Jerrold Lewis Bock (November 23, 1928November 3, 2010) was an American

musical theater Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, moveme ...

composer. He received the

Tony Award for Best Musical The Tony Award for Best Musical is given annually to the best new Broadway musical, as determined by Tony Award voters. The award is one of the ceremony's longest-standing awards, having been presented each year since 1949. The award goes to the ...

and the

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...

with

Sheldon Harnick Sheldon Mayer Harnick (April 30, 1924 – June 23, 2023) was an American lyricist and songwriter best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on musicals such as '' Fiorello!'', '' She Loves Me'', and ''Fiddler on the Roof''. Ear ...

for their 1959 musical '' Fiorello!'' and the Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist for the 1964 musical ''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...

'' with Sheldon Harnick.

Biography

Born into a Jewish family in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, and raised in

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial ...

, New York, Bock studied the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

as a child. While a student at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, he wrote the musical ''Big As Life'', which toured the state and enjoyed a run in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. After graduation, he spent three summers at the Tamiment Playhouse in the Poconos and wrote for early

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

revues with lyricist Larry Holofcener. One of their songs, the three-part "The Story of Alice," was performed by the Chad Mitchell Trio on their '' Blowin' in the Wind'' album of 1962.

Career

Bock made his Broadway debut in 1955 when he and Lawrence Holofcener contributed songs to ''Catch a Star''. The following year the duo collaborated on the musical '' Mr. Wonderful'', designed for Sammy Davis Jr., after which they worked on ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1956'', which closed out-of-town. Shortly after, Bock met lyricist

, with whom he forged a successful partnership. Although their first joint venture, '' The Body Beautiful'', failed to charm the critics, its score caught the attention of director

George Abbott George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades. He received numerous honors including six Tony Awards, the ...

and producer Hal Prince. They hired the team to compose a musical biography of former

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

mayor

Fiorello La Guardia Fiorello Henry La Guardia (born Fiorello Raffaele Enrico La Guardia; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives and served as the 99th mayor of New Yo ...

. '' Fiorello!'' (1959) earned Bock and Harnick the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical, Tony Award for Best Musical (tied with the team from ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

'') and the

. Bock's additional collaborations with Harnick include '' Tenderloin'' (1960), ''Man in the Moon'' (1963), '' She Loves Me'' (1963), ''

'' (1964), '' The Apple Tree'' (1966), and '' The Rothschilds'' (1970), as well as contributions to '' Never Too Late'' (1962), ''

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder James Baker. The area was originally high class residential, but now is mainly occupied by commercial premises. The street is ...

'' (1965), '' Her First Roman'' (1968), and ''

The Madwoman of Central Park West ''The Madwoman of Central Park West'' is a semi-autobiography, autobiographical one-woman musical theatre, musical with a book by Arthur Laurents and Phyllis Newman and songs by various composers and lyricists. It focuses on the difficulties faced ...

'' (1979). ''Fiddler on the Roof'' included the hit song " If I Were a Rich Man". Established in 1997, the Jerry Bock Award for Excellence in Musical Theater is an annual grant presented to the composer and lyricist of a project developed in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop.Bock listing
bmifoundation.org Bock spoke at the funeral of 98-year-old Fiddler playwright Joseph Stein just 10 days before his own death, from heart failure at 81, less than three weeks before his 82nd birthday.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * *
Jerry Bock papers
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Music Division
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PBS biographySongwriters Hall of Fame biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bock, Jerry 1928 births 2010 deaths American musical theatre composers American male musical theatre composers Broadway composers and lyricists Flushing High School alumni Pulitzer Prize for Drama winners Jewish American songwriters University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Grammy Award winners Musicians from New Rochelle, New York Daytime Emmy Award winners Tony Award winners Songwriters from New York (state) 21st-century American Jews