Mrs. Weil was born on October 18, 1940, in New York City, the youngest of two children of Morris Weil, who owned a furniture company, and Dorothy (Mendez) Weil.
Growing up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and later on the Upper East Side, she trained as an actress and dancer and dreamed of a life in theater, a subject she later majored at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York.
“I always was Focus on Broadwayshe said in a 2016 video interview with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “I wanted to write for Broadway, I always envisioned myself doing something on Broadway.”
She channeled that youthful longing into the lyrics of “On Broadway,” which she originally wrote from the point of view of a small-town girl who dreams of a future on the Great White Trail—a dream that the lyrics admit often comes with dashed hopes:
They say neon lights are bright on Broadway
They say there is always magic in the air
But when you walk down the street
And you don’t have enough food
Gloss wipes off instantly while you’re on the go
Mrs. Will eventually changes the song’s protagonist into a male for sake Lostversion, which charted No. 9 as a single in 1962. Sixteen years later, George Benson made his own version Jazz version at No. 7.
In addition to her husband and daughter, Dr. Mann, a psychiatrist, she is survived by two granddaughters.
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