The speech written and delivered by Liz Smith honoring Jerry Herman at the "Name That Tune" Benefit 2011:
"JERRY HERMAN - THIS genius of musical theater is living happily at age 80 in California. He is doing well which thrills us all. I suppose you think that a gossip columnist might be the one to tell all the things you've never been able to find out about Jerry. The dirt and the dirtier - but unlike the beautiful Ms. Kardashian, Jerry never appeared, to my knowledge, in a sex video (though he might have liked too; he was adventurous). But Jerry didn't make a reality TV show appearance; he was much too real for that, and he hasn't ever bothered to marry, for even 72 days as Ms. Kardashian did.
I'm afraid Jerry Herman is a washout at scandal and gossip. But believe me, folks, not a day goes by that all of us don't hum, or sing, or hear Jerry's music. It is said by show biz insiders that Jerry is so universal that you just hear a song of his once and you can hum it or sing it. And you probably can't stop. That is pretty damned great. He is universal in the musical theater, the songsmith of modern American life.
When a person has swept the Tonys, including a Lifetime Achievement, won Emmys, Grammys, Drama Desks, the (get this one) Johnny Mercer. . .Richard Rodgers. . .Oscar Hammerstein. . .Frederick Loewe awards, been taken into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. . .seen his name in gold at the Theater Hall of Fame. . .had a documentary. . .a comedy written about himself. . .been a Kennedy Center honoree. . .found his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. . .had theaters named for him, seen his work recreated in four movies. . .well, I've forgotten something but never mind.
When a person is THAT famous, you'd be correct to suspect that all those awards, winning, and money would turn you into a terrible egotistical demanding bitch. Well, in Jerry Herman's case, it didn't! He is no resisting-being-loved Stephen Sondheim, no tempestuous Frederick Loewe, no unhappy-in-their-personal-lives Richard Rodgers or Oscar Hammerstein. . .no heart-broken Larry Hart. . .no cynical Cole Porter. All of them slightly irascible from their fame. But he has been more successful in many ways than all of them. And he is not difficult. He does not throw his considerable weight around. He's a really nice guy. Are you disappointed?
The only whisper about this wonderful man ever was back in the benighted days, that he had AIDS! Big deal. Luckily he lived in spite of it and became a proud part of AIDS history and the the defeat of its harm. We all in show business turned it into a manageable illness with such international champions as Elizabeth Taylor, Bill Clinton, Sharon Stone, Madonna, and -- Jerry Herman.
Jerry seemed like such an innocent when I first met him, thru - of course, Carol Channing. She made him! As he was making her! I will never forget going to his apartment in New York in the early days. He had a swing hanging in the living room - a children's type swing. I said, 'Jerry, is this for sex or is it just a children's type swing? Are you a swinger?' He laughed, 'I try to be!'
And what does Jerry love best of all about his incredible productive career? I think it's that forerunner of all our lovable robots ever produced. The adorable Wall-E from the year 2008 pleased him the most, gave him such pride and joy. Who can forget Wall-E as he collected his garbage and watched the remains of "Hello, Dolly!" on an old TV set in some futuristic setting of the scrapheap of the future?
Jerry put the lovable life into a robot and Pixar made more than $535 million dollars world wide in grosses from this movie alone. Could it have been the same without Wall-E, could Wall-E have happened without Jerry Herman? Believe me, they'll be singing Jerry's songs on Mars if we ever get there."
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| Liz Smith delivering her speech honoring Jerry Herman |