Herbert Kretzmer: The lyricist behind Les Miserables' phenomenal success

Herbert Kretzmer, a London theatre critic who wrote the English lyrics to an all-but-forgotten French musical called Les Misérables in 1985, and gave new life to what has become one of the world’s most successful theatre productions, died on Wednesday at his home in London. He was 95.

A South African journalist who sold his accordion to buy passage to Europe, Kretzmer failed as a novelist in Paris, playing a piano for meals in a brasserie. A thief stole all of his money on his first day in London. He wrote features and columns for London newspapers, and became a theatre