Legendary Writer of Broadway Musicals Betty Comden Dead at 89

Legendary Broadway songwriter Betty Comden died on Thanksgiving day, November 23, of heart failure, according to The New York Times. She was 89.

Comden was born Elizabeth Cohen in Brooklyn, New York on May 3, 1917. With her late writing partner Adolph Green who died in 2002, Betty Comden was responsible for the book and lyrics of some of the most acclaimed and beloved musicals both on film and on stage. She and Green began their collaboration in 1939 when they formed with Judy Holliday The Revuers, a cabaret act. Their success in such venues as the Village Vanguard and the Blue Angel led to several TV appearances as well. In 1944, Comden and Green wrote their first stage musical, On the Town, adapted from a Jerome Robbins' ballet that traced one day in the life of three sailors on leave in NYC. They subsequently provided the lyrics for composers ranging from Leonard Bernstein to Jule Styne to Cy Coleman, book or both for Wonderful Town 1953, Bells Are Ringing 1957, Do Re Mi 1960, Hallelujah Baby! 1967, Applause 1970, On the Twentieth Century 1978, A Doll's Life 1982 and The Will Rogers Follies 1991. Many of their memorable songs from these shows have become minor classics, like "Ohio" from Wonderful Town, "The Party's Over" from Bells Are Ringing and "Make Someone Happy" from Do Re Mi.

Comden and Green segued to the big screen with their screenplay for the remake of the 1920s hit Good News 1947. The pair also wrote the witty musical The Barkleys of Broadway 1949, which brought Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers together after ten years. The same year, they provide lyrics for the Gene Kelly vehicle Take Me Out to the Ballgame. In 1952, they provided the structure for what many consider to be the greatest movie musical, Singin' in the Rain. The following year, Comden and Green adapted the stage musical The Band Wagon and provided Astaire with one of his best screen roles. The duo adapted their own Bells Are Ringing and wrote the non-musical screenplay for Auntie Mame.

Comden had sporadically worked as a performer. On stage, she was featured in On the Town and she and Green won kudos for their revue A Party With Betty Comden and Adolph Green first performed in 1957, a collection of sketches and songs. Comden turned in a fine comic portrayal of a Jewish mother in Wendy Wasserstein's off-Broadway hit, Isn't It Romantic. On film, the petite, dark-haired, throaty-voiced Comden was featured in Greenwich Village in 1944 and in the 1980s played the reclusive screen legend in Garbo Talks and appeared in James Ivory's Slaves of New York.