Herbert Kretzmer, lyricist of Les Miserables, dead at 95
By PAN PYLAS , Associated Press, Associated Press
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4030379（台灣英文新聞）
LONDON (AP) — Herbert Kretzmer, the journalist and lyricist best known for hi
s English-language adaptation of the musical Les Miserables, has died. He was
95.
https://i.imgur.com/Pp7GadC.jpg
His family confirmed Wednesday that Kretzmer died after a long illness with Pa
rkinson's disease at the London home he shared with his second wife, Sybil Sev
er.
Tributes poured in from giants of the London stage, including theatrical produ
cer Cameron Mackintosh, singer Elaine Paige and lyricist Tim Rice.
Les Miserables producer Mackintosh said Kretzmer was instrumental in bringing
Victor Hugo's classic tale of defiance and redemption in early 19th century Fr
ance to the stage in English in October 1985, five years after it had opened i
n Paris.
"His wonderful words for Les Mis廨ables will live on in his memory forever mor
e," he said in a statement.
For Paige, he was a “masterful wordsmith” while Rice described Kretzmer a “
great lyricist and man of theatre” and a “giant of his trade.”
Kretzmer, known as Herbie to his friends, was born in Kroonstad, a small town
south of Johannesburg, South Africa, in October 1925. He was one of four sons
of Jewish-Lithuanian immigrants who ran a grocery shop and later a prosperous
furniture store.
Though his childhood under the vast expanse of South African sky was “blissfu
l," he wanted by the age of 11 to become a “newspaper man” — so he could ge
t closer to his heroes on screen.
From Johannesburg, he moved to Paris in 1953, playing the piano by night in a
bar in return for a meal. A year later, he moved to London and fulfilled his d
ream of being at the heart of the movie action, in an award-winning journalist
ic career that included stints at the Daily Express and Daily Mail.
His catalog of interviews reads like a Who's Who? of 20th century entertainmen
t, including Muhammad Ali, Judy Garland, Groucho Marx, David Niven and Frank S
inatra. Some interviewees, like Peter Sellers and Terence Stamp, became close
friends.
The music was never far away though. He wrote weekly songs in the 1960s for Th
at Was The Week That Was, the BBC's ground-breaking satirical show that proved
the launchpad for the careers of luminaries in the world of television over s
ubsequent decades, such as John Cleese and David Frost.
Some songs were humorous, such as “Goodness Gracious Me,” others more poigna
nt, notably “In the Summer of His Years,” a tribute to President John F. Ken
nedy that was written hours after his assassination on Nov. 22, 1963.
There were further songs, including “She,” which he wrote with French singer
Charles Aznavour and which topped the U.K. Singles Charts for a month in 1974
. He explained decades later that it was about a British woman with whom he ha
d recently broken up following a year-long affair.
But the really big time never quite came. Until a young British producer by th
e name of Cameron Mackintosh invited Kretzmer to tea in June 1984 and his life
changed.
Though the expanded English version of Les Miserables — it was never Les Mis
for Kretzmer — had mixed reviews at the start, it would soon become one of th
e biggest successes of 20th century theater.
Were it not for the coronavirus pandemic, it'd still be running in London, tes
tament to the enduring popularity of the story as well as the songs, such as "
I Dreamed a Dream," “One Day More” and “Do You Hear the People Sing?”
Add “Suddenly" to that list, the song he wrote for the 2012 blockbuster lm
version that earned him at the age of 87 an Academy Award nomination.
Kretzmer has been appointed Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in Fran
ce and an Officer of the Order of British Empire.
以音樂劇《悲慘世界》的英文填詞聞名的赫伯特克雷茨默（Herbert Kretzmer）去世。
享年95歲。
他的家人星期三證實，克雷茨默因長期受帕金森氏病影響在倫敦家中與第二任妻子Sybil
Sever陪伴下去世。
來自戲劇舞台製作人卡梅隆 麥金塔Cameron Mackintosh），歌手伊萊恩（Elai
ne Paige）和作詞家蒂姆 萊斯Tim Rice等英倫劇場界同聲哀悼。
令克雷茨默一生改變的始終是《悲慘世界》，1985年英國製片人卡梅倫麥金塔邀請克雷茨
默為《悲慘世界》的英文版填詞，之後更搬到百老匯大舞台上，獲得空前巨大的成功
。克雷茨默最著名的作品包括《Do You Hear the People Sing》、《I Dreamed a Dream
》、《On My Own》等曲目，他也因此獲東尼獎與葛萊美獎。
87歲時他因《悲慘世界》電影版本創作的詞曲"Suddenly"，使他獲得了奧斯卡金像獎提名
。
克雷茨默（Kretzmer）也有受封法國藝術與文學勳章的榮耀勳章。
備註:
R.I.P.