Herbert Greene

Herbert Greene was a Broadway conductor, vocal arranger, vocal coach and producer, prominent in the Broadway musical theater in New York City until his death in 1985. In 1958, he was a recipient of the Tony Award for The Music Man as Musical Director and Conductor, and won a second Tony Award as the show's co-producer with Kermit Bloomgarten.

With a classical background in opera and composition, Greene wrote innovative vocal and choral arrangements for such hit musicals as Guys and Dolls, The Most Happy Fella, Bells Are Ringing, and The Unsinkable Molly Brown, to name a few.

In addition to his many contributions to the Broadway stage as a sought-after conductor, arranger, producer and collaborator with Cole Porter, Frank Loesser, Meredith Willson and Stephen Sondheim, among many others. Greene was renowned among Hollywood and Broadway stars of the era as a "voice doctor" who could take a film or stage actor and in a short time make a Broadway singer of them. Many Hollywood stars, seeking a stint on Broadway, came to Herb Greene to gain vocal ability and confidence in what was to them an unfamiliar and prestigious new venue. Among the familiar names who benefited from his talents as a vocal coach were Rosalind Russell, Angela Lansbury, Barbara Cook, Robert Preston, Don Ameche, Judy Holliday, Lee Remick, Henry Fonda and Rock Hudson, to name only a few.

Herbert Greene was married for 13 years to his childhood sweetheart, pianist, Lucy Greene, who premiered contemporary works, performed in chamber ensembles and was a well-known pedagogue. They had two children, Deborah and Joshua. At the height of his success, Greene was divorced and briefly remarried Norma Geist, and during their marriage he relocated with her to Beverly Hills. Again single in 1968, Greene married Carolyn Jones, a film star best known for the role of Morticia in the TV series, The Addams Family. During their 9-year marriage, the couple moved to Palm Springs where they collaborated to write two novels. A few years after the breakup of his third marriage, Greene returned to New York, where he resumed his career as a vocal coach and became the conductor of Gower Champion's Broadway extravaganza, 42nd Street. He remained single until his death of a heart attack in 1985.