Biography

Herbert Kretzmer was born on October 5, 1925 in Kroonstad, Orange Free State, South Africa. He was a writer and composer, known for Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary (2010) and Notting Hill (1999). He was married to Sybil Sever and Elisabeth Wilson. He died on October 14, 2020 in London, England, UK.

Won Broadway's 1987 Tony Award, his lyrics with Alain Boublil and the music of Claude-Michel Schönberg as Best Score for "Les Misérables."

Biography/bibliography in: "Contemporary Authors". New Revision Series, Vol. 130, pp. 238-240. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2005.

He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2011 Queen's New Year's Honours List for his services to music. He was the lyricist for the musical adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel, "Les Miserables".

As of December 2010, he was residing in Kensington, London, England.

A well-known show business journalist for British newspapers in the 1950s with a fondness for writing song lyrics. He progressed from writing comic songs for Millicent Martin on "That Was The Week That Was" to the English-language version of the stage musical smash-hit "Les Miserables", which made him hugely rich in his old age.

[on Greta Garbo] Boiled down to essentials, she is a plain mortal girl with large feet.

Old songwriters don't die, they just decompose.