Fred Ebb (born April 8, 1933 in Manhattan [1] — died September 11, 2004 in New York City) was a musical theatre lyricist who had many successful collaborations with composer John Kander. The Kander and Ebb team frequently wrote for such performers as Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera.
Ebb was born to a Jewish family, and worked during the early 1950s bronzing baby shoes, as a trucker’s assistant, and was also employed in a department store credit office and at a hosiery company. In 1955, he graduated from New York University with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature, and two years later, he earned his Master’s from Columbia University. His first professional writing experience was with Phil Springer, and the first song they wrote together (“I Never Loved Him Anyhow”) was sung by Carmen McRae. Another song Ebb wrote with Springer was “Heartbroken” (1953), which was recorded by Judy Garland, the mother of his future protégée, Liza Minnelli. Other Springer-Ebb tunes include “How Little We Know,” “Moonlight Gambler” and “Nevertheless I Never Lost the Blues”.
On his first theatrical writing job he did songs with Norman Martin for the revue Put It in Writing, directed by Christopher Hewitt. He also worked with composer Paul Klein in the late 1950s, contributing songs to the Broadway revue From A to Z. With Klein, Ebb wrote his first book musical, Morning Sun. Originally, Bob Fosse was attached as director. Fosse eventually withdrew from the project, and the show was unsuccessful.
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