- Born
- 25 August 1918Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA
- Died
- 14 October 1990New York City, USA · aged 72
Leonard Bernstein
The composer of “West Side Story” and great conductor loved his wife – and loved men, all his life.
Leonard Bernstein grew up in a family of Jewish immigrants from Ukraine near Boston. His father wanted him to join the family business, but the boy was obsessed with music. In 1943, aged 25, he stepped in at short notice for an ill conductor at the New York Philharmonic in a concert broadcast nationwide – and became famous overnight.
He composed the musicals “On the Town” and “West Side Story” (1957), symphonies and the “Chichester Psalms”. From 1958 to 1969 he was music director of the New York Philharmonic, the first American-born conductor to hold the post. His televised “Young People’s Concerts” taught millions of children to love classical music.
In 1951 he married the Chilean-born actress Felicia Montealegre; they had three children. Bernstein had relationships with men before and during his marriage, which his wife knew about. In 1976 he left the family for a time to live with a young man, Tom Cothran, but returned when Felicia fell ill with cancer; she died in 1978. His daughter later wrote openly about her father’s life.
Bernstein died in New York in 1990, aged 72. The film “Maestro” (2023) told the story of his marriage.