American composer (born March 2, 1905, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - died January 22, 1964, Fort-de-France, Martinique).
Known for writing the English lyrics for Mack The Knife, Pirate Jenny, and the rest of Brecht and Weill's The Threepenny Opera, and their Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Composer of the leftist musical The Cradle Will Rock (1937, dir. Orson Welles), suppressed by the U.S. Works Progress Administration, Blitzstein was blacklisted in Hollywood through the 1950s. Openly gay, he was murdered by three sailors on a visit to Martinique in 1964.