Lee Adams

Born in Mansfield, Ohio, Adams is the son of Dr. and Mrs. Leopold Adams and is a graduate of Mansfield Senior High School.[1] He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Ohio State University and a Master's from Columbia University. While attending Ohio State University he was a brother of the Nu chapter of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. He worked as a journalist for newspaper and magazines. He met Charles Strouse in 1949 and they initially wrote for summer-time revues.[2]

Adams won Tony Awards in 1961 for Bye Bye Birdie, the first Broadway musical he wrote with Strouse, and in 1970 for Applause and was nominated for a Tony Award in 1965 for Golden Boy.[3] In addition, he wrote the lyrics for All American, It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman, Bring Back Birdie, and A Broadway Musical, and the book and lyrics for Ain't Broadway Grand.[3] Additionally, Strouse and Adams co-wrote "Those Were the Days", the opening theme to the TV situation comedy All in the Family. Adams was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1989.[4]

Adams and his wife, Dr. Kelly Wood Adams, have lived in Briarcliff Manor, New York since 2007. He has two daughters and three grandchildren.[5]

In addition to his work with lyrics, Adams "had a lifelong fascination with words," which led to his being an editor for the Sunday newspaper magazine supplement This Week and a member of the staff of Pageant magazine.[6]

• A Pound in Your Pocket (musical) (1958)
• Bye Bye Birdie (1960)
• All American (1962)
• Golden Boy (1964)
• It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman (1966)
• Applause (1970)
• I and Albert (1972)
• Bring Back Birdie (1980)
• A Broadway Musical (1982), contributed the song Dancing
• Aint Broadway Grand! (1993)

• Contemporary Authors Online, Detroit: Gale, 2001, ISBN 978-0-7876-3995-2

• Lee Adams at the Internet Broadway Database
• Lee Adams at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television