Page 35 - Fiddler on the Roof Playbill

Credits

Music

Jerry Bock was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on November
23rd, 1928. That was his first out-of-town tryout. Thirty years later,
he and Sheldon Harnick gave birth to The Body Beautiful in
Philadelphia. That was his fourth out-of-town tryout. In between
was Catch a Star, a fleeting revue that, according to critic Walter
Kerr, posed the question; "What do you call something between a
flop and a smash?" Kerr's answer? "A flash." Next, Jule Styne and
Tommy Valano midwifed Bock, Larry Holofcener and George
Weiss into birthing Mr. Wonderful starring Sammy Davis Jr. The title song and "Too
Close For Comfort" are still active off springs. Bock and Harnick's celebrated
collaboration yielded five scores in seven years. The Body Beautiful, Fiorello! (winner of
Broadway's triple crown: The Tony Award, The New York Critics' Circle Award and
The Pulitzer Prize in drama, the fourth musical to do so). Tenderloin, She Loves Me -
(winner of Variety's poll of critics as best musical, citing Bock and Harnick as best
composer and lyricist). Fiddler on the Roof - (nine Tonys, notably the citation for best
musical of the year), The Apple Tree and The Rothschilds. In addition to the 1989 silver
anniversary production of Fiddler (from which a major excerpt was featured in Jerome
Robbins' Broadway), a highly esteemed revival of The Rothschlds enjoyed a successful run
off-Broadway the following year. Since then, Bock and Harnick were triply honored by
being inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame, receiving the Johnny Mercer Award from
the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Spirit of American Creativity Award from the
Foundation for a Creative America. But the "award" that Bock held near and dear was
the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Wisconsin. It
was there that he met his wife Patti, and it was there that he decided to be a composer.
Mr. Bock was a member of a number of professional guilds and associations, among
which the BMI Foundation, Inc. was a membership he relished. As for Patti, his wife,
George, their son and Portia, their daughter, Bock confessed they were his longest
running hit. Jerry Bock passed away in 2010.