STEIN, JOSEPH

STEIN, JOSEPH (1912– ), U.S. dramatist. Born in New York City, Stein grew up in the Bronx. His father, a Polish immigrant, read him the stories of shalom aleichem , and Stein would later remember them when he developed the musical Fiddler on the Roof. Earlier, Stein graduated from the City College of New York and earned a master of social work degree from Columbia University. He spent the next six years as a psychiatric social worker. In 1946 Stein began writing for radio, and two years later he and a writing partner, Will Glickman, began contributing sketches to Broadway revues. Stein was also a writer for the comedian Sid Caesar's television shows. One of his first works for Broadway was the musical Plain and Fancy (1955), about the adventures of a pair of sophisticated New Yorkers living among the Amish in Pennsylvania. Then came Mr. Wonderful (1956), a vehicle for sammy davis jr. , and, with Sheldon Harnick, the musical Body Beautiful (1958). In 1959 it was Take Me Along, an original musical, and in 1963, Enter Laughing, a comedy. Stein then produced the book (and Harnick and jerry bock the music) for Fiddler (1964), the story of Tevye the milkman and his five daughters that played on Broadway, first with zero mostel in the starring role, until 1972. It was revived on Broadway four times in the next 32 years, was made into a movie starring chaim topol , the Israeli star, and spawned productions all over the world, including such unlikely venues as Japan. Audiences devoured the music ("If I Were a Rich Man," "Sunrise, Sunset") and related to the universal truths espoused by a poor Jew in the fictional shtetl of Anatevka, where the Jews' lives were as shaky as that of a fiddler on a roof. Stein won the Tony Award and Drama Critics Circle Award for Fiddler. His other musicals included Zorba (1968), for which he received a Tony nomination; Rags (1986), another Tony nomination; and The Baker's Wife, which won the Laurence Olivier award in London. He also wrote the screenplays for Enter Laughing and for Fiddler on the Roof. (Stewart Kampel (2nd ed.)