Born Frances Deitsch, Landesman was raised in Manhattan and attended Temple University.

Her song “The Ballad of the Sad Young Men” — whom she described as “drifting through the town, drinking up the night, trying not to drown” — was recorded by Roberta Flack, Petula Clark, Rickie Lee Jones and, in an instrumental version, the pianist Keith Jarrett. With music by Tommy Wolf, it became a jazz standard.

She ended up marrying Jay Landesman, a publisher.

The Landesmans collaborated on a musical called The Nervous Set on Broadway, where she wrote the lyrics. The show was her sole Broadway credit.

Source: The New York Times