Christopher’s birthday was January 18, 1954. His surviving brother Andrew Hart Adler can verify. Christopher Edward Adler (17 January 1954 – 30 November 1984) was an American

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...

and theatre director. His best-known works as a lyricist were the musical ''

Jean Seberg Jean Dorothy Seberg (; ; November 13, 1938August 30, 1979) was an American actress who lived half of her life in France. Her performance in Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 film ''Breathless'' immortalized her as an icon of French New Wave cinema. Seb ...

'' and the show ''Shirley MacLaine on Broadway''.

Life and career

Adler was born in New York City, the son of composer and lyricist

Richard Adler Richard Adler (August 3, 1921 – June 21, 2012) was an American lyricist, writer, composer and producer of several Broadway shows. Life and career Adler was born in New York City, the son of Elsa Adrienne (née Richard) and Clarence Adler. His ...

and his first wife Marion Hart. After their divorce in 1958, Marion took Christopher and his elder brother Andrew to live with her in London. When she died in the early 1960s, they returned to New York to live with their father and his second wife,

Sally Ann Howes Sally Ann Howes (20 July 1930 – 19 December 2021) was an English actress and singer. Her career on screen, stage and television spanned six decades. She is best known for the role of Truly Scrumptious in the 1968 musical film ''Chitty Chitty ...

. Howes became their adoptive mother and remained close to Christopher throughout his life even after she and his father divorced in 1966. Adler graduated from

Millbrook School Millbrook School is a private, coeducational preparatory boarding school located in Stanford, New York, United States. History Millbrook School was founded in 1931 by Edward Pulling. Pulling was a graduate of both Princeton University and Cam ...

in 1970 and then studied for a year at

Lawrenceville School The Lawrenceville School is a coeducational preparatory school for boarding and day students located in the Lawrenceville section of Lawrence Township, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Lawrenceville is a member of the Eight Scho ...

before attending his father's alma mater

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

. He graduated with honors in 1975 and during his time there directed 17 plays at the university's theatre.Fein, Esther B. (2 December 1984)
"Christopher Adler, 30, Dies; Lyricist for MacLaine Show"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. Retrieved 10 June 2016. He began his career in New York City with off-Broadway productions. In 1974 he directed Harold Pinter's ''

Old Times ''Old Times'' is a play by the Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre in London on 1 June 1971. It starred Colin Blakely, Dorothy Tutin, and Vivien Merchant, and was direct ...

'' at Lolly's Theater Club, and in 1977 wrote and directed ''White Piano'', performed at

Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. Under the ...

. ''White Piano'' was an adaptation of a 1974 account of Storyville, the red-light district of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. His first Broadway project was ''Herman van Veen: All of Him'', a one-man show by the Dutch entertainer Herman van Veen for which Adler wrote the English lyrics. It opened at the Ambassador Theatre in December 1982.Dietz, Dan (2016)
''The Complete Book of 1980s Broadway Musicals''
pp. 158–159; 208–209. Rowman & Littlefield. His next project as a lyricist was the musical ''Jean Seberg'' with composer Marvin Hamlisch. Based on the life of

, the book by Julian Barry was in turn based on an original idea by Adler. ''Jean Seberg'' opened at the

Olivier Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. In ...

in London on 1 December 1983 and ran for 60 performances.Suskin, Steven (2010)
''Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers''
pp. 353–354. Oxford University Press. He collaborated again with Hamlisch for Shirley MacLaine's revue ''Shirley MacLaine on Broadway'' which played in Las Vegas before opening at the

Gershwin Theatre The Gershwin Theatre (originally the Uris Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 222 West 51st Street, on the second floor of the Paramount Plaza office building, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Opened in 1972, it is operat ...

in New York on 19 April 1984 for a one-month run. Later that year MacLaine took the show to the Wilshire Theater in Los Angeles. Adler died of AIDS-related cancer in November 1984 at the age of 30. Working from his bed at the

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute– ...

, he completed the book and lyrics for ''Gideon Starr'', a musical about a modern-day messiah. His father and brother Andrew each read a stanza from this final work at his memorial service in the Shubert Theatre.Adler, Richard (1990). ''You gotta have heart: An autobiography'', pp. 186; 235–236; 311. D.I. Fine.

References

External links

*
Photograph
of Christopher Adler and

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...

at Shirley MacLaine's 50th Birthday party in New York City, April 23, 1984. ( Getty Images) {{DEFAULTSORT:Adler, Christopher 1954 births 1984 deaths Songwriters from New York (state) AIDS-related deaths in New York (state)