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Authority record

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.

Kostal, Irwin

Irwin Kostal (1911-1994) was a GRAMMY, Emmy, and Oscar winning American orchestrator and conductor, who orchestrated the music for both film and stage. He was a frequent collaborator with Robert and Richard Sherman, as well as Leonard Bernstein and Steven Sondheim.

Irwin Kostal was born in Chicago in 1911. He started out playing in bands around Chicago. In the 1950s, he moved to television, serving as the orchestrator for shows such as “Your show of shows” and “The Garry Moore Show.” He orchestrated the music for the Broadway and film versions of “West Side Story,” and also worked on “The Sound of Music,” “Mary Poppins,” “Pete’s Dragon,” and “Fiorello!,” among others. He re-recorded the music for “Fantasia” in 1981. Kostal and his wife, Sylvia, had three children.

Cahn, Sammy, 1913-1993

  • n82096094
  • Person
  • 1913-06-18-1993-01-15

Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area. He and his collaborators had a series of hit recordings with Frank Sinatra during the singer's tenure at Capitol Records, but also enjoyed hits with Dean Martin, Doris Day and many others. He played the piano and violin, and won an Oscar four times for his songs, including the popular hit "Three Coins in the Fountain". Among his most enduring songs is "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", cowritten with Jule Styne in 1945.

Besoyan, Rick

  • n85812823
  • Person
  • 1924-07-2-1970-03-13

Richard Besoyan (July 2, 1924 – March 13, 1970) was a singer, actor, playwright, composer and director especially of operetta and musicals. He is best remembered for writing the successful satirical musical Little Mary Sunshine.

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