Singin' In The Rain writer dies

Green and actress Phyllis Newman at their 1960 wedding

Adolph Green - the man who wrote the screenplay for Hollywood classic Singin' in the Rain - has died.

Green, whose collaboration with Betty Comden resulted in some of stage and screen's greatest musical comedies, died in his sleep at his Manhattan home on Wednesday, aged 86.

Comden and Green's six-decade partnership was the longest running creative affiliation in theatre history.

Among the pair's most popular songs were Just in Time, The Party's Over and Make Someone Happy.

Green, a native New Yorker known for his shock of white hair, collected seven Tony Awards for his work on Broadway as well as three Screen Writers' Guild Awards and two Academy Award nominations.

Amazing

Composer Cy Coleman said he was shocked by news of Green's death: "One thing we all believed about Adolph is he was indestructible."

As recently as Friday, Green attended a reception to celebrate the opening of a Broadway musical set to Billy Joel's music Movin' Out.

"He was an amazing man, with just an amazing mind," Coleman said.

Gene Kelly starred in the 1952 classic Singin' in the Rain

Comden and Green wrote for nine films including musicals Singin' in the Rain in 1952, 1953's The Band Wagon and 1960's Bells are Ringing.

Singin' in the Rain - which starred Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds - is one of Hollywood's best-loved films.

It was ranked number three of the 10 best films of all time by the UK's Sight and Sound magazine and 10th on the American Film Institute's list of 100 greatest films.

Green worked as a messenger on Wall Street before pursuing a career in showbusiness.

He first partnered with Comden and a young performer called Judy Tuvin - who later changed her name to Judy Holliday - in the late 1930s, as a trio called The Revuers.

Collaborating with Leonard Bernstein they had their first Broadway success in 1944 with On the Town, the story of three sailors on 24-hour leave in wartime New York.

On the Town established their reputation on Broadway.

Comden and Green went on to collaborate on hit shows for stars such as Lauren Bacall and Phil Silvers.

In all, he produced a prodigious body of work, which Coleman described as "historic".

Green is survived by his wife, actress Phyllis Newman, his son Adam and daughter Amanda.