Howard Ashman

American playwright and lyricist (Baltimore, May 17, 1950 – New York City, March 14, 1991). He made team with Alan Menken, Ashman writing the lyrics and Menken composing the music, after they first collaborated on the off-Broadway musical [i]Little Shop of Horrors[/i] (1982). Both arrived to Walt Disney Pictures to bring a new life to company's animated features, achieving huge success with [i]The Little Mermaid[/i] (1989). Ashman got deeply involved in the development of two subsequent films, [i]Beauty and the Beast[/i] and [i]Aladdin[/i] (actually he was credited executive producer of [i]Beauty and the Beast[/i]), but he died after complications from AIDS before the completion of the first. He won two Academy Awards (being nominated five more times), two Grammy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.