Lawrence "Larry" Cecil Adler, (February 10 1914 – August 7 2001), was an accomplished musician, widely acknowledged as one of the world's most skilled harmonica players. He was mostly known for his collaborations with musicians such as Sting George Gershwin, Kate Bush and composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Biography

Larry Adler was born in Baltimore, USA, he was from Jewish origin. He taught himself on harmonica playing and began playing professionally at the age of 14.

Adler moved to the United Kingdom in 1949, having been forced to leave the USA after accusations of sympathising with communism. This led to a general sentiment of disregard for him in North America during the 1950s.

Apart from his career as a musician, Adler also made appearances in several movies. He was also known as a prolific letter writer, with his correspondence with the satirical magazine Private Eye becoming legendary. Larry wrote an autobiography - entitled It Ain't Necessarily So - in 1985, and worked as a food critic for Harpers & Queen for some time.

The 1953 movie Genevieve brought him an Oscar nomination for his work on the soundtrack, although his name was originally kept off the credits because of McCarthyism blacklisting.

Adler had four children, two grandchildren and two great grandchildren. He passed away peacefully in the St Thomas Hospital, in London, at the age of 87, on August, the sixth of 2001.