Martin Charnin, Tony-Winning Creator of Annie, Dies at 84

Martin Charnin, the Tony-winning creator of Annie, died on July 6 in White Plains, New York after suffering a heart attack three days earlier. He was 84.

His daughter confirmed the news on Facebook: “Our father passed away. Martin Charnin lived a very full life…He’s in a painless place, now. Probably looking for Cole Porter and Ira Gershwin. We adored Daddy and not fully accepting it yet. He loved and lived his best! He was the best father we could have ever imagined. He is survived by his wife, all of his kids and his three grandchildren, several dogs, cats and a kid with no pupils. And as loving as he was has kept all of us completely directionless. …Like he said and as corny as this sounds...the sun’ll will come out tomorrow.”

Charnin is best known as the conceiver, director and lyricist of the 1977 musical Annie, the beloved show based on the comic strip Little Orphan Annie, which he wrote with composer Charles Strouse and librettist Thomas Meehan. It follows a Depression-era orphan whose luck changes when she is chosen to spend Christmas at the residence of the wealthy Oliver Warbucks. The musical, which began life at the Goodspeed Opera House in 1976, went on to be nominated for 10 Tony Awards, including Best Director, and won seven, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book. It also won Drama Desk Awards for direction and lyrics and a Grammy for its original cast album. It ran on Broadway for over 2,000 performances and has been revived twice. Charnin also worked on the 1993 sequel Annie Warbucks, which ran off-Broadway for 200 performances.

Charnin got his start on Broadway as Big Deal in the original production of West Side Story in 1957. He went on to a few other acting parts, including appearing in the 1959 revue The Girls Against the Boys, starring Dick Van Dyke. But he soon began work as a lyricist with Broadway’s Hot Spot, which starred Judy Holliday and featured music by Mary Rodgers, in 1963. He worked as a writer, director and producer for many well-known cabaret artists. He made his Broadway directing debut in 1973, conceiving and directing the revue Nash at Nine, based on the works of Ogden Nash. His long list of writing and directing stage credits include Bar Mitzvah Boy, I Remember Mama, The Madwoman of Central Park West, La Strada, The First and many more. He won three Emmys, one for Annie, the Women in the Life of a Man, starring Anne Bancroft, in 1970 and two for ’S Wonderful, ’S Marvelous, ’S Gershwin, which starred Jack Lemmon and Fred Astaire, in 1972.

The writer, director, producer and actor is survived by his wife Shelly Burch, two children, Randy and Sasha, and three grandchildren, Maxwell, Gus and Oliver.