Herbert Kretzmer (born October 5, 1925) is a South African-born newspaperman and lyricist, best known for writing the lyrics of the hit musical Les Misérables. Kretzmer was born in Kroonstad, Orange Free State, South Africa. He moved to Europe after World War II, living in Paris for a time before settling in London in 1954. He wrote for several Fleet Street newspapers as a feature writer,star interviewer as well as theatre critic ( 18 years on the Daily Express) and television critic ( 8 years on the Daily Mail