Biography
Betty Comden was an American lyricist, playwright and screenwriter. She formed a writing partnership with Adolph Green that lasted six decades and produced lyrics, libretti and screenplays for numerous stage musicals and Hollywood films.
Their credits include the story and screenplay for Singin' in the Rain (1952), as well as work on On the Town (1949), The Band Wagon (1953), It's Always Fair Weather (1955), Auntie Mame (1958) and Bells Are Ringing (1960). The pair began in a nightclub act called the Revuers and later collaborated with composers including Leonard Bernstein and Jule Styne, and with the Freed Unit at MGM.
Comden was born Basya Cohen in Brooklyn, New York, on 3 May 1917 and died in New York City on 23 November 2006. She received Writers Guild of America awards for On the Town and Singin' in the Rain, and several Tony Awards with Green.
