What sort of gay person does not love the MGM mucicals from the Golden Age of Hollywood? Roger Edens was an arranger, songwriter, & producer. He was a congenial, cultured, & clever gay man who brought in other brilliant gay men as collaborators for MGM. Producer Arthur Freed's unit at MGM was responsible for some of the finest musical films ever. Freed, who was not gay, was happy to gather the group derisively known as "Freed's Fairies”: Edens, George Cukor & prop master- Edwin Willis.
Although Edens was handsome enough to be star, he worked to give the best & brightest stars of Hollywood’s Golden Era the perfect musical numbers suited for their unique talents.
When Edens arrived in NYC in the 1920s, he found work as a pit musician. When Ethel Merman’s pianist withdrew from Girl Crazy in 1932, Edens was hired to replace him. Merman was so impressed that she hired him as pianist/arranger for her nightclub act, & brought him to Hollywood. When Merman returned to Broadway, Edens stayed in LA. He was hired by MGM’s Freed as his musical supervisor & associate producer for his legendary "Freed Unit." As a team, they made some of the finest musicals films: Babes In Arms, Easter Parade, Royal Wedding, An American in Paris, Singin' In The Rain, & The Bandwagon.
At a time when homosexuality was seen as a fatal flaw in Hollywood, Edens managed to keep his a secret. After his brief marriage to a starlet ended in divorce, he had a beard in the very gifted friend & co-worker- Kay Thompson, with whom he shares a birthday.
Edens was musical mentor to Judy Garland & was an uncredited coach in almost all of her musical films. Because of his exclusive MGM contract, Edens could not take screen credit for Garland's memorable Born In A Trunk sequence in the Warner Bros production of A Star Is Born in 1954.
His long career at MGM culminated with being credited producer for the all-star Deep In My Heart (1954). When MGM cut back on musical production & disposed of the creative staff, Edens continued to work at other studios, producing Funny Face (1957) & Jumbo (1962) & working in TV. In the 1960s, he composed special night club material for Garland & Merman. His final screen assignment was as associate producer of Hello, Dolly! (1969), directed by fellow MGM alumni Gene Kelly. Edens coached Katherine Hepburn for her Broadway musical stage debut in Coco (1969). A longtime chain smoker, he died of lung cancer at age 64 in the summer of 1970.
Although Edens was handsome enough to be star, he worked to give the best & brightest stars of Hollywood’s Golden Era the perfect musical numbers suited for their unique talents.
When Edens arrived in NYC in the 1920s, he found work as a pit musician. When Ethel Merman’s pianist withdrew from Girl Crazy in 1932, Edens was hired to replace him. Merman was so impressed that she hired him as pianist/arranger for her nightclub act, & brought him to Hollywood. When Merman returned to Broadway, Edens stayed in LA. He was hired by MGM’s Freed as his musical supervisor & associate producer for his legendary "Freed Unit." As a team, they made some of the finest musicals films: Babes In Arms, Easter Parade, Royal Wedding, An American in Paris, Singin' In The Rain, & The Bandwagon.
At a time when homosexuality was seen as a fatal flaw in Hollywood, Edens managed to keep his a secret. After his brief marriage to a starlet ended in divorce, he had a beard in the very gifted friend & co-worker- Kay Thompson, with whom he shares a birthday.
Edens was musical mentor to Judy Garland & was an uncredited coach in almost all of her musical films. Because of his exclusive MGM contract, Edens could not take screen credit for Garland's memorable Born In A Trunk sequence in the Warner Bros production of A Star Is Born in 1954.
His long career at MGM culminated with being credited producer for the all-star Deep In My Heart (1954). When MGM cut back on musical production & disposed of the creative staff, Edens continued to work at other studios, producing Funny Face (1957) & Jumbo (1962) & working in TV. In the 1960s, he composed special night club material for Garland & Merman. His final screen assignment was as associate producer of Hello, Dolly! (1969), directed by fellow MGM alumni Gene Kelly. Edens coached Katherine Hepburn for her Broadway musical stage debut in Coco (1969). A longtime chain smoker, he died of lung cancer at age 64 in the summer of 1970.
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