Howard Ashman
Encyclopedia
Howard Elliott Ashman was an American
playwright and lyricist. Ashman first studied at Boston University
and Goddard College
(with a stop at Tufts University
's Summer Theater) and then went on to achieve his master's degree
from Indiana University
in 1974. He collaborated with Alan Menken
on several films, notably animated features for Disney
, Ashman writing the lyrics
and Menken composing the music.
. He first worked with Alan Menken on a 1979 musical adapted from Kurt Vonnegut
's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
. They also collaborated on Little Shop of Horrors
with Ashman as director, lyricist, and librettist, winning the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics
.
Ashman was director, lyricist and bookwriter for the 1986 Broadway musical Smile (music by Marvin Hamlisch). Also in 1986, Ashman wrote the screenplay for the Frank Oz
–directed film adaptation of his musical Little Shop of Horrors, as well as contributing the lyrics for two new songs, "Some Fun Now" and "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space," the latter of which received an Academy Award nomination. Along with Menken, Ashman was the co-recipient of two Grammy Award
s, two Golden Globe Award
s and two Academy Awards. His second Academy Award in 1992 was awarded posthumously for Academy Award for Best Original Song
and was accepted by his partner, Bill Lauch.
On March 14, 1991, Ashman died following complications from AIDS
at the age of 40 in New York City after completing work on Beauty and the Beast
and Aladdin. Ashman and Menken had finished the songs for Beauty and the Beast and 11 songs intended for Aladdin, although only three were featured in the finished film ("Arabian Nights," "Friend Like Me" and "Prince Ali"). Tim Rice
was brought in to finish the Aladdin songs with Menken. Ashman was posthumously named a Disney Legend
in 2001. Beauty and the Beast is dedicated to him: "To our friend Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful. Howard Ashman 1950–1991." On the 2001 Special Edition DVD of Beauty and the Beast, on Disc 2, there is a short documentary entitled Howard Ashman: In Memoriam that features many people who worked on Beauty and the Beast who talk about Howard's involvement on the film and how his passing was truly a loss for them.
An album of Ashman singing his own work entitled Howard Sings Ashman was released on November 11, 2008, by PS Classics
as part of the Library of Congress "Songwriter Series."
Ashman was survived by his life partner William Lauch, his sister Sarah Ashman-Gillespie, and his mother Shirley Gershman. He was buried at Oheb Shalom Memorial Park in Baltimore.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
playwright and lyricist. Ashman first studied at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
and Goddard College
Goddard College
Goddard College is a private, liberal arts college located in Plainfield, Vermont, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Goddard College currently operates on an intensive low-residency model...
(with a stop at Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
's Summer Theater) and then went on to achieve his master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
from Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
in 1974. He collaborated with Alan Menken
Alan Menken
Alan Menken is an American musical theatre and film composer and pianist.Menken is best known for his numerous scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards...
on several films, notably animated features for Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
, Ashman writing the lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
and Menken composing the music.
Life and career
Ashman was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Shirley Thelma (née Glass) and Raymond Albert Ashman, an ice cream cone manufacturer. He was the artistic director of the WPA Theater in New York. His first two plays, Cause Maggie's Afraid of the Dark and Dreamstuff, were met with mixed reviews. His play The Confirmation was produced in 1979 at Princeton's McCarter Theater and starred Herschel BernardiHerschel Bernardi
Herschel Bernardi was an American film, Broadway, and television actor....
. He first worked with Alan Menken on a 1979 musical adapted from Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine, is a novel written by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., published in 1965. The plot focuses on Eliot Rosewater, the primary trustee of the philanthropic Rosewater Foundation, whom one of the family lawyers, Norman Mushari, is attempting to have declared...
. They also collaborated on Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors (musical)
Little Shop of Horrors is a rock musical, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman...
with Ashman as director, lyricist, and librettist, winning the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics is an annual award presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...
.
Ashman was director, lyricist and bookwriter for the 1986 Broadway musical Smile (music by Marvin Hamlisch). Also in 1986, Ashman wrote the screenplay for the Frank Oz
Frank Oz
Frank Oz is a British-born American film director, actor, voice actor and puppeteer who is known for creating and performing the characters Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear in The Muppet Show, Cookie Monster, Bert and Grover in Sesame Street, and for directing films, including the 1986 Little Shop of...
–directed film adaptation of his musical Little Shop of Horrors, as well as contributing the lyrics for two new songs, "Some Fun Now" and "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space," the latter of which received an Academy Award nomination. Along with Menken, Ashman was the co-recipient of two Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s, two Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
s and two Academy Awards. His second Academy Award in 1992 was awarded posthumously for Academy Award for Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
and was accepted by his partner, Bill Lauch.
On March 14, 1991, Ashman died following complications from AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
at the age of 40 in New York City after completing work on Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)
Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirtieth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the third film of the Disney Renaissance period...
and Aladdin. Ashman and Menken had finished the songs for Beauty and the Beast and 11 songs intended for Aladdin, although only three were featured in the finished film ("Arabian Nights," "Friend Like Me" and "Prince Ali"). Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
was brought in to finish the Aladdin songs with Menken. Ashman was posthumously named a Disney Legend
Disney Legends
Established in 1987, the Disney Legends program recognizes people who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company. The honor is awarded annually during a special ceremony....
in 2001. Beauty and the Beast is dedicated to him: "To our friend Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful. Howard Ashman 1950–1991." On the 2001 Special Edition DVD of Beauty and the Beast, on Disc 2, there is a short documentary entitled Howard Ashman: In Memoriam that features many people who worked on Beauty and the Beast who talk about Howard's involvement on the film and how his passing was truly a loss for them.
An album of Ashman singing his own work entitled Howard Sings Ashman was released on November 11, 2008, by PS Classics
PS Classics
PS Classics is a record label that specializes in musical theatre and standard vocals. Founded in 2000 by Grammy-nominated freelance producer Tommy Krasker and singer/actor Philip Chaffin, their releases have been critically acclaimed for their meticulous sonic detail and high-quality packaging and...
as part of the Library of Congress "Songwriter Series."
Ashman was survived by his life partner William Lauch, his sister Sarah Ashman-Gillespie, and his mother Shirley Gershman. He was buried at Oheb Shalom Memorial Park in Baltimore.
Best known works
- God Bless You, Mr. RosewaterGod Bless You, Mr. RosewaterGod Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine, is a novel written by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., published in 1965. The plot focuses on Eliot Rosewater, the primary trustee of the philanthropic Rosewater Foundation, whom one of the family lawyers, Norman Mushari, is attempting to have declared...
(1979) (lyricist, librettist and director) - Little Shop of HorrorsLittle Shop of Horrors (musical)Little Shop of Horrors is a rock musical, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman...
(1982) (lyricist, librettist and director) - SmileSmile (musical)Smile is a musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch and book and lyrics by Howard Ashman. It was originally produced on Broadway in 1986. The musical is based loosely on a 1975 film of the same title, from a screenplay by Jerry Belson.-Production:...
(1986) (lyricist, librettist and director) - Little Shop of Horrors (1986) (lyricist and screenwriter)
- Oliver & CompanyOliver & CompanyOliver & Company is a 1988 American animated film in which a homeless kitten named Oliver joins a gang of dogs to survive on the 1980s New York City streets. The film was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and became the twenty-seventh animated feature released in the Walt Disney Animated...
(1988) (lyricist for "Once Upon A Time In New York City") - The Little MermaidThe Little Mermaid (1989 film)The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of the same name. Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the film was originally released to theaters on November 14, 1989 and is the twenty-eighth film in...
(1989) (lyricist, co-producer, writer {additional dialogue}) - Cartoon All-Stars to the RescueCartoon All-Stars to the RescueCartoon All-Stars to the Rescue is an animated drug prevention television special starring many of the popular cartoon characters from American weekday, Sunday morning and Saturday morning television at the time of this film's release...
(1990) (lyricist for "Wonderful Way To Say No") - Beauty and the BeastBeauty and the Beast (1991 film)Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirtieth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the third film of the Disney Renaissance period...
(1991) (lyricist, executive producer) (dedicated) - Aladdin (1992) (lyricist for "Arabian Nights", "Friend Like Me", and "Prince Ali").