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American conductor, composer, pianist, and author Leonard Bernstein (August 25, 1918 - October 14, 1990) was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts to parents who were Jewish immigrants from Ukraine. He was the music director of the New York Philharmonic for years, and for his compositions such as the score for “West Side Story.” His list of works include ballet, opera, film scores, chamber music, musicals, and piano music. Despite suspicions that he was gay, Bernstein married a Chilean actress, and they had three children, and though he left her in 1978 to live with a man, but came back when she was diagnosed with lung cancer, caring for her two years until her death. He himself died of a heart attack.

 

 

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