EXCLUSIVE: In a tribute shared exclusively with Deadline, musical theater impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh has remembered Tom Lehrer, the musical comedy legend, who has died at the age of 97.

Lehrer died on July 26 at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, leaving behind a legacy of satirical musical songs, including “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” and “The Vatican Rag,” which poked fun at mid-20th century America. He largely disappeared from public eyes in the 1970s and spent the rest of his life in academia, teaching mathematics.

Mackintosh, the West End producer behind shows including Hamilton and Les Misérables, collaborated with Lehrer on Tomfoolery, a musical revue of Lehrer’s songs, which opened at the Criterion Theatre in 1980.

In his tribute, Mackintosh recalls his friend’s “wickedly witty intellect” and pitching Tomfoolery to Lehrer, saying he is “profoundly grateful” for the opportunity to get to know an “extraordinary man.” Below is Mackintosh’s full tribute to the talent who created 1959’s “The Elements.”

“Tom Lehrer was a very special kind of genius – a master of language, mathematics and contagious melody who’s wickedly witty intellect defined an era of musical satire and influenced everyone else that followed him. At the piano he was a maestro of devilish charm and exquisite timing, able to make a song about drug addiction, ‘The Old Dope Peddler’, sound like a lullaby. But in real life he had no ambition to be a performer and was actually quite modest and shy – writing these outrageous songs for the delight of his friends and peers.

“Eventually, he was persuaded to appear in concerts around the world, but he only did so so that he could travel – at someone else’s expense. By the early 1960s, he was not only bored with touring but also writing, using the excuse that ‘Political satire had become obsolete when Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize!’ Tom wanted to go back to his ‘day-job’, teaching mathematics and running classes on The History of Musical Theatre on the side.

“I had grown up in the mid-50s listening to recordings of his wonderful songs and shortly after I had produced my first international hit ‘Side by Side by Sondheim’ in the mid-70s, I suddenly got the idea that Tom’s material might also work as a stage revue. When we met, he was disarmingly grateful for me wanting to ‘Exhume and repackage his meagre ouvre and foist it on a previously unsuspecting audience,’ as long as ‘I was to send him some sums of money from time to time’ – that was the nearest we ever got to a contract! That was Tom – wry, generous and utterly original.

“It was the start of what Tom calls ‘A perfect blendship’ that lasted over 50 years, and I am profoundly grateful that I had the privilege of getting to know such an extraordinary man so well. Tom’s legacy is timeless, his humour still terrifyingly relevant and I like to think he’s getting ready to stage the ‘Vatican Rag’ behind the Pearly Gates. Standing room only, of course.”