The seemingly immortal Sheldon Harnick, Tony-winning lyricist who wrote many of Broadway’s most memorable musicals, died of natural causes at age 99 on June 23 at his Manhattan home. 
He was the most versatile of lyricists: funny, poignant, romantic or pointedly satirical, providing literate words to sing for a broad variety of characters.
Many of Harnick’s greatest successes were created in partnership with composer Jerry Bock, whom the lyricist met in 1956 and who died in 2010. Most notable of these is perhaps, 1964’s Tony-winning “Fiddler on the Roof,” the story of a Jewish community struggling under the pogroms of czarist Russia. Since it’s debut, the show has been a revival favorite (most recently in a successful Yiddish version). The pair’s fist outing in 1958 was the flop “The Body Beautiful,” about the w
orld of prizefighting. They triumphed, however 1n 1959 with Tony winner “Fiorello!,” a colorful portrait of NYC Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.
Other notable shows by Bock-Harnick are “Tenderloin” (1960), “She Loves Me” (1963), “The Apple Tree” (1966) and “The Rothschilds” (1970), their last, based on Frederic Morton’s biography of the Jewish family’s riise from the ghetto to become a financial dynasty. The partnership ended in a dispute over who would direct “The Rothschilds.” Although the two later attained a cordiality in their relationship, they never created a new work thereafter.
He was born Sheldon Mayer Harnick in Chicago on April 30, 1924, to Harry (a dentist) and homemaker Esther. Harnick showed an interest in music from a young age and als
o wrote humorous verse. After serving in the Army (he was drafted in World War II, but vever saw combat), Harnick enrolled at the Northwestern University School of Music, graduating in 1949.
In 1950, Harnick moved to New York where he found success writing comical songs for Broadway and Off Broadway revues. His “Boston Beguine,” sung by Alice Ghostley in Leonard Sillman’s New Faces of 1952, became a showstopper. Flash forward to the post Bock era: Harnick collaborated with Mary Rodgers on “Pinocchio” (1973), performed by the Bil Baird marionettes. He also worked with Richard Rodgers on th
e musical Rex (1976). Harnick’s intersection with Hollywood produced the lyrics for the theme song to The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and the songs “I Must Be Doing Something Right” and the title number for the film Blame It on Rio.
In the last several decades Harnick worked with Michel Legrand on two shows: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, adapted from the film of the same name, produced Off Broadway in 1979, and a new version of A Christmas Carol (1982), staged in Stamford, Conn. With Joe Raposo he worked on the adaptation of the film, A Wonderful Life, which has been produced regionally since 1986. Harnick was also an accomplished opera translator, as well as the author of some original opera librettos. In 2016 he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Tonys.
Harnick’s first, brief marriage to Mary Boatner was annulled and his second, also brief, to comedian, writer and director Elaine May, ended in divorce. In 1965 he married actress Margery Gray (also a photographer and artist), who survives him. Harnick is also survived by a daughter, Beth Dorn; a son, Matthew Harnick; and four grandchildren.
