RICHARD ADLER - AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED 01/04/1959 - HFSID 18382

RICHARD ADLER
Richard Adler signs a note for a fan in 1959
Autograph Note signed: "To Kayo/with best wishes -/Richard Adler/1-4-59", 4½x3 card. Name written (unknown hand) in ink and pencil on verso (no show through). Accompanied by unsigned biography with small b/w photograph of Adler. Composer and lyricist Richard Adler(1921-2012), the son of composer and pianist Clarence Adler, won Tony Awards in 1955 for The Pajama Game and in 1956 for Damn Yankees!, which were honored with Tonys for Best Musical, and he was nominated for a Tony as Best Composer for Kwamina in 1962. Adler, who also nominated for the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1998 for Damn Yankees!, began his career as a jingle writer before teaming up with Jerry Ross, with whom he wrote the song, "Rags to Riches", as well as the Tony Award-winning musicals. His hit songs include "You Gotta Have Heart", which was the title of his 1990 autobiography, "Hey There (You With the Stars in Your Eyes)", "Hernando's Hideaway", "Whatever Lola Wants" and "Everybody Loves a Lover", which have sold millions of copies worldwide and earned him an induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1984). Adler, who has also written four Pulitzer Prize-nominated symphonic works, ballets, TV musicals and award-winning commercials, also staged a number of celebrity events during the administrations of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, including Marilyn Monroe's famed singing of "Happy Birthday" to JFK. The father of Christopher Adler (1954-1984), who also wrote for Broadway, Adler was married to actress Sally Ann Howes from 1958-1966. Ink slightly smudged at two words of writing. Fine condition.