Comden and Green refers to the 60-year writing partnership of

Betty Comden 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 ...

(1917–2006) and

Adolph Green Adolph Green (December 2, 1914 – October 23, 2002) was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved film musicals, particularly as part of Ar ...

(1914–2002). They first met at the New York City nightclub

Village Gate The Village Gate was a nightclub at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Streets in Greenwich Village, New York. Art D'Lugoff opened the club in 1958, on the ground floor and basement of 160 Bleecker Street. The large 1896 Chicago School structur ...

in 1941, writing the lyrics for a play titled ''The Revuers''. They debuted with the play '' On the Town'' (1944) as

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this phys ...

writers and lyricists, as well as part of the Original Broadway Cast. Following their involvement with ''

Billion Dollar Baby ''Billion Dollar Baby'' is a musical with the book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and the score by Morton Gould. Comden and Green were fresh from their success with '' On the Town'', and the production team was something of an ''On ...

'' which premiered the following year, they signed with

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

; the agreement debuted with the film '' Good News'' (1947), for which they were screenwriters and additional lyricists. Comden and Green then continued their career with musical films: ''

Singin' In The Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd C ...

'' (1952), ''

The Band Wagon ''The Band Wagon'' is a 1953 American Musical film, musical romantic comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. It tells the story of an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway theatre, Broadway show will ...

'' (1953), '' It's Always Fair Weather'' (1955), and ''

The Barkleys of Broadway ''The Barkleys of Broadway'' is a 1949 American Technicolor musical comedy film from the Arthur Freed unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that reunited Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers after ten years apart. Directed by Charles Walters, the screenplay is ...

'' (1949). In 1949, they adapted ''On the Town'' into

a film A. Film Production A/S (previously A. Film A/S, A. Film ApS and A. Film I/S) is a Denmark, Danish animation studio currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Affiliated to the Copenhagen studio are A. Film Estonia located in Estonia and A. Film L ...

, also writing the lyrics. Comden and Green's role in the

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own du ...

'' Two on the Aisle'' (1951) marked the beginning of their collaboration with the composer

Jule Styne Jule Styne (; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer best known for a series of Broadway musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also became ...

, which includes: ''Peter Pan'' (1954), '' Say, Darling'' (1958), '' Do Re Mi'' (1960), '' Subways Are for Sleeping'' (1961), '' Fade Out – Fade In'' (1964), '' Hallelujah, Baby!'' (1968), and '' Bells Are Ringing'' (1956). Their play ''

Wonderful Town ''Wonderful Town'' is a 1953 musical with book written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and music by Leonard Bernstein. The musical tells the story of two sisters who aspire to be a writer and ...

'' (1953), won the Tony Award for Best Musical. ''Bells Are Ringing'' starred

Judy Holliday Judy Holliday (born Judith Tuvim, June 21, 1921 – June 7, 1965) was an American actress, comedian and singer.Obituary '' Variety'', June 9, 1965, p. 71. She began her career as part of a nightclub act before working in Broadway plays and mus ...

, whom Comden and Green were close with; they later adapted it into a 1960 film; prior to this, they also made ''

Auntie Mame ''Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade'' is a 1955 novel by American author Patrick Dennis chronicling the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his Aunt Mame Dennis, the sister of his dead father. The book is often de ...

'', a 1958 film adaptation of the play ''

Mame MAME (formerly an acronym of Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is a free and open-source emulator designed to recreate the hardware of arcade game systems in software on modern personal computers and other platforms. Its intention is to preserv ...

''. They continued producing films and starred in plays, with their most successful revue being ''A Party With Betty Comden'' ''and'' ''Adolph Green'' (1958), though they ended their filmmaking career with ''What A Way To Go!'' in 1964. This thus marked the late 1950s and 1960s as a period of high activity for Comden and Green. They began the 1970s with writing the book for the play ''

Applause Applause (Latin ''applaudere,'' to strike upon, clap) is primarily a form of ovation or praise expressed by the act of clapping, or striking the palms of the hands together, in order to create noise. Audiences usually applaud after a performa ...

'' (1970). They then made the play '' On The Twentieth Century'' (1978), which won a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical;

Cy Coleman Cy Coleman (born Seymour Kaufman; June 14, 1929 – November 18, 2004) was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist. Life and career Coleman was born Seymour Kaufman in New York City, United States, to Eastern European Jewish parents, ...

also won a

Tony Award for Best Original Score The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical or play in that year. The score consists of music and/or lyrics. To be eligible, a score must be writte ...

. Despite being unsuccessful, ''

A Doll's Life ''A Doll's Life'' was a 1982 musical with music by Larry Grossman, and a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. A sequel to the 1879 Henrik Ibsen play '' A Doll's House'', it told the story of what happened to the lead character, Nor ...

'' (1982; adapted from the 1879 play ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' ( Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having be ...

'') showed Comden and Green's adaptability to various genres, with it being a more dramatic work. This was later redeemed by the success of their play ''

The Will Rogers Follies ''The Will Rogers Follies'' is a musical with a book by Peter Stone, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and music by Cy Coleman. It focuses on the life and career of famed humorist and performer Will Rogers, using as a backdrop the Ziegfel ...

'' (1991), which gave them and Coleman another Tony Award for Best Original Score. During this period, they also starred in the films ''

My Favorite Year ''My Favorite Year'' is a 1982 American comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Richard Benjamin and written by Norman Steinberg and Dennis Palumbo from a story written by Palumbo. The film tells the story of a young comedy write ...

'' (1982), '' I Want to Go Home'' (1989), and ''

Garbo Talks ''Garbo Talks'' is a 1984 American comedy-drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Anne Bancroft, Ron Silver, and Carrie Fisher, with a cameo appearance by Betty Comden as Greta Garbo. The film was written by Larry Grusin, and also stars ...

'' (1984). Comden and Green also appeared in many concerts, including ''Follies in Concert'' (1985). In 1989, Green starred as

Dr. Pangloss ( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, The ...

for the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

's remake of the operetta ''

Candide ( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, Th ...

''.

References

American musical duos {{composer-stub