'Fiddler On the Roof' composer dies

Jerry Bock, composer of Broadway musicals, dies of heart failure at 81. 'He was terribly funny,' says friend

Associated Press|Published: 11.04.10 , 13:56

Jerry Bock, who composed the music to some of the most memorable shows in Broadway history, including the melodies for "Fiorello!" and "Fiddler on the Roof," has died. He was 81.

Richard M. Ticktin, Bock's attorney and family friend, said the composer died Wednesday morning at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, New York, of heart failure.

Together with lyricist Sheldon Harnick, Bock wrote the powerful score to "Fiddler on the Roof," one of the most successful productions in the history of the American musical theater, having an initial run of eight years. It earned the two men Tony Awards in 1965.

"He was wonderful to work with," said Harnick, who collaborated with Bock for 13 years. "I think in all of the years that we worked together, I only remember one or two arguments, and those were at the beginning of the collaboration when we were still feeling each other out. Once we got past that, he was wonderful to work with."

Bock had recently spoken at a memorial service for "Fiddler" playwright Joseph Stein, who died Oct. 24. "So now two of the three creators of 'Fiddler on the Roof' have passed away within three weeks of each other," said Ticktin.

Born Jerrold Lewis Bock in New Haven, Connecticut, Bock was the son of a traveling salesman father and a mother who played the piano by ear. The young composer took up the piano at age 9, but admitted he was often impatient with formal lessons and preferred to improvise.

Based on stories by Sholom Aleichem that were adapted into a libretto by Stein, "Fiddler" dealt with the experience of Eastern European Orthodox Jews in the Russian village of Anatevka in the year 1905. It starred Zero Mostel as Teyve, had an almost eight year run and offered the world such stunning songs as "Sunrise, Sunset," "If I Were a Rich Man" and "Matchmaker, Matchmaker."

Bock, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972, also wrote dozens of children's songs and won an Emmy this year for "A Fiddler Crab Am I" from the show "The Wonder Pets!" Described by Ticktin as a "workaholic," Bock had just finished writing music and lyrics for a new unproduced musical, "Counterpoint," based on a script by Evan Hunter. (Ticktin said the rest of the creators still want to stage the musical.)

Recalling his old friend, Harnick said Bock was someone filled with laughter: "He was a terribly funny man, a very witty man. And sometimes, the two of us would be just hysterical with laughter."

Survivors include Bock's wife, Patti, daughter Portia Bock, son George Bock and granddaughter Edie Mae Shipler. Funeral services will be private, his lawyer said.