Martin Charnin Video | Celebrity Interview and Paparazzi

Martin Charnin (born November 24, 1934) is an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director and lyricist of the hit musical Annie. Born in New York City, he graduated from The High School of Music & Art and then from The Cooper Union, where he got his BFA. Charnin began his theatrical career as a performer, appearing as "Big Deal", one of the Jets in the original production of West Side Story. He played the role for 1000 performances on Broadway and on the road. After completing his duties in West Side Story, he wrote music and lyrics... MORE

Martin Charnin (born November 24, 1934) is an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director and lyricist of the hit musical Annie. Born in New York City, he graduated from The High School of Music & Art and then from The Cooper Union, where he got his BFA. Charnin began his theatrical career as a performer, appearing as "Big Deal", one of the Jets in the original production of West Side Story. He played the role for 1000 performances on Broadway and on the road. After completing his duties in West Side Story, he wrote music and lyrics for numerous off-Broadway and Cabaret revues, many of them for Julius Monk. He then went on to write, direct, and produce nightclub acts for Dionne Warwick, Nancy Wilson, Mary Travers, Larry Kert, Jose Ferrer, and Leslie Uggams. His first Broadway musical was in 1963, as the lyricist for Hot Spot starring Judy Holliday, with music by Mary Rodgers. In California, he contributed lyrics to Vernon Duke's musical Zenda and in 1967, wrote the lyrics for Mata Hari, which was produced by David Merrick. In the fall of 1969, he wrote lyrics to Richard Rodgers' music and Peter Stone's book for the musical LESS