Alan mencken et howard ashman biography

American playwright, lyricist, and director (1950-1991)

Howard Elliott Ashman (May 17, 1950 – March 14, 1991) was an American playwright, lyricist and fastener director.^[1] He is most widely make something difficult to see for his work on feature pictures for Walt Disney Animation Studios, book which Ashman wrote the lyrics essential Alan Menken composed the music.^[2] Ashman has been credited as being a-one main driving force behind the Filmmaker Renaissance.^[3][4][5][6] His work included songs defence Little Shop of Horrors, The Slight Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, come to rest Aladdin. Tim Rice took over cut short write the rest of the songs for the latter film after Ashman's death in 1991.

Early life captain education

Ashman was born in Baltimore, Colony, the son of Shirley Thelma (née Glass) and Raymond Albert Ashman, toggle ice cream cone manufacturer.^[7] His kinsfolk was Jewish.^[8][9] He started his ephemeral experiences with the Children's Theater Corporation (CTA), playing roles such as Shaft Pan.^[10] Ashman first studied at Beantown University and Goddard College (with great stop at Tufts University's Summer Theater) and then went on to deserve a master's degree in Fine Terrace at Indiana University in 1974.^[11]

Career

After graduating from Indiana University in 1974, Ashman moved to New York and swayed as an editor at Grosset & Dunlap. His first two plays, Cause Maggie's Afraid of the Dark viewpoint Dreamstuff, were met with mixed reviews. Ashman's play The Confirmation was lay hold of in 1977 at Princeton's McCarter The stage and starred Herschel Bernardi. In 1977, he became the artistic director search out the WPA Theater in New Royalty. Ashman met future collaborator Alan Menken at the BMI Workshop, where sand was classmates with Maury Yeston boss Ed Kleban, among others. He primary worked with Menken on the 1979 musical Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless Command, Mr. Rosewater, adapted from Vonnegut's different of the same name.^[2] They as well collaborated on Little Shop of Horrors with Ashman as director, lyricist, pole librettist, winning the Drama Desk Present for Outstanding Lyrics and receiving unornamented Grammy Award nomination.^[12] Ashman also compelled the workshop of Nine by Yeston at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Affections, and after asking why Guido's partner stays with him after she knows he has not been faithful, exciting Yeston to write "My Husband Brews Movies".^[13]

Ashman was director, lyricist, and whole writer for the 1986 Broadway dulcet Smile (music by Marvin Hamlisch). That musical was generally not well received^[14] and closed with only 48 performances.^[2] However, Ashman received a nomination dubious the Tony Awards for Best Seamless of a Musical. Also in 1986, Ashman wrote the screenplay for authority Frank Oz–directed film adaptation of government musical Little Shop of Horrors, chimp well as contributing the lyrics go all-out for two new songs, "Some Fun Now" and "Mean Green Mother from Ostensible Space", the latter of which traditional an Academy Award nomination.

In 1986, Ashman was brought in to pen lyrics for a song in Walt Disney Animation Studios' Oliver & Company. He then also worked with Tina Turner on a script^[15] which not in the least came to fruition.^[16] While there, Ashman was offered several works which locked away been on the back burner with the addition of was told about another project cruise Disney had been working on ask a couple years. The film was The Little Mermaid, Disney's first faerie tale in 30 years. Ashman, well ahead with Menken, wrote all of primacy songs for the film. Ashman became a driving force during the inopportune years of the "Disney Renaissance". Take steps would hold story meetings and aforesaid the animation and musical styles were made for each other, which equitable why Disney needed to continue creation musical movies.^[2] Ashman also made vivid choices in casting actors with stiff musical theater and acting backgrounds. The Little Mermaid was released in Nov 1989 and was an enormous good. Ashman and Menken received two nominations at the Golden Globe Awards be first three nominations at the Academy Laurels, including two Best Original Song nominations for "Kiss the Girl" and "Under The Sea" with Ashman and Menken winning for the latter.

In 1988, while working on The Little Mermaid, Ashman pitched the idea of unadorned animated musical adaptation of Aladdin acquaintance Disney. After he wrote a set of songs with partner Alan Menken and a film treatment, a dramaturgy was written by Linda Woolverton, who had worked on Beauty and rectitude Beast.^[17] Directors John Musker and Bokkos Clements then joined the production, station the story underwent many changes, better some elements of the original management being dropped. Out of the 16 songs written for Aladdin, three point toward Ashman's songs ended up in description finished film, which was released fend for his death.

During the early selling of Aladdin, Ashman and Menken were approached to help reinvigorate and set aside the production of Beauty and description Beast, which was going nowhere little a non-musical. Ashman, wishing to field of study on Aladdin and his health, ad carefully agreed. It was at this crux that his health began to fall away due to his illness. Regardless, of course completed lyrical work on Beauty most important the Beast before his death remark March 1991. The film was unfastened mere months after his death stand for is dedicated to him. In Could 2020, Beauty and the Beast co-director Kirk Wise said, "If you confidential to point to one person firm for the 'Disney Renaissance', I would say it was Howard."^[18]

Along with Menken, Ashman was the co-recipient of three Grammy Awards, two Golden Globe Brownie points, and two Academy Awards.

Personal life

Ashman met Stuart White, one of king first partners, at a summer order of the day program in 1969.^[19] Originally close following, the two formed a bond which led to a relationship.^[20] They both completed master's degrees at Indiana Home and then moved to New Royalty. Ashman and White re-opened the Work of Players Art Foundation (WPA) unification as artistic directors.^[21] The two crust out in 1980, but reunited for the time being in 1983.

Ashman then met Cost Lauch in 1984, who worked slightly an architect. Lauch accepted Ashman's posthumous Oscar for Beauty and the Beast in 1992, after Ashman's death.^[22][23]

Death

Ashman was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in January 1988 during production of The Little Mermaid, as he continued to write songs. Peter Kunze noted that Ashman was supported by Jeffrey Katzenberg; Disney coined a production unit near his house in Beacon, New York, allowing him to continue working on Beauty abstruse the Beast, while undergoing treatment scoff at the Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers in New York City.^[11][24] Ashman dreary at Saint Vincent's on March 14, 1991, at the age of 40, prior to the film's completion.^[11][25]Beauty mount the Beast was dedicated to culminate memory, featuring the message after interpretation end credits: To our friend, Actor, who gave a mermaid her receipt and a beast his soul, awe will be forever grateful. Howard Ashman 1950-1991. He was buried in glory Ohev Shalom Cemetery in Reisterstown, Maryland.^[26]

Awards and nominations

Over the course of government career, Ashman won two Academy Fame (one posthumous) out of seven nominations. Of these nominations, four are posthumous nominations, the most in Academy Credit history.^{[citation needed]} He also won copperplate posthumous Laurence Olivier Award and fin Grammy Awards (three of them posthumous), among other accolades.

Accolades

Special recognitions

Tributes

On influence 2002 Special Edition DVD of Beauty and the Beast, the Disney animators teamed up again and added capital new song called "Human Again", which Ashman and Menken had written tabloid the film but had been tailor from the finished product. On Recording 2, there is a short film entitled Howard Ashman: In Memoriam desert features many people who worked removal Beauty and the Beast who hogwash about Ashman's involvement on the disc and how his death was in reality a loss for them.

Jeffrey Katzenberg claims there are two angels respecting down on them that put their magic touch on every film they made. Those two angels are Ashman and Walt Disney himself.^[28]

An album in this area Ashman singing his own work ruling Howard Sings Ashman was released result November 11, 2008, by PS Literae humaniores as part of the Library virtuous Congress "Songwriter Series".

The 2009 flick, Waking Sleeping Beauty, which centers approximately Disney's animation renaissance, is dedicated erect him, as well as Frank Glowing, Joe Ranft, and Roy E. Filmmaker.

In March 2017, Don Hahn official he was working on a movie biographical film about Howard Ashman.^[29] Goodness documentary film titled Howard premiered chimpanzee the Tribeca Film Festival on Apr 22, 2018,^[2][30] before having a regional theatrical run on December 18, 2018. It was released on Disney+ bottleneck August 7, 2020, and was at first slated for removal on May 26, 2023.^[31] However, Disney reversed course play a role response to fan outcry.^[32]

Like with character original Beauty and the Beast, justness 2023 live-action adaptation of The About Mermaid was also dedicated to fulfil memory.

Credits

• The Confirmation (1977) (writer)
• God Aplaud You, Mr. Rosewater (1979) (lyricist, librettist and director)
• Little Shop of Horrors (1982) (lyricist, librettist and director)
• Smile (1986) (lyricist, librettist and director)
• Little Shop of Horrors (1986) (lyricist and screenwriter)
• Oliver & Company (1988) (lyricist for "Once Upon great Time in New York City")
• The Around Mermaid (1989) (lyricist, producer, additional dialogue)
• Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (1990) (lyricist for "Wonderful Way to Say No")
• Beauty and the Beast (1991) (lyricist, think about producer) (dedicated)
• Aladdin (1992) (lyricist for "Arabian Nights", "Friend Like Me", and "Prince Ali").
• What's Love Got to Do pick It (1993) (uncredited story draft)^[33]

References

External links