Fred Ebb
Fred Ebb (April 8, 1928 – September 11, 2004)[1] was an American musical theatre lyricist who had many successful collaborations with composer John Kander. The Kander and Ebb team frequently wrote for such performers as Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera.
Fred Ebb
April 8, 1928
New York City, U.S.
September 11, 2004 (aged 76)
New York City, U.S.
Musical theatre, film, television
Lyricist
1956–2004
Background[edit]
He worked during the early 1950s bronzing baby shoes, as a trucker's assistant, and was also employed in a department store credit office and at a hosiery company. He graduated from New York University with a bachelor's degree in English Literature, and also earned his master's degree in English from Columbia University.[2]
One of his early collaborators was Philip Springer, and a song they wrote together ("I Never Loved Him Anyhow") was recorded by Carmen McRae in 1956.[3] Another song Ebb wrote with Springer was "Heartbroken" (1953), which was recorded by Judy Garland, the mother of his future protégée, Liza Minnelli. Other Springer-Ebb tunes include "Nevertheless I Never Lost the Blues". "Don't Forget", which he wrote with Norman Leyden, was recorded by singer Eddy Arnold in 1954.[4]
On his first theatrical writing job, he co-wrote the lyrics for the musical revue Baker's Dozen in 1951.[5] He wrote songs with Norman Martin for the Off-Broadway revue Put It in Writing (1962).[6] He also worked with composer Paul Klein from the early 1950s onward,[7] contributing songs to the cabaret revue Isn't America Fun (1959)[8] and the Broadway revue From A to Z (1960), directed by Christopher Hewett.
Fred Ebb was the voice of the "Little Blue Man", on Betty Johnson's novelty song from 1958, repeating the words: "I Rov You... to Bits".
With Klein, Ebb wrote his first book musical, Morning Sun. Originally, Bob Fosse was attached as director. Fosse eventually withdrew from the project, and the show ran for 6 performances Off-Broadway in October 1963.[9][10]
Death and legacy[edit]
Ebb died from a heart attack on September 11, 2004, at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Manhattan. He was 76.[2]
At the time of his death, Ebb was working on a new musical with Kander, Curtains: A Backstage Murder Mystery Musical Comedy. The project had already lost its book writer, Peter Stone, who died in 2003.[35] The show's orchestrator, Michael Gibson, also died (in 2005) while the project was underway.[36] Coincidentally, the show is about a series of deaths during the production of a Broadway musical.[37]
Kander continued working on the project with a new librettist Rupert Holmes, writing new lyrics when necessary. The musical had its world premiere at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles in July 2006, and ran on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre from March 2007 through June 2008.[38]
At its 2007 ceremony, the Drama Desk honored Kander and the late Ebb with a special award for "42 years of excellence in advancing the art of the musical theater."[39]
In 2010 The Scottsboro Boys, a musical with lyrics by Ebb, music by Kander, and book by David Thompson premiered, first Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre, and then on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre.[40]
Ebb and Kander both were inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1991.[41]
Ebb is interred in a mausoleum with Edwin “Eddie” Aldridge (1929–1997) and Martin Cohen (1926–1995) on the banks of Sylvan Water at Green-Wood Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to the names and dates of each man, the phrase, "Together Forever" is chiseled on the front of the mausoleum. On June 14, 2014, Ebb was featured in the first gay-themed tour of Green-Wood Cemetery.[42][43]