Jack Lawrence, 96, who wrote the lyrics for Frank Sinatra’s first hit recording, “All or Nothing at All,” as well as standards sung by such stars as Dinah Shore and Bobby Darin, died Sunday in Danbury, Conn. Lawrence not only wrote songs, he also co-produced off-Broadway and Broadway performances, became a patron of the arts, and wrote a pair of autobiographies. Even at age 96, he was collaborating on a new song with Quincy Jones titled “Nostalgia.”
Anne Wiggins Brown, 96, the African-American soprano who was the first Bess in George Gershwin’s landmark opera “Porgy and Bess,” died Friday in Oslo, Norway, where she had lived since 1948. After rejection by schools because of the color of her skin, she became at 16 the first black vocalist admitted to New York City’s Juilliard School of Music. Brown is acknowledged as the inspiration that caused Gersh win to keep adding songs for her character, turning “Porgy” into “Porgy and Bess.”
