Herbert Kretzmer
| Herbert Kretzmer | |
|---|---|
| Born |
5 October 1925 Kroonstad, South Africa |
| Occupation | Journalist, lyricist |
| Spouse(s) | Elisabeth Margaret Wilson (1961-1973) Sybil Sever (1988-) |
Herbert Kretzmer, OBE (born 5 October 1925) is a South African-born English journalist and lyric writer. He is best known as the lyricist for the English-language musical adaptation of Les Misérables as well as for his long-time collaboration writing the English-language lyrics to the songs of French chansonnier Charles Aznavour.
Kretzmer was born in Kroonstad, South Africa, in 1925. He is one of four brothers of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants William and Tilly Kretzmer, who fled the pogroms of Czarist Russia to settle in small-town South Africa early in the 20th century. His parents ran a furniture store. Elliot, the oldest of the brothers, flew as part of a bomber crew in the South African Air Force during the second World War, eventually becoming the Mayor of Johannesburg in 1991.
Kretzmer began his professional career writing documentary films and the commentary for a weekly cinema newsreel. However, he soon moved on to print journalism, initially as a reporter and feature writer for the Johannesburg Sunday Express. He relocated to London in the mid-1950s and pursued twin careers as journalist and lyric writer.
After several years as a feature writer on the Daily Sketch, Kretzmer became a profile writer on the Sunday Dispatch and the Daily Express, interviewing John Steinbeck, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Sugar Ray Robinson, Louis Armstrong, Henry Miller, Cary Grant and Duke Ellington. In 1962, he became senior drama critic of the Daily Express: a post he held for 18 years, covering about 3,000 first nights.
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