Showing 372 results

Authority record

Gilbert, Ray

  • LC85381424
  • Person
  • 1912-09-15 - 1976-03-03

Raymond “Ray” Gilbert (September 5, 1912 – March 3, 1976) was an American lyricist. He is best known for writing the lyrics to the song “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah”, which won the 1947 Academy Award for Best Original Song. Although the song originally appeared in the 1946 Disney film Song of the South, it has been used in a variety of other Disney productions since, such as the television program Wonderful World of Disney. Gilbert also wrote English lyrics for another Disney film, The Three Cabelleros (1944), which featured a number of songs translated from their original Spanish and Portuguese.

In addition to writing lyrics for a number of songs that were part of Disney films, Gilbert is known for translating many songs by Latin American composers into English, particularly those of Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim. Gilbert also collaborated with American composers to produce several original hits, such as “In A World Of No Goodbyes” and “Drip Drop” with Hoagy Carmichael. He is also responsible for the lyrics for the 1965 Andy Williams hit “… And Roses and Roses.”

Glenn, Albert "Al" Vincent

  • SF2018AGRK
  • Person
  • 1912 - 2008

Albert “Al” Vincent Glenn (1912-2008) was born and raised in Brockton, MA. He had his own orchestra called the Hotel Van Ness Orchestra that played at the Hotel Van Ness in Burlington, Vermont on Lake Champlain for about eighteen months in 1934-35. He also played at other hotels and resorts on the east coast and wrote many of his own arrangements. He moved to Berkley, California where he attended the University of California. There, he played with orchestras including Pete Dragon & His Orchestra in Oakland, CA. While in Oakland, he changed his last name from Getchie to Glenn. He graduated in 1941 as an optometrist and married Katharine (Kay) Wilson (a Berkley native); they had one daughter, Gay-Leigh Ann. During World War II he was stationed at Letterman Hospital at the Presidio in San Francisco.

Goodelle, Niela

  • SF2018NGRK
  • Person
  • 1910-09-08 - 1988-05-26

Niela Goodelle Hartz (September 8, 1910 – May 26, 1988) was born Helen Goodelle in New York. In the 1920s, she worked as an accompanist for Burton Thatcher in exchange for vocal lessons. By the 1930s she was a budding Hollywood starlet, performing in Perfect Thirty Sixes, Rhythm of Paree, and Spring is Here. She was part of the touring production of Ziegfeld Follies of 1934. She is perhaps most famous for turning down a marriage proposal from Rudy Vallee in 1937.
In 1940, Goodelle retired at what was arguably the peak of her career and married Minton Hartz. She moved to Evansville, Indiana where she and Minton raised three children.

Gorney, Jay

  • LC 89006629
  • Person
  • 1896 - 1990

Jay Gorney (December 12, 1894 – June 14, 1990), was born Abraham Jacob Gornetzsky in Poland, to a Jewish family. After witnessing the Bialystok pogrom in 1906, his family fled to the United States, where they settled in Detroit, Michigan. Gorney took piano lessons and played in the school orchestra, bars and for silent films.

Gorney studied law and music theory at the University of Michigan, breaking only to serve in the navy during World War I. He practiced law briefly, before relocating to New York City with his first wife. He began his songwriting career on Tin Pan Alley, collaborating with Yip Harburg on numerous songs for Broadway musicals of the 1920s. The pair's most famous song, “Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?” was based on a Russian lullaby from Gorney’s childhood. The song debuted in the 1932 Shubert production of New Americana, becoming the anthem of the Great Depression. In the 1940s, he worked at Columbia Pictures as executive producer of musicals and is credited with jumpstarting Shirley Temple’s career.

Gorney was blacklisted for his liberal views during the Cold War.

Gorney's second marriage was to public relations consultant Sondra Karyl (Kattlove). Sondra published Gorney’s biography titled Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? in 2005. He had three children; one with his first wife and two with his second.

Grant, Gogi

  • LC90013760
  • Person
  • 1924-09-20 - 2016-03-10

Gogi Grant (September 20, 1924 – March 10, 2016) was born Myrtle Audrey Arinsberg in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Grant sang as a child, but did not consider a career as a singer until she won an amateur singing contest at the age of 28. Her 1956 recording of “The Wayward Wind” rose to number one on the charts and remained there for a then-record of eight weeks. Billboard magazine voted her the most popular female vocalist during this period.

Green, Johnny (1908-1989)

  • Person
  • 1909-1989

John Waldo “Johnny” Green (1908-1989) was born in New York City to Vivian Green and Irena Jellenik. He was a five-time Academy Award-winning songwriter, arranger, and conductor. He was married three times – to Carol Faulk, Betty Furness, and Bunny Waters. He had three daughters.

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