Adler married Eileen Walser in 1938;[11] they had two daughters and one son. Theydivorced in 1961.[11] He married Sally Cline in 1969; they had one daughter.[11] They divorced in 1977.[11] At the time of his death, in addition to his children he also had two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.[12]
His son, Peter Adler, fronted the band Action and others[13] in Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1960s. Adler was anatheist.[14] His brother,Jerry Adler (1918–2010), was also a harmonica player.
Adler was a close friend ofPeter Stringfellow, who hosted his birthday parties at his central London club for at least the last ten years of his life.
He was an outspoken critic ofRonald Reagan, primarily because of Reagan'sMcCarthyist activities when president of theScreen Actors Guild in the 1940s and '50s.
He died ofcancer[15][16] in St Thomas' Hospital, London, aged 87, on 6 August 2001. He was cremated atGolders Green Crematorium,London, where his ashes remain.[17]
I was among friends and family who packed a chapel at Golders Green crematorium on Friday to hear more than two hours of tributes to Adler. In accordance with Adler's wishes—he was an inveterate atheist who refused to recognise the supernatural in any shape or form—there were no religious observances.
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