Tony-Winning Annie Creator Martin Charnin Dies at 84

Martin Charnin, the Tony-award winning writer and lyricist best known for the Broadway musical Annie which he both created and directed, died Wednesday at the age of 84 after suffering a heart attack. Charnin’s death was confirmed by his daughter, Sasha Charnin, in a Facebook post on Sunday.

“Our father passed away,” Sasha wrote. “Martin Charnin lived a very full life. He was watching Family Feud at the end, laughing with Shelly in bed at the hospital. He suffered a minor heart attack on the 3rd and tried to hold on for all of us. His strength was astounding. He’s in a painless place, now. Probably looking for Cole Porter and Ira Gershwin. We adored Daddy and not fully accepting it yet. He was the best father we could have ever imagined.”

She went on to detail those Charnin left behind as well as reference one of the best-loved lines from Annie — the sun will come out tomorrow.

“He is survived by his wife, all of his kids and his three grandchildren, several dogs, cats and a kid with no pupils,” she wrote. “And as loving as he was has kept all of us completely directionless. Which way do we go Daddy? Damn. But like he said and as corny as this sounds…the sun will come out tomorrow. Rest in Peace, Daddy. We love you.”

Based on the popular Depression-era comic strip Little Orphan Annie, Annie opened on Broadway in 1977, going on to be nominated for 10 Tony awards. The musical won seven, including Best Musical. In addition to Annie, Charnin has a long list of other credits as well, including Vernon Duke’s musical Zenda, Ballad for a Firing Squad, and 1970’s Two By Two musical. He also worked in television as well, winning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Program-Variety or Musical-Variety and Popular Music in 1971 for Annie, the Women in the Life of a Man, a production that starred Anne Bancroft in 14 musical sketches.

Charnin was born November 24, 1934 in New York, Charnin initially started his career as an actor, with one of his first roles being that of Big Deal, one of the Jets in the 1957 production of West Side Story. As he continued acting, he got into lyric writing, his career eventually shifting to pursuing that on a larger scale.

Following the success of Annie, Charnin went on to work on several additional successful Broadway productions, including Bar Mitzvah Boy, Remember Mama, The First, A Little Family Business, Cafe Crown, Sid Caesar & Company, and The Flowering Peach.