The Boston Globe

Obituaries

Richard Adler; composer and lyricist won Tonys, 90

ASSOCIATED PRESS/FILE 1961

Mr. Adler with his wife, actress-singer Sally Ann Howes.

NEW YORK — Composer and lyricist Richard Adler, who won Tony Awards for co-writing snappy and infectious songs for such hit Broadway musicals as ‘‘The Pajama Game’’ and ‘‘Damn Yankees’’ and who staged and produced President John F. Kennedy’s birthday celebration with a breathy Marilyn Monroe, has died.

He was 90.

Mr. Adler died Thursday at his home in Southampton, N.Y., his widow, Susan A. Ivory, said.

Some of Mr. Adler’s biggest songs are “You Gotta Have Heart,” “Hey, There,” “Hernando’s Hideaway,’’ ‘’Whatever Lola Wants,’’ “Rags to Riches,’’ and ‘‘Everybody Loves a Lover.’’

Mr. Adler staged and produced several shows for US presidents, including the unforgettable 1962 extravaganza for Kennedy at Madison Square Garden where Monroe sang ‘‘Happy Birthday.’’

He and Jerry Ross wrote the music and lyrics to ‘‘The Pajama Game,’’ a comedy about labor-­management relations at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory, which won the best musical Tony in 1955.

Mr. Adler teamed with Ross again for ‘‘Damn Yankees,’’ in which a baseball fan sells his soul to the devil in exchange for a chance to lead his favorite team to American League pennant glory. It won the best musical Tony the next year.

The fruitful Ross-Adler union ended when Ross died of a lung ailment in 1955 at 29. Mr. Adler went on to earn a Tony nomination for writing the lyrics and music for 1961’s ‘‘Kwamina.’’

Mr. Adler was born in New York City in 1921.

He composed several symphonic works, including ‘‘Wilderness Suite.” He composed two ballets for the Chicago City Ballet: ‘‘Eight by Adler’’ in 1984 and ­‘‘Chicago.’’

Mr. Adler also produced works on Broadway, including a play ‘‘The Sin of Pat Muldoon’’ and the ­musical ‘‘Rex.’’ He is a member of the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.

Mr. Adler leaves his wife and children, Andrew Adler, Katherine Adler, and Charles Shipman; and three grandchildren.