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Don Black

Shows · Don Black

LyricistBook Writer b. 1938

Donald Blackstone (born 21 June 1938), known professionally as Don Black, is an English lyricist. His works have included numerous musicals, movie, television themes and hit songs. He has provided lyrics for John Barry, Charles Strouse, Matt Monro, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Quincy Jones, Hoyt Curtin, Lulu, Jule Styne, Henry Mancini, Meat Loaf, Michael Jackson, Robbie Williams, Elmer Bernstein, Michel Legrand, Hayley Westenra, Ennio Morricone, A. R. Rahman, Marvin Hamlisch and Debbie Wiseman. AllMusic stated that "Black is perhaps best-known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, and for the James Bond theme songs he co-wrote with composer John Barry: Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever an…

Also credited on6 works

Song and Dance
Aspects of Love
Sunset Boulevard
Bonnie and Clyde
Dracula, The Musical
Sunset Boulevard (2024 Revival)

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature8 passages

  • [520] Mattthew Hemley, “Don Black Defends Lloyd Webber ’s TV Talent Shows”, The Stage , London, 1 May 2008.ebooks/Atkey, Mel/Million Miles from Broadway_ Musical Theatre Beyond New York and London, A - Mel Atkey.txt
  • Inverne, James, Wrestling with Elephants – The Authorised Biography of Don Black , Sanctuary Books, London, 2003.ebooks/Atkey, Mel/Million Miles from Broadway_ Musical Theatre Beyond New York and London, A - Mel Atkey.txt
  • But in 1994–1995, when the Best Score was Sunset Boulevard —music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Christopher Hampton and Don Black—it didn’t win because the Tony committee didn’t draw up a list of nominees. It won uncontested and outright, because giving a nomination to the one and only other original score that season—Lamb Chop on Bro…ebooks/Filichia, Peter/B007L4OWCU EBOK - Peter Filichia.txt
  • Such was the story of the unnamed “Girl” in Tell Me on a Sunday, which composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Don Black wrote as a song cycle in 1978, put on record in 1979, and on television the following year.ebooks/Filichia, Peter/Strippers, Showgirls, and Sharks - Peter Filichia.txt
  • “Don Black honed his craft … in the theatre. His first show was a musical about premature ejaculation, which, predictably enough, came off very quickly.”—theater columnist MARK STEYN on the lyricist of Sunset Boulevard and Aspects of Love , also movie songs like “Born Free” and “Diamonds Are Forever”ebooks/Hadleigh, Boze/Broadway Babylon - Boze Hadleigh.txt
  • Don Black, a former stand-up comedian, made his West End debut as a lyricist on the musical Billy . He has previously worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber on the shows Song and Dance, Aspects of Love and Sunset Boulevard . His awards include an Oscar and five Academy Award nominations. He has written five James Bond title songs and was recentl…ebooks/Hampton, Christopher/Stephen Ward_ A Musical - Christopher Hampton & Don Black.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Any staging. This name appears in no production cast list we hold — 1,877 of 7,139 people are in that position, most of them writers, composers and designers rather than performers.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — lyricist, book writer — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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