Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin is quite possibly the most famous composer in the world. Over the course of his lifetime, he penned over 3000 songs, including some of the most recognized songs of all time. He is the definition of an American success story. Born Israel Baline in 1888 Russia as one of eight to Jewish parents, he and his family fled Jewish persecution in Russia and settled in New York City in 1893. From an early age, the young Baline worked to provide money for his family, eventually finding work as a singing waiter in restaurants around Broadway, including Pelhem’s Café for which he wrote his first song Marie from Sunny Italy in 1907. The song went on to become very popular, published under the name I. Berlin. More success followed with Alexander’s Ragtime Band in 1911, the musical revue Yip Yip Yaphank in 1917 (which originally included the song God Bless America, a song that would be considered for the national anthem in the 1930’s), and Blue Skies in 1926 which was used in the landmark film The Jazz Singer. In the midst of his meteoric rise to fame, Berlin managed to fall in love not once, but twice. His first marriage in 1912 to sweetheart Dorothy Goetz ended tragically after she contracted both pneumonia and typhoid fever and died 5 months after they were married. In 1926, Berlin married again, this time to Irish Catholic heiress Ellin Mackay. The start of the 1930’s brought about an extremely lucrative partnership between Berlin and Hollywood, with scores for timeless classics like Top Hat in 1935 and Holliday Inn in 1942, for which he wrote the song White Christmas for Bing Crosby, one of the most recorded songs in American history. In addition to Hollywood, Berlin also found great success on the Broadway stage. His most successful musical was the Rodgers and Hammerstein smash hit Annie Get Your Gun in 1946. Although never winning one, he was honored with a special Tony Award in 1963. Berlin passed away in New York City in 1989 at the age of