Ebb, Fred, 1928-2004

Fred Ebb, the devilishly witty Broadway lyricist who was half of the legendary musical theater team of Kander and Ebb, responsible for the songs in classic shows like "Cabaret" and "Chicago," died on Saturday at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Manhattan. Mr. Ebb was coy about his exact age; his birth year was regularly listed as 1933, but the funeral home, after consulting with his family, will list his age as 76.

The cause was a heart attack, said John Kander, the composer and Mr. Ebb's longtime writing partner.

With a presence on Broadway for nearly 40 years and through a dozen different musicals, Mr. Kander and Mr. Ebb had one of the longest-running collaborations in the history of the American musical theater. From their Broadway debut in 1965, with "Flora, the Red Menace," starring a teenage Liza Minnelli, to the current long-running revival of "Chicago," Mr. Kander and Mr. Ebb were known for their sometimes saucy, sometimes sincere subject matter, their often pointed political undertones, and more than anything their uncanny ability to fuse sharp lyrics and catchy melodies into hummable, quotable musical theater.

While "Cabaret" -- which won eight Tony Awards, including best composer and lyricist, in 1967 -- may have been Mr. Ebb's best-known show, it was far from the only success he tasted. Mr. Ebb and Mr. Kander's work on "Woman of the Year" (1981) and "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (1993) also won Tony Awards for best score, while film versions of "Cabaret" (1972) and "Chicago" (2002) were both nominated for Academy Awards for best picture. ("Chicago" won.)

Mr. Ebb's career was also marked by his professional association and personal connections with many of the most famous actors, producers and theatrical personalities of the post-World War II period, considered the golden age of the American musical.

He had a particularly close relationship with Ms. Minnelli, for whom he wrote regularly (for Broadway shows like "Liza," in 1974, and "The Act" in 1977, as well as for television); he even gave her away at her 1974 wedding to Jack Haley Jr.

She was hardly the first -- or last -- diva Mr. Ebb would work with; the list includes Shirley MacLaine (a 1976 solo show), Chita Rivera ("Chicago," "The Rink," "Spider Woman") and Lauren Bacall ("Woman of the Year"). One of his first collaborations with Mr. Kander, "I Don't Care Much," was recorded by Barbra Streisand.

Born on the Lower East Side, Mr. Ebb wasn't instantly drawn to theater. According to a 1976 profile in The New York Times, he graduated from New York University with a B.A. before getting a master's degree in English literature from Columbia University. A series of odd jobs followed, including working in a Brooklyn furniture store.

In off hours, the young Mr. Ebb took in musicals, a form of which he was not especially fond. "They made me crazy," he said in 1976.

His introduction to the music business came in the late 1950's, when he began working for a songwriter named Philip Springer. Several other artistic collaborations -- and a few popular songs, including one in the 1960 Broadway revue "From A to Z" -- followed before Mr. Ebb and Mr. Kander met in 1963 at the recommendation of a music publisher with whom each man had signed.

It was, as each remembered it, a perfect fit. Working out of Mr. Ebb's Upper West Side apartment, the two wrote dozens of songs for every available outlet, including cabaret showcases, nightclub acts and the pop charts. But bigger stages awaited: their first musical, "Flora," in 1965, was optioned by none other than the legendary George Abbott, who wrote the book with Robert Russell and took a chance on the production with a somewhat unorthodox story (about a group of youthful Communists in the 1930's) and a 19-year-old actress, Ms. Minnelli, in the title role.

Mr. Ebb is survived by three nephews and three nieces.

Fred Ebb (April 8, 1928 – September 11, 2004)[1] was an American musical theatre lyricist who had many successful collaborations with composer John Kander. The Kander and Ebb team frequently wrote for such performers as Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera.

He worked during the early 1950s bronzing baby shoes, as a trucker's assistant, and was also employed in a department store credit office and at a hosiery company. He graduated from New York University with a bachelor's degree in English Literature, and also earned his master's degree in English from Columbia University.[2]

One of his early collaborators was Phil Springer, and a song they wrote together ("I Never Loved Him Anyhow") was recorded by Carmen McRae in 1956.[3] Another song Ebb wrote with Springer was "Heartbroken" (1953), which was recorded by Judy Garland, the mother of his future protégée, Liza Minnelli. Other Springer-Ebb tunes include "Moonlight Gambler" and "Nevertheless I Never Lost the Blues". "Don't Forget", which he wrote with Norman Leyden, was recorded by singer Eddy Arnold in 1954.[4]

On his first theatrical writing job, he co-wrote the lyrics for the musical revue Baker's Dozen in 1951.[5] He wrote songs with Norman Martin for the Off-Broadway revue Put It in Writing (1962).[6] He also worked with composer Paul Klein from the early 1950s onward,[7] contributing songs to the cabaret revue Isn't America Fun (1959)[8] and the Broadway revue From A to Z (1960), directed by Christopher Hewett.

Fred Ebb was the voice of the "Little Blue Man", on Betty Johnson's novelty song from 1958, repeating the words: "I Rov You... to Bits".

With Klein, Ebb wrote his first book musical, Morning Sun. Originally, Bob Fosse was attached as director. Fosse eventually withdrew from the project, and the show ran for 6 performances Off-Broadway in October 1963.[9][10]

Music publisher Tommy Valando introduced Ebb to Kander in 1962. After a few songs such as "My Coloring Book", Kander and Ebb wrote a stage musical, Golden Gate, that was never produced. However, the quality of the score convinced producer Harold Prince to hire them for their first professional production, the George Abbott-directed musical Flora the Red Menace (1965), based on Lester Atwell's novel Love is Just Around the Corner. Although it won star Liza Minnelli a Tony Award, the show closed after only 87 performances.[11]

Their second collaboration, Cabaret, was considerably more successful, running for 1,165-performances. Directed by Prince and based on the John Van Druten play I Am a Camera (which, in turn, was based on the writing of Christopher Isherwood), the musical starred Jill Haworth as Sally Bowles, Bert Convy as Clifford Bradshaw, Lotte Lenya as Fräulein Schneider and Joel Grey as the emcee. The original Broadway production opened on November 20, 1966 and won eight of the 11 Tony Awards for which it was nominated, including Best Musical and Best Score.[12] Adapted into a film by Bob Fosse, it won eight Academy Awards, though not Best Picture. It was revived three times, first in 1987 with Grey reprising his role and again in 1998 in a long-running revival, originally starring Alan Cumming as the emcee and Natasha Richardson as Sally Bowles. The third revival began in 2014 and also starred Alan Cumming this time alongside Michelle Williams.[13]

Their next few works were less successful: The Happy Time (1968), directed by Gower Champion and starring Robert Goulet, ran for less than a year.[14] Zorba (1968), directed by Prince, also ran less than a year, though it was more successful in its 1983 revival;[15] and 70, Girls, 70 (1971), which was originally intended as an off-Broadway production, closed after 35 performances.[16]

In 1972, he wrote the television special, Liza with a Z for Liza Minnelli.[17][18] In 1974, Kander, Ebb and Fosse contributed to a concert for Liza Minnelli on Broadway. In 1973 Ebb wrote the television special that marked Frank Sinatra's comeback from retirement, Magnavox Presents Frank Sinatra (also known as Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back). The show featured Sinatra and guest star Gene Kelly in duet on the song "Can't Do That Anymore", written by Ebb for his abandoned musical with Kander and Dale Wasserman, Wait for Me, World!.[19] In 1975, the team wrote the score to Funny Lady, the sequel to Funny Girl.

Chicago (1975) had mixed reviews but ran for more than two years on Broadway. Starring Chita Rivera, Jerry Orbach and Gwen Verdon in her last Broadway role, it suffered from a cynical attitude, which contrasted with the record-breaking popularity of A Chorus Line. Though rumors of a film production directed again by Fosse were heard, the show was revived in 1996 as part of the Encores! staged concert series. A hit, the minimalist production transferred to Broadway, starring Ann Reinking (Roxie) and Bebe Neuwirth (Velma).[20] The revival holds the record as the longest-running musical revival and the longest-running American musical in Broadway history. It is the second longest-running show in Broadway history, behind only The Phantom of the Opera, having played its 7,486th performance on November 23, 2014, surpassing Cats.[21][22]

Ebb wrote the book for Shirley MacLaine’s Broadway solo revue in 1976.[23] The following year, Kander and Ebb worked with Minnelli and Martin Scorsese twice: first, in the film New York, New York, which had them write what is their best-known song, the title track; and, again in The Act (1977) a musical about a fictional nightclub act. It ran for under ten months.[24] After contributing a song to Phyllis Newman’s one-woman musical, The Madwoman of Central Park West (1979),[25] the team wrote Woman of the Year (1981), which starred Lauren Bacall and won the team their second Tony Award for Best Score.[26]

The Rink (1984) teamed Kander and Ebb again with Minnelli and Rivera. The cast also included Jason Alexander and Rob Marshall.[27] Following the closure of the show after six months, Kander and Ebb would not produce new material, save for a song in Hay Fever in 1985, for nine years.[28]

In 1991, the revue And The World Goes 'Round opened Off-Broadway, featuring Karen Ziemba, Susan Stroman and Scott Ellis.[29] The team's musical adaptation of Kiss of the Spider Woman opened in 1993, starring Chita Rivera. Reunited with director Harold Prince, the show ran for more than two years and won them their third and last Tony Award for best score.[30]

The team's last original work to reach Broadway during Ebb's life opened in 1997. Steel Pier brought together Ziemba, Ellis and Stroman and though the show was nominated for 11 Tonys, it won none and closed after two months. It also featured Kristin Chenoweth. In 1997, Ebb reworked lyrics to Richard Rodgers' melody for the television production of Cinderella. Two decades earlier, Ebb refused the opportunity to write the musical Rex with Rodgers.[citation needed]

The team had two works produced outside New York. Over & Over, an adaptation of the Thornton Wilder play The Skin of Our Teeth, was performed at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia in 1999[31] and was revamped for a 2007 staging by the Westport Country Playhouse under the title All About Us.[32]

The Visit, starring Chita Rivera and John McMartin, was presented by the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, as well as the Signature Theatre in Arlington (with George Hearn replacing McMartin).[33]

The story of the long collaboration between Fred Ebb and John Kander is told in James Leve's Kander and Ebb (2009). Through in-depth primary research and interviews with writers, producers, and various musical theater collaborators, Leve introduces the writing process of Kander and Ebb and explores the many revisions and stagings of their shows as each work moved from tryouts to Broadway.[34]


Ebb died at 76 of a heart attack at his home in Manhattan.[2]

At the time of his death, Ebb was working on a new musical with Kander, Curtains: A Backstage Murder Mystery Musical Comedy. The project had already lost its book writer, Peter Stone, who died in 2003.[35] The show's orchestrator, Michael Gibson, also died (in 2005) while the project was underway.[36] Coincidentally, the show is about a series of deaths during the production of a Broadway musical.[37] Kander continued working on the project with a new librettist Rupert Holmes, writing new lyrics when necessary. The musical had its world premiere at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles in July 2006, and ran on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre from March 2007 through June 2008.[38]

At its 2007 ceremony, the Drama Desk honored Kander and the late Ebb with a special award for "42 years of excellence in advancing the art of the musical theater."[39]

In 2010 The Scottsboro Boys, a musical with lyrics by Ebb, music by Kander, and book by David Thompson premiered, first Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre, and then on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre.[40]

Ebb and Kander both were inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1991.[41]

Ebb is interred in a mausoleum with Edwin “Eddie” Aldridge (1929–1997) and Martin Cohen (1926–1995) on the banks of Sylvan Water at Green-Wood Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to the names and dates of each man, the phrase, "Together Forever" is chiseled on the front of the mausoleum. On June 14, 2014, Ebb was featured in the first gay-themed tour of Green-Wood Cemetery.[42][43]

The Fred Ebb Foundation, established in 2005 by instruction of Ebb's will, presents an annual award to an up-and-coming musical theatre writer (or team). The award has been presented for 14 consecutive years, and awards a total of $60,000 to the winners each year.[44]

Fred Ebb was born in the Bronx on April 8, 1928. He grew up in New York and studied at New York University and Columbia University. By 1951, songs with Ebb lyrics were being published and one of his early efforts was recorded by Judy Garland. Ebb's primary collaborator throughout the 1950s was Paul Klein, though he worked with several composers, including Mary Rodgers and Charles Strouse. With Klein, Ebb wrote many songs, some of which were in the Broadway revue, From A to Z (1960) as well as several shows, including the 1963 off-Broadway production of Morning Sun.

In the early 1960s Ebb's publisher, Tommy Valando introduced him to John Kander, a young composer from Missouri. Kander and Ebb instantly clicked as friends and collaborators and their partnership proved the longest lasting composer/lyricist pairing in Broadway history. With the exceptions of various independent projects, such as incidental motion picture scores Kander wrote and performer's specialty act scripts Ebb wrote, Ebb and Kander were exclusive collaborators from My Coloring Book, their first hit song in 1962, until Ebb's death in 2004.

The first Broadway musical by the new team of Kander and Ebb, introduced them to two other collaborators who would work with them several times through the next forty years and largely shape the public's image of their work. Although George Abbott directed Flora, the Red Menace (1965) it was produced by Abbott's protege, Hal Prince and starred Liza Minnelli, in her Tony award-winning Broadway debut. The show only ran a few months, but it established Kander and Ebb's relationship with Prince, who directed and produced Cabaret, (1966) their next musical. Cabaret was a financial and critical success, running on Broadway for 1,165 performances and winning 8 Tony awards, including Best Score for Kander and Ebb and Best Musical, as well as being a ground-breaking work, often touted as a landmark in the history of the concept musical. Cabaret was also adapted into an acclaimed motion picture, directed by Bob Fosse in 1972, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as awards for the film's stars Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli. Cabaret continues to be an extremely popular musical and its most recent Broadway revival ran for 6 years.

Kander and Ebb followed up Cabaret with two moderately successful shows, both of which opened in 1968 and ran about 300 performances, The Happy Time, which won Tonys for director Gower Champion and star Robert Goulet and Zorba, which was directed by Prince. Their next piece, 70, Girls, 70 (1971) was an offbeat musical comedy that did not fare as well. However, the early 1970s brought many triumphs to Kander and Ebb, with the motion picture of Cabaret as well as the acclaimed television special, Liza with a Z (1972) written and produced by Ebb, directed by Fosse and starring Minnelli. The program included new Kander and Ebb songs, for which they received an Emmy Award.

Kander and Ebb's next Broadway show was one of their biggest successes, Chicago (1975). Though its success was somewhat eclipsed by that season's blockbuster, A Chorus Line, Chicago's original production, directed by Fosse, starring Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera and Jerry Orbach had a healthy run of 936 performances and was nominated for 11 Tony awards. A revival of Chicago, which originated in the Encores! Series hit Broadway in 1996 and as of this writing, was just passing the 4000-performance mark. This revival also inspired the Academy Award-winning hit motion picture adaptation of the show in 2002.

The Liza Minnelli vehicle, The Act (1977), which remains Martin Scorcese's only Broadway credit, was Kander and Ebb's next show. Around this time, they wrote songs for several motion pictures, including How Lucky Can You Get, the Oscar nominated song from Funny Lady (1975). They also wrote several songs for Scorcese’s New York, New York, (1977) which starred Minnelli and Robert DeNiro, including the title song, which is arguably Kander and Ebb's most famous song. Though Minnelli introduced the song in that film, a later recording by Frank Sinatra launched its tremendous popularity, which culminated in 1985, when the Mayor proclaimed it the Official Song of the City of New York.

In 1981, Kander and Ebb's score and stars Lauren Bacall and Marilyn Cooper won Tonys for Woman of the Year. This was followed by The Rink (1984), which starred Chita Rivera and Liza Minnelli. Their next show, Kiss of the Spiderwoman (1993) was another triumph starring Rivera. The show, which was directed by Hal Prince, ran 904 performances and won Tonys for its three stars, Rivera, Brent Carver and Anthony Crivello as well as for Kander and Ebb’s score and the musical itself. Ebb's final show to open on Broadway was Steel Pier (1997), but two other Kander and Ebb projects, The Visit and The Skin of Our Teeth/Over and Over, had regional theater productions after that. One project, Curtains, that Kander, Ebb and librettist Peter Stone worked on for 20 years, was produced after Ebb and Stone's deaths in 2006 at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.

Fred Ebb died of a heart attack on September 11, 2004 in New York, NY. On September 14, the lights of Broadway were dimmed in his honor.