Lew Pollack (June 16, 1895 – January 18, 1946) was an American song composer and musician active during the 1920s and the 1930s.
Lew Pollack | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 16, 1895 |
| Died | January 18, 1946 (aged 50) |
Career
editPollack was born in New York City,[1] where he went to DeWitt Clinton High School and was active as a boy soprano in a choral group headed by Walter Damrosch.
Starting out as a singer and pianist in vaudeville acts, he began writing theme music for silent films before collaborating with others on popular songs.[2] In 1914, he wrote "That's a Plenty", a rag that became an enduring Dixieland standard.
Pollack composed the music for several Broadway musicals, including The Whirl of New York and The Mimic World, among others.
Among his best-known songs are "Charmaine" and "Diane" with Ernö Rapée; "Miss Annabelle Lee";[3] "My Yiddishe Momme" with Jack Yellen, made famous by Sophie Tucker; "Two Cigarettes in the Dark"; "Alone with You" (from Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm); and "At the Codfish Ball"[4] (featured in the Shirley Temple movie Captain January with Buddy Ebsen, and later the title of a Mad Men television episode). He also collaborated with Paul Francis Webster, Sidney Clare, Sidney Mitchell, and Ned Washington, among others. He died of a heart attack in Hollywood at age 50.[5]
Recognition
editLew Pollack was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.
References
edit- ↑ Jasen, David (2003). TIN PAN ALLEY;AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICAN SONG. ABINGDON: ROUTLEDGE. p. 312. ISBN 1-135-94901-8. OCLC 1199124657.
- ↑ "Songwriters Hall of Fame". songhall.org. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
- ↑ "allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
- ↑ "ASCAP". Ascap.com. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
- ↑ "Lew pollack, 50, Noted for Songs". The New York Times. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
External links
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