Joseph Stein

Bronx-born librettist Joseph Stein entertained millions through his work for the Broadway stage. He began his career as a psychiatric social worker in 1939. After a chance encounter with actor Zero Mostel, who needed material for a radio show, Stein began writing, joining Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows and then moving on to Broadway with his first book, written with Will Glickman, for the 1955 musical Plain and Fancy. Teaming up with composer Jerry Bock and lyricist Sheldon Harnick, Stein wrote the book for Fiddler on the Roof, which went on for three thousand performances on Broadway and has been staged internationally many times. Stein also wrote the libretto for the musical Zorba (1968), based on Nikos Kazantzakis’s 1952 novel Zorba the Greek.