Biography for
Irving Berlin (I)

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Date of Birth

11 May 1888, Mogilyov, Russia [now in Belarus]

Date of Death

22 September 1989, New York, New York, USA (heart attack)

Birth Name

Israel Isidor Baline

Mini Biography

Irving Berlin was one of the most important songwriters in the USA. He was self-taught, but almost everything he wrote was a success. His breakthrough was during WWI with the song "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and one of the battle songs written for his all-soldier show Yip, Yip, Yaphank in 1917: "We're on our way to France". During the twenties he wrote music for Tin Pan Alley and Broadway, and after the rise of the film musical he also wrote for Hollywood. His songs were sung by Fred Astaire, Al Jolson, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Dick Powell, Alice Faye and many others. During WWII he wrote "Any Bonds Today" for the government and wrote the songs for another all-soldier show, "This is the Army". In the early 60s he retired.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Stephan Eichenberg < eichenbe@fak-cbg.tu-muenchen.de>

Mini Biography

Towering composer, songwriter, ("God Bless America", "Always", "Blue Skies", "White Christmas") author and publisher, he came to the United States at age 5 and was educated in New York's public schools. His earliest musical education was from his father, a cantor. He earned honorary degrees from Bucknell University and Temple University. Beginning his career as a song-plugger for publisher Harry Von Tilzer, he worked as a singing waiter in Chinatown. In 1909, he was hired as a staff lyricist by the Ted Snyder Company, and became a partner to that firm four years later.

In 1910, he began doing vaudeville appearances in the USA and abroad, and also appeared with Snyder in the Broadway musical "Up and Down Broadway". He joined the US Army infantry in WW I, and was a sergeant at Camp Upton, NY. After the war, he established his own public-relations firm, and in 1921 he built the Music Box Theatre with Sam Harris. He joined ASCAP as a charter member in 1914, and served on its first board of directors between 1914-1918.

Among his many awards was the Medal for Merit for his all-soldier show "This Is the Army", which toured the USA, Europe, and South Pacific battle zones; all proceeds were assigned to Army Emergency Relief and other service agencies. Irving Berlin was also a member of the French Legion of Honorand held the Congressional Medal of Honorfor "God Bless America", the proceeds from which went to the God Bless America Fund.

IMDb Mini Biography By:

Spouse

Ellin Mackay	(4 January 1926 - 29 July 1988) (her death) 4 children
Dorothy Goetz	(February 1912 - July 1912) (her death)

Trivia

Died of natural causes at age 101.

When Berlin married Ellin Mackay, the Comstock Lode heiress, the bride's father wrote her out of his will for marrying a Jew. Berlin then assigned the copyright of his popular song, "Always", to her, which yielded very handsome royalties as the years went by. And true to the sentiments of the song, Berlin devoted himself to his lovely wife for the rest of her long life.

Sang "Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" in _This Is the Army (1943)_.

Songwriter.

Could not read music.

Only played on the set of black keys. He had a special piano built with pedals that could change the set from F sharp into other keys.

First met lifelong best friend Fred Astaire on the set of _Top Hat (1935)_ .

Interred at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York, USA.

Sent a letter to major radio stations requesting that they not play Elvis Presley's version of "White Christmas" because it had been drastically revamped.

During the filming of his singing his composition "Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" in This Is the Army (1943), one of the backstage crew was heard to have whispered to another crew worker, "If the guy who wrote this song could hear this guy singing it, he'd roll over in his grave!".

Was denied a Kennedy Center Honor. By the time he was considered for one, he was too ill to fulfill the requirement that an honoree must attend the award ceremony.

Although Berlin wrote what is arguably the most popular secular Christmas song ever written, "White Christmas," Christmas was always a bittersweet time for the Berlin family. Irving and Eileen Berlin's only son, Irving, Jr., died at only a few weeks old, of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, on Christmas Day, 1928. Every year, on Christmas Day, the Berlins would lay a Christmas wreath on his grave, a tradition their heirs carry on today.

Despite the fact that he was one of America's most prolific songwriters, Berlin suffered frequent attacks of writer's block, which could last anywhere from several days to several months.

Wrote his first ballad hit, "When I Lost You," in his grief over the death of his first wife, Dorothy Goetz. She had died of typhoid, contracted on her honeymoon, just four months after their marriage in 1912.

One of the few classic pop songwriters of his era to serve as both composer and lyricist of his songs. Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer were among the others who shared this rare talent.

Brother-in-law of E. Ray Goetz.

Stepson-in-law of Anna Case.

In 1963, won a Special Tony Award "for his distinguished contribution to the musical theatre for these many years."

Father of Mary Ellen Barrett.

First artist to actually present himself with an Oscar when he won for song "White Christmas" from _Holiday Inn (1942)_

Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 87-91. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.

One of his most popular songs "Easter Parade"(1933) had been published earlier as "Smile and Show Your Dimple".

Daughter, Linda, was named after Cole Porter's wife.

Personal Quotes

"Never hate a song that's sold a half million copies"

Jerome Kern once remarked "Irving Berlin has no place in American music... He IS American Music."

"The song has ended, but the melody lingers on."

"The toughest thing about success is that you've got to keep on being a success."

About his wife's lavish Christmas spending, to his daughter, "I gave up trying to get your mother to economize. It was easier just to make more money."

[on Fred Astaire] Fred knew the value of a song and his heart was in it before his feet took over.

[on Alice Faye] I'd rather have Alice Faye introduce my songs than anyone else.

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