Behind-the-Scenes Kennedy Center Honorees
by yrnej | created - 24 Dec 2017 | updated - 25 Dec 2017 | PublicThe Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture (although recipients do not need to be U.S. citizens). Each year five new artists are honored. While most inductees are musicians, dancers or actors, directors, writers, choreographers and other "behind-the-scenes" artists are also honored.
The ceremony is televised, with the show this year airing on December 26, and the honorees are dancer Carmen de Lavallade, musicians Gloria Estefan, LL Cool J and Lionel Richie and TV producer/writer Norman Lear.
Which of these past honorees from behind the scenes do you think was most deserving?
Discuss the list here
1. George Abbott
Writer | The Pajama Game
Legendary Broadway writer/producer/director George Abbott was born in 1887 in Forestville, New York. His father was mayor of Salamanca, New York, for two terms. In 1898 his family moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Abbott attended Kearney Military Academy. The family returned to New York, where Abbott...
Writer/Director
2. Richard Rodgers
Soundtrack | The Talented Mr. Ripley
He met Lorenz Hart in 1918 who was to write lyrics for Richard for the next 25 years. The produced many successful songs and musicals such as 'Pal Joey' and 'The Boys From Syracuse'. In 1943 Richard teamed up with Oscar Hammerstein to make a musical version of the play 'How Green Was Your Valley' ...
Composer
3. Billy Wilder
Writer | The Apartment
Originally planning to become a lawyer, Billy Wilder abandoned that career in favor of working as a reporter for a Viennese newspaper, using this experience to move to Berlin, where he worked for the city's largest tabloid. He broke into films as a screenwriter in 1929 and wrote scripts for many ...
Writer/Director
4. Elia Kazan
Director | On the Waterfront
Known for his creative stage direction, Elia Kazan was born Elias Kazantzoglou on September 7, 1909 in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey). Noted for drawing out the best dramatic performances from his actors, he directed 21 actors to Oscar nominations, resulting in nine wins. He ...
Writer/Director
5. Roger L. Stevens
Roger L. Stevens was born on March 11, 1910. He is known for West Side Story (1961), Deathtrap (1982) and Boom! (1968). He died on February 3, 1998.
Producer
6. Tennessee Williams
Writer | A Streetcar Named Desire
Tennessee Williams met long-term partner Frank Merlo in the summer of 1948 (Merlo died of lung cancer in the fall of 1963). Though separated briefly in 1961 and again in 1962, the two were partners for 15 years. Merlo acted as his personal manager/secretary.
Williams spent much of his most prolific ...
Playwright
7. Morton Gould
Soundtrack | To the Wonder
Composer ("American Salute", "Pavanne"), conductor, pianist and arranger, educated at New York University and a music student of Abby Whiteside and Vincent Jones. At six, he had his first composition published ("Just Six"), and thereafter concertized until age 17. He was a staff arranger for Radio ...
Composer
8. Arthur Miller
Writer | The Crucible
Arthur Asher Miller was born on October 17, 1915, in New York City, one of three children born to Augusta (nee Barnett) and Isidore Miller. His family was of Austrian Jewish descent. His father manufactured women's coats, but his business was devastated by the Depression, seeding his son's ...
Playwright
9. Leonard Bernstein
Soundtrack | New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts
Renowned composer ("West Side Story", "Candide", "On The Town"), conductor, arranger, pianist, educator, author, TV/radio host, educated at the Boston Latin School and Harvard University (BA) with Walter Piston. Edward Burlingame Hill and A. Tillman Merritt. He studied piano with Helen Coates, ...
Composer
10. Jerome Robbins
Writer | West Side Story
Jerome Robbins was one of the founding members of the Ballet Theatre when it was formed in 1940 portraying a variety of roles for several years before devising his own creations such as 'Fancy Free' about 3 sailors on leave in New York which marked a long association with Leonard Bernstein. With ...
Choreographer
11. Norman Lear
Producer | All in the Family
Norman Lear enjoyed a long career in television and film, political and social activism, and philanthropy.
Born in 1922 in New Haven, Connecticut, Lear flew 52 combat missions over Europe in World War II before beginning his television career. His classic shows of the 1970s and '80s - All in the ...
Writer/Producer
12. Neil Simon
Writer | The Odd Couple
Neil Simon was born on July 4, 1927 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for The Odd Couple (1968), Murder by Death (1976) and The Goodbye Girl (1977). He was married to Elaine Joyce, Diane Lander, Marsha Mason and Joan Baim. He died on August 26, 2018 in ...
Playwright
13. Edward Albee
Soundtrack | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Edward Albee was born on March 12, 1928 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He was a writer, known for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), A Delicate Balance (1973) and Qui a peur de Virginia Woolf? d'Edward Albee (2011). He died on September 16, 2016 in Montauk, New York, USA.
Playwright
14. Stephen Sondheim
Soundtrack | Dick Tracy
He did his pre college training at George School, Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, then was in a class of 50 at Williams College majoring in music as an undergraduate distinguishing himself by writing a book, lyrics and music for two college shows based on the adaption of 'Beggar on Horseback'....
Composer
15. Alvin Ailey
Ailey was born in the rural town of Rogers, Texas, USA. His childhood memories and experiences often informed his choreography; the most notable of his works was "Blues Suite", "Cry" (choreographed for Judith Jamison), and "Revelations", a ballet based on Ailey's observations and experiences in ...
Choreographer
16. Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp was born on July 1, 1941 in Portland, Indiana, USA. She is a director and actress, known for Amadeus (1984), Hair (1979) and Great Performances: Dance in America (1976).
Choreographer
17. Martin Scorsese
Producer | Killers of the Flower Moon
Martin Charles Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 in Queens, New York City, to Catherine Scorsese (née Cappa) and Charles Scorsese, who both worked in Manhattan's garment district, and whose families both came from Palermo, Sicily. He was raised in the neighborhood of Little Italy, which later ...
Writer/Director/Producer
18. George Lucas
Writer | Star Wars
George Walton Lucas, Jr. was raised on a walnut ranch in Modesto, California. His father was a stationery store owner and he had three siblings. During his late teen years, he went to Thomas Downey High School and was very much interested in drag racing. He planned to become a professional racecar ...
Writer/Director/Producer
19. Steven Spielberg
Producer | Schindler's List
One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, ...
Writer/Director/Producer
20. Andrew Lloyd Webber
Soundtrack | The Phantom of the Opera
Andrew Lloyd Webber is arguably the most successful composer of our time. He is best known for stage and film adaptations of his musicals Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), Cats (1994), Evita (1996), and The Phantom of the Opera (2004).
He was born on March 22, 1948, in South Kensington in London, ...
Composer
21. Bill T. Jones
Director | Still Here
Bill T. Jones was born on February 15, 1952 in Bunnell, Florida, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Still/Here (1996), National Theatre Live: Fela! (2011) and FELA! Ten-Twenty (2021).
Choreographer
22. Virgil Thomson
Composer | Louisiana Story
One of the driving forces, both as critic and musician, of 20th century American music, Thomson studied music at both Harvard University and elsewhere in the Boston area before moving to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger in 1921. After spending a short time in his native land, he returned to ...
Composer
23. Aaron Copland
Soundtrack | He Got Game
Aaron Copland is an Academy Award-winning composer (The Heiress (1949)), author, conductor, lecturer and educator. He was educated at public schools and was a music student of his sister and later Leopold Wolfson, Victor Wittgenstein, Clarence Adler, Rubin Goldmark and Nadia Boulanger. In 1925, he ...
Composer
24. George Balanchine
Actor | Playhouse 90
George Balanchine was a Georgian-American ballet dancer and one of the foremost choreographers of the 20th century. Regarded as the founder of American ballet, he established and led the New York City Ballet for more than three decades.
Balanchine was born Georgy Melitonovich Balanchivadze, the son ...
Choreographer
25. Jule Styne
Soundtrack | Funny Girl
Jule Styne was born on December 31, 1905 in London, England, UK. He was a composer and producer, known for Funny Girl (1968), Die Hard (1988) and The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996). He was married to Margaret Ann Bissett Brown and Ethel Rubenstein. He died on September 20, 1994 in New York City, New ...
Composer
26. Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor was born on April 4, 1908 in London, England, UK. He was a director and production designer, known for In a Monastery Garden (1932), Folio (1955) and The Tempest/II (1939). He died on April 19, 1987 in New York City, New York, USA.
Choreographer
27. William Schuman
Composer | Omnibus
William Schuman was born on August 4, 1910 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer, known for Omnibus (1952), Night Journey (1960) and Eye on New York (1956). He died on February 15, 1992 in Manhattan, New York, USA.
Composer
28. Alwin Nikolais
Composer | Zelt
Alwin Nikolais was born on November 25, 1910 in Southington, Connecticut, USA. He was a composer and director, known for Zelt (1969), The Company (2003) and Motel (1989). He died on May 8, 1993 in New York City, New York, USA.
Choreographer
29. Gian Carlo Menotti
Writer | The Medium
Gian Carlo Menotti was born on July 7, 1911 in Cadegliano-Viconago, Lombardy, Italy. He was a writer and composer, known for The Medium (1951), Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951) and Great Performances (1971). He was married to Samuel Barber. He died on February 1, 2007 in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Composer
30. Betty Comden
Soundtrack | On the Town
Songwriter ("New York, New York", "Lonely Town", "The Party's Over", "Just in Time"), author and actress. educated at New York University with a Bachelor of Science degree. While a student, she acted with the Washington Square Players. She was a member of the Revuers, a night club act which also ...
and Adolph Green - Playwrights
31. Alan Jay Lerner
Writer | An American in Paris
Playwright/lyricist Alan Jay Lerner was born into a wealthy New York City retailing family. His professional association with Frederick Loewe started in 1942 when they teamed up to write "Life of the Party". Their first Broadway success was the 1947 musical fantasy "Brigadoon." Lerner adapted work ...
and Frederick Loewe - Composers
32. Harold Prince
Harold Prince was born on January 30, 1928 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a director and writer, known for West Side Story (1961), The Phantom of the Opera (2004) and Cabaret (1972). He was married to Judith Arlene Chaplin. He died on July 31, 2019 in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Producer/Director
33. Fred Ebb
Soundtrack | Chicago
Fred Ebb was born on April 8, 1928 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Chicago (2002), Cabaret (1972) and Shame (2011). He died on September 11, 2004 in New York City, New York, USA.
and John Kander - Lyricist and Composer
34. Paul Taylor
Great Performances: Dance in America
Paul Taylor was born on July 29, 1930 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He is known for Great Performances: Dance in America (1976), The Wrecker's Ball: Three Dances by Paul Taylor (1996) and Singer Presents Burt Bacharach (1971). He died on August 29, 2018 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, ...
Choreographer
35. Jerry Herman
Soundtrack | Mystery Men
Grammy award-winning songwriter ("Hello Dolly!" [1965]), composer and author, educated at the University of Miami (Bachelor of Arts) and the Parsons School of Design. His stage scores include "I Feel Wonderful" and "Parade" (off-Broadway), "Night Cap" (for night clubs), and "Milk and Honey", "Mame"...
Composer
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