Biography
Alan Jay Lerner is perhaps best remembered for the many Broadway musicals he penned with long-time collaborator
Frederick Loewe. A number of these, including
Brigadoon,
Paint Your Wagon,
My Fair Lady, and
Camelot have become classics and were later successfully adapted to the screen by Lerner who was also a noted playwright and a screenwriter. Born into a wealthy family (the owners of Lerner's clothing stores), Lerner had a privileged education at Choate and Harvard. He teamed up with Loewe in 1943 to write What's Up?, and the pair remained together through 1960 when Lowe retired. Lerner later teamed up with other composers, including
Burton Lane with whom he wrote
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. As a screenwriter, Lerner earned an Oscar for his screenplay and story for
An American in Paris in 1951. Seven years later, he won again for
Gigi. He and Loewe also shared an Academy Award for the film's title song. In 1974, he and Lowe reunited to work on the
Little Prince. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide