Richard Adler

Richard Adler, who co-wrote the musicals The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees with his partner, Jerry Ross, died Thursday at his home in Southampton, N.Y. He was 90. Fresh Air remembers the composer and lyricist with excerpts from a 1990 interview.

This interview was originally broadcast on Aug. 9, 1990.

Adler has a new memoir about his career in musical theater. He wrote songs with Jerry Ross for The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees. Ross died early in their partnership in 1955.