Howard Ashman

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Howard Elliott Ashman (May 17, 1950-1991) was an American playwright and lyricist.

Ashman wrote the lyrics and Menken composed the music for several animated feature films for Disney, and he collaborated with Alan Menken on several projects and is best known for several animated feature films for Disney.

Ashman and Menken began collaborating with the musical God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1979), for which Ashman produced and wrote both book and lyrics.

Little Shop of Horrors (1982), Ashman's next film, became a huge success and culminated in a 1986 feature film.

The Little Mermaid (1989), followed by Beauty and the Beast (1991), was the collaboration's first Disney film.

Some of Ashman's songs were included in another Disney film, Aladdin (1992), following his death.

Early life and education

Ashman was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Shirley Thelma (née Glass) and Raymond Albert Ashman, a ice cream cone manufacturer. His family was Jewish. He began his theater experiences with the Children's Theater Association (CTA), performing roles such as Aladdin. Ashman began studying at Boston University and Goddard College (with a stop at Tufts University's Summer Theater) before going on to earn his master's degree from Indiana University in 1974.

Personal life

Ashman was never married and had no children. At a summer university program in 1969, Stuart White, one of his first students, met him. The two women, who were close friends, developed a bond that culminated in a mystery relationship. Both earned master's degrees at Indiana University and then migrated to New York City. The Workshop of Players Art Foundation (WPA) was re-opened by Ashman and White as artistic curators. The two were originally banned in 1980, but they reunited briefly prior to White's death from AIDS in July 1983.

Bill Lauch, who worked as an architect, was still with Ashman in 1984. In 1992, Lauch accepted Ashman's posthumous Oscar for Beauty and the Beast.

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Career

After graduating from Indiana in 1974, he moved to New York and served as an editor for Grosset & Dunlap. Cause Maggie's Afraid of the Dark and Dreamstuff were both met with mixed reviews. Herschel Bernardi's play The Confirmation was staged at Princeton's McCarter Theater in 1977 and starred Herschel Bernardi. He became the artistic director of the WPA Theater in New York in 1977. Alan Menken, a future collaborator, was among others at the BMI Workshop, where he worked with Maury Yeston and Ed Kleban. He first worked with Menken on the 1979 film Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, which was based on Vonnegut's book of the same name. They also worked on Little Shop of Horrors together with Ashman as producer, lyricist, and librettist, and they also received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics and a Grammy Award nomination. After asking why Guido's wife stays with him because she knows she has not been faithful, Yeston wrote "My Husband Makes Movies."

Ashman was producer, lyricist, and book writer for the 1986 Broadway musical Smile (music by Marvin Hamlisch). This musical was not well liked and ended with just 48 performances. Ashman also wrote the screenplay for Frank Oz's film adaptation of his musical "Borders of Horrors" in 1986, 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.

Ashman was brought in to write lyrics for a Walt Disney Animation Studios' Oliver & Company song in 1986. He later collaborated with Tina Turner on a script that never came to fruition. Though he was already working on a few projects, he learned that another one was on the back burner and was told of another one that Disney had been working on for several years. The film was called The Little Mermaid, Disney's first fairy tale in 30 years. All of the songs for the film were written by Ashman and Menken. During the early years of the "Disney Renaissance," Ashman became a driving force. He'd hold story meetings, and said the animation and musical styles were made for each other, which is why Disney had to continue producing musical films. He has also made good choices in casting actors with strong musical theater and acting experience. The Little Mermaid was born in November 1989 and was a great success. Ashman and Menken received two Golden Globe nominations and three Academy Award nominations for "Kiss The Girl" and "Under The Sea," as well as two Best Original Song nominations for "Kiss the Girl" and "Under the Sea," with Ashman and Menken winning for the latter.

Ashman suggested an animated musical adaptation of Aladdin to Disney in 1988, while working on The Little Mermaid. Linda Woolverton, who had worked on Beauty and the Beast, wrote a screenplay after he created a group of songs with partner Alan Menken and a film adaptation. Director John Musker and Ron Clements arrived at the film, and the story underwent several changes, with some elements of the original scheme being deleted. Three of Ashman's songs were included in the finished film, which was released after his death, out of the 16 songs written for Aladdin.

During early production of Aladdin, Ashman and Menken were able to help revive and save the Beauty and the Beast's, which had gone nowhere as a non-musical. Ashman, who wanted to focus on Aladdin and his health, reluctantly agreed. It was at this time that his health began to decline as a result of his illness. Regardless, he produced lyrical studies on Beauty and the Beast before succumbing to AIDS. The film was released just months after his death and is dedicated to him. "If you had to point to one individual responsible for the 'Disney Renaissance', I would say Howard."

Ashman, along with Menken, was co-recipient of two Grammy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Academy Awards.

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