Betty Comden (May 3, 1917 – November 23, 2006) was an American lyricist, playwright, and screenwriter who contributed to numerous Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century. Her writing partnership with Adolph Green spanned six decades: "the longest running creative partnership in theatre history." The musical-comedy duo of Comden and Green collaborated most notably with composers Jule Styne and Leonard Bernstein, as well enjoyed success with Singin' in the Rain, as part of the famed "Freed unit" at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Early life
Betty Comden was born Basya Cohen in Brooklyn, New York in 1917, the younger child of Leo Cohen (originally Astershinsky), a lawyer, and Rebecca ( Sadvoransky) Cohen, an English teacher. Both were Russian immigrants and observant Jews. She had an older brother, Nathaniel ("Nat"), born . Basya "attended Erasmus Hall High School and studied drama at New York University, graduating in 1938," according to The New York Times. Due to the act's success, the Revuers appeared in the 1944 film Greenwich Village, but their roles were so small they were barely noticed, and they returned to New York.
Comden and Green's first Broadway show was On the Town, a 1944 musical about three sailors on leave in New York City that was an expansion of a ballet entitled Fancy Free on which Bernstein had been working with choreographer Jerome Robbins. Comden and Green wrote the book and lyrics, which included sizable parts for themselves (as "Claire" and "Ozzie").
Broadway and film success
Comden and Green headed to California and soon found work at MGM. They wrote the screenplays for Good News and The Barkleys of Broadway (which reunited Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers), and then adapted On the Town for Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly,
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.
Comden and Green's Broadway work in the 1960s included four collaborations with Jule Styne. They wrote the lyrics for Do Re Mi, and the book and lyrics for Subways Are For Sleeping, Fade Out – Fade In, and Hallelujah, Baby! Their Hallelujah, Baby! score won a Tony Award.
In 1980, Comden was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In the early 1980s, Comden acted in Wendy Wasserstein's play Isn't It Romantic, portraying the lead character's mother.
In 1984, filmmaker Sidney Lumet directed a film about Greta Garbo, Garbo Talks, starring Anne Bancroft and Ron 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. So, Comden was asked to appear in the film for the brief, pivotal "over-the-shoulder" scenes.
Comden and Green received Kennedy Center Honors in 1991.
In 1994, Comden and Green were guest callers, "Linda" and "Walter", on the long-running sit-com Frasier in the episode entitled "Burying a Grudge."
Family
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 acute pancreatitis. They had two children, a daughter, Susanna, and a son, Alan, who died in 1990.
She never remarried.
Death
Betty Comden died of heart failure following an undisclosed illness of several months at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan on Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2006, aged 89. She was buried in Mount Carmel Cemetery in Glendale, New York.
Awards and nominations
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Award
!Category
!Work
!Result
|-
|rowspan=2|1950
|rowspan=3|WGA Award
|rowspan=3|Best Written American Musical
|The Barkleys of Broadway
|
|-
|On the Town
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1953
|Singin' in the Rain
|
|-
|New York Drama Critics' Circle Award
|Best Musical
|Wonderful Town
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1954
|Academy Awards
|Best Writing, Story and Screenplay
|rowspan=2|The Band Wagon
|
|-
|WGA Award
|Best Written American Musical
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1956
|Academy Awards
|Best Writing, Story and Screenplay
|rowspan=2|It's Always Fair Weather
|
|-
|rowspan=2|WGA Award
|rowspan=2|Best Written American Musical
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1961
|rowspan=2|Bells Are Ringing
|
|-
|Grammy Award
|Best Soundtrack Album
|
|-
|1968
|rowspan=7|Tony Award
|Best Composer and Lyricist
|Hallelujah, Baby!
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1978
|Best Book of a Musical
|rowspan=2|On the Twentieth Century
|
|-
|Best Original Score
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1983
|Best Book of a Musical
|rowspan=2|A Doll's Life
|
|-
|Best Original Score
|
|-
|1986
|Best Book of a Musical
|Singin' in the Rain
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1991
|Best Original Score
|rowspan=2|The Will Rogers Follies
|
|-
|New York Drama Critics' Circle Award
|Best Musical
|
|-
|1993
|Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
|colspan=2|The Arts
|
|-
|1995
|National Board of Review Award
|colspan=2|Distinction in Screenwriting
|
|-
|2001
|WGA Award
|colspan=2|Laurel Award for Screen Writing Achievement
|
|}
Further reading
- Off Stage, a memoir by Betty Comden published in 1995
References
External links
- Betty Comden writes about teaching
- Comden and Green papers, 1933–2003. Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library
- Betty Comden Papers, 1929–2004. Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library
- New York Public Library Blog on Comden and Green's Unproduced Screenplay, Wonderland