Adler, Lawrence Cecil

▪ 2002

“Larry” 

      American musician, composer, writer, and entertainer (b. Feb. 10, 1914, Baltimore, Md.—d. Aug. 6, 2001, London, Eng.), played classical music on the harmonica, which he insisted on calling a “mouth organ”; he then enjoyed a long career as a humorist, telling stories of his encounters with celebrity friends and British royalty. Though the harmonica had previously been associated only with folk music, in his hands it became a highly versatile and expressive instrument. At age 10 Adler became the youngest cantor in Baltimore, and the following year he ordered an expensive piano, which he then persuaded his parents to accept; he also began playing the harmonica. In 1927 he won the Maryland Harmonica Championship by playing a Beethoven minuet. The next year, at 14, Adler left home for New York City and played harmonica on the streets, then in nightclubs; by age 17 he was performing with Fred Astaire in the Broadway show Smiles. He also appeared in small film roles and became a favourite of New York City and Hollywood stars before playing his first of many concerts with symphony orchestras in Sydney, Australia, in 1939. Adler learned music by listening and memorizing; he did not learn to read music until 1940, when French composer Jean Berger wrote a concerto for him. Among others who composed music for him were Ralph Vaughan Williams and Darius Milhaud; William Walton called him a “genius,” and George Gershwin praised his performance of Rhapsody in Blue. A liberal who entertained American troops during World War II and the Korean War and in Israel during its 1967 and 1973 wars, Adler opposed the House Committee on Un-American Activities; as a result, he was blacklisted in the U.S., and in 1949 he moved to England, where he had long been popular. There he composed for the stage, films, and television, and he performed as a stand-up comedian-storyteller as well as musician in nightclubs, in theatres, and on the air. At age 80 Adler issued the disc The Glory of Gershwin with guest stars that included Elvis Costello and Elton John; it made him the oldest performer to have placed an album on the British hit record charts. In later life Adler also became a successful book, film, and restaurant critic, as well as the author of Jokes and How to Tell Them (1963) and the autobiography It Ain't Necessarily So(1984).

* * *