Herbert Greene, the musical director of many Broadway shows, including ''The Music Man,'' for which he won a Tony Award in 1958, died of a heart attack Wednesday at his home in Manhattan. He was 64 years old.
Over the years, his career in the theater had embraced several different capacities, including conductor, arranger, vocal teacher, producer and performer.
Born in Brooklyn, Mr. Greene attended Brooklyn College and trained to be an opera singer, but his first important professional break came in 1944, when he won a role in the chorus of ''On the Town.'' His conducting talents so impressed Leonard Bernstein that Mr. Greene later became the show's musical director. He subsequently worked as the vocal arranger and musical director of ''Two on the Aisle,'' ''The Most Happy Fella,'' ''The Music Man,'' ''Silk Stockings,'' ''Bells are Ringing,'' ''The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' and ''Anyone Can Whistle,'' among many other shows. His most recent Broadway conducting assignment was ''42d Street.'' ''The Music Man'' was the most successful of several Broadway shows he co-produced in partnership with Kermit Bloomgarden.
As a Broadway ''voice doctor,'' Mr. Greene specialized in teaching actors how to sing on the stage. His many pupils included Rosalind Russell, Angela Lansbury, Judy Holliday, Robert Preston and Henry Fonda.
He is survived by his daughter, Deborah Bershatsky, his son Joshua, his mother, Eva, two brothers, Ben and Larry, and two grandchildren.
Obituary Published by The New York Times on September 27, 1985, Section B, Page 4
https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/27/arts/herbert-greene-dead-a-director-of-musicals.html
Over the years, his career in the theater had embraced several different capacities, including conductor, arranger, vocal teacher, producer and performer.
Born in Brooklyn, Mr. Greene attended Brooklyn College and trained to be an opera singer, but his first important professional break came in 1944, when he won a role in the chorus of ''On the Town.'' His conducting talents so impressed Leonard Bernstein that Mr. Greene later became the show's musical director. He subsequently worked as the vocal arranger and musical director of ''Two on the Aisle,'' ''The Most Happy Fella,'' ''The Music Man,'' ''Silk Stockings,'' ''Bells are Ringing,'' ''The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' and ''Anyone Can Whistle,'' among many other shows. His most recent Broadway conducting assignment was ''42d Street.'' ''The Music Man'' was the most successful of several Broadway shows he co-produced in partnership with Kermit Bloomgarden.
As a Broadway ''voice doctor,'' Mr. Greene specialized in teaching actors how to sing on the stage. His many pupils included Rosalind Russell, Angela Lansbury, Judy Holliday, Robert Preston and Henry Fonda.
He is survived by his daughter, Deborah Bershatsky, his son Joshua, his mother, Eva, two brothers, Ben and Larry, and two grandchildren.
Obituary Published by The New York Times on September 27, 1985, Section B, Page 4
https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/27/arts/herbert-greene-dead-a-director-of-musicals.html
Herbert Greene, the musical director of many Broadway shows, including ''The Music Man,'' for which he won a Tony Award in 1958, died of a heart attack Wednesday at his home in Manhattan. He was 64 years old.
Over the years, his career in the theater had embraced several different capacities, including conductor, arranger, vocal teacher, producer and performer.
Born in Brooklyn, Mr. Greene attended Brooklyn College and trained to be an opera singer, but his first important professional break came in 1944, when he won a role in the chorus of ''On the Town.'' His conducting talents so impressed Leonard Bernstein that Mr. Greene later became the show's musical director. He subsequently worked as the vocal arranger and musical director of ''Two on the Aisle,'' ''The Most Happy Fella,'' ''The Music Man,'' ''Silk Stockings,'' ''Bells are Ringing,'' ''The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' and ''Anyone Can Whistle,'' among many other shows. His most recent Broadway conducting assignment was ''42d Street.'' ''The Music Man'' was the most successful of several Broadway shows he co-produced in partnership with Kermit Bloomgarden.
As a Broadway ''voice doctor,'' Mr. Greene specialized in teaching actors how to sing on the stage. His many pupils included Rosalind Russell, Angela Lansbury, Judy Holliday, Robert Preston and Henry Fonda.
He is survived by his daughter, Deborah Bershatsky, his son Joshua, his mother, Eva, two brothers, Ben and Larry, and two grandchildren.
Obituary Published by The New York Times on September 27, 1985, Section B, Page 4
https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/27/arts/herbert-greene-dead-a-director-of-musicals.html
Over the years, his career in the theater had embraced several different capacities, including conductor, arranger, vocal teacher, producer and performer.
Born in Brooklyn, Mr. Greene attended Brooklyn College and trained to be an opera singer, but his first important professional break came in 1944, when he won a role in the chorus of ''On the Town.'' His conducting talents so impressed Leonard Bernstein that Mr. Greene later became the show's musical director. He subsequently worked as the vocal arranger and musical director of ''Two on the Aisle,'' ''The Most Happy Fella,'' ''The Music Man,'' ''Silk Stockings,'' ''Bells are Ringing,'' ''The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' and ''Anyone Can Whistle,'' among many other shows. His most recent Broadway conducting assignment was ''42d Street.'' ''The Music Man'' was the most successful of several Broadway shows he co-produced in partnership with Kermit Bloomgarden.
As a Broadway ''voice doctor,'' Mr. Greene specialized in teaching actors how to sing on the stage. His many pupils included Rosalind Russell, Angela Lansbury, Judy Holliday, Robert Preston and Henry Fonda.
He is survived by his daughter, Deborah Bershatsky, his son Joshua, his mother, Eva, two brothers, Ben and Larry, and two grandchildren.
Obituary Published by The New York Times on September 27, 1985, Section B, Page 4
https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/27/arts/herbert-greene-dead-a-director-of-musicals.html
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