Martin Charnin

American lyricist, writer, performer, and theater director. Born November 24, 1934 in New York City, New York, USA. Died July 7, 2019 (age of 84) in White Plains, New York, USA. Married to actress Lynn Ross (2) (1958 - 1961, divorced). Married to actress Shelly Burch (2006 - 2019, his death). He began his theatrical career as a performer, appearing as one of the Jets in the original production of West Side Story. Charnin's best-known work is as lyricist for the hit musical Annie for which he won the 1977 Tony Award for Best Original Score.