Identificatie
Soort entiteit
Persoon
Geauthoriseerde naam
Gorney, Jay
Parallelle vormen van de naam
Gestandaardiseerde naamvorm(en) volgens andere regels.
Aandere naamsvormen
- Jason, Daniel
- Gornetzky, Abraham Jacob
Identificatiecode voor organisaties
Beschrijving
Bestaansperiode
1896 - 1990
Geschiedenis
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.