Sheldon Harnick, Fiddler on the Roof lyricist, dies at 99
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Sheldon Harnick, Fiddler on the Roof lyricist, has died at the age of 99.
The musical theater legend passed away of natural causes on Friday in New York City, Harnick's publicist confirmed to EW.
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Sheldon Harnick
The Chicago-born Harnick moved to New York in 1950 and teamed with composer Jerry Brock, with whom he wrote 1959's Fiorello!, 1960's Tenderloin, 1963's She Loves Me, 1966's The Apple Tree, and 1970's The Rothschilds. But the two collaborators will be best remembered for 1964's Fiddler on the Roof, a tale of Jewish life in a Russian village, which premiered on Broadway in 1964 and was turned into the 1971 film of the same name with Chaim Topol playing the role of the milkman Tevye.
Harnick would go on to work in opera, crafting the librettos for 1975's Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, 1978's Dr. Heidegger's Fountain of Youth, and 1994's Cyrano. He also wrote songs for Elaine May's 1972 big screen comedy The Heartbreak Kid and 1984's Michael Caine-starring Blame It on Rio.
Fiorello! scored Harnick, Bock, and collaborator Jerome Weidman the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1960. Over the course of his career, Harnick would also receive two Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, and two New York Drama Critics Circle Awards.
Actor Harvey Fierstein, who played Tevye in a Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof in the mid-'00s, issued a statement paying tribute to the lyricist.
"His lyrics were clear and purposeful and never lapsed into cliche," writes Fierstein. "You'd never catch him relying on easy rhymes or 'lists' to fill a musical phrase. He always sought and told the truth for the character and so made acting his songs a joy. A JOY! A JOY!!!! I can't say that loudly enough. And this atheist will pronounce it... a blessing!... Sheldon embraced me just as he embraced his audience with tender inspiration. I loved every visit I had with him and his devoted wife, Margie, backstage during my year of Fiddler on Broadway and then again when I replaced Topol in the road company."
"I'm sitting here typing, crying, smiling and wishing to see one more holiday card from him in my mail box," Fierstein concludes. "Oh, Sheldon... Ninety-nine years of you were not enough. Thank you, Sheldon. Thank you."
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