Newyork: Robert Wright, a composer and lyricist who collaborated with George Forrest on the scores for such Broadway musicals as ‘Kismet,’ ‘Song of Norway’ and ‘Grand Hotel,’ has died at the age of 90. Born on September 25, 1914 at Daytona Beach, Wright died on Wednesday at his Miami home of natural causes. For much of their careers, Wright and Forrest specialized in adapting someone else’s music, usually a classical composer, and spinning it into something new. They used their talent, to take an obscure wedding dance by Edvard Grieg and turn it into ‘Strange Music,’ a smash from ‘Song of Norway’ (1944).

‘Baubles, Bangles and Beads’ for ‘Kismet’ (1953), which won a Tony Award for best musical. — AP