Born May 11, 1888 in Tyumen, Russian Empire, Israel Isidore Beilin, whose family name was later changed to Baline became known to the world as Irving Berlin. With his family at the age of five, he escaped a pogrom by the Cossacks after the burning of their house to make their way to New York. The family was so poor that young โIzzyโ was forced to leave school at the age of 8 to sell newspapers. On his first day as a newspaper boy at the docks he was knocked into the river by a crane he failed to see. Rescued after going down for the third time, he was pulled out of the river still clutching the five pennies that constituted his dayโs earnings for his family. Taught to sing by his father who had been a cantor in Russia, he earned extra pennies by singing in saloons on his newspaper route. After his father died when he was 13 he was ashamed that he was earning less money for the household than his sisters and left home to live in the Bowery.
He survived the squalor of the Bowery by singing in saloons, which led to his development as a songwriter. Following in the footsteps of his friend, George M. Cohan, he published his first song, โMarie from Sunny Italyโ in 1907 and had his first international hit, โAlexanderโs Ragtime Bandโ in 1911 after he had already made the leap to Broadway writing upbeat songs for various revues. He married Dorothy Goetz, the sister of composer E. Ray Goetz in 1912. She contracted typhoid on their honeymoon and died four months later. In his grief he wrote his first ballad, โWhen I Lost Youโ.
Berlin began his prolific Broadway career in 1910. Nearing 30, he was drafted into the Army in 1917 where his songwriting skills were put work composing the all-soldier revue, Yip Yip Yaphank.
Berlinโs biggest hits from 1920 to 1940 were โโWhatโll I Doโ (1924); โAlways, 1925, โBlue Skiesโ (1926), โMarieโ (1929), โPuttinโ on the Ritzโ (1930), โSay It Isnโt Soโ (1932), โIโve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm (1937) and โGod Bless Americaโ (1938) which became the unofficial second national anthem from World War II on.
The composer married second wife Ellin Mckay in 1925 with whom he had four children. Their second oldest, their only boy died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome on Christmas Day, 1928 making the holiday bittersweet. Every Christmas Day thereafter, they, and now their heirs, have placed a wreath on the grave of Irving, Jr.
Berlin added films to his busy composing schedule in the 1930s, most notably 1935โs Top Hat and 1938โs Alexanderโs Ragtime Band.
Bing Crosbyโs recording of Berlinโs โWhite Christmasโ, written for the 1942 Crosby-Fred Astaire musical, Holiday Inn became the biggest selling record of all time. It also became one of the most recorded songs in history. When Berlin opened the envelope to read the name of the winner for the Oscar for Best Song of 1942, he became the first and only presenter to announce himself as the winner.
Whereas most of Berlinโs earlier stage work was for musical reviews, in 1946 he wrote the score for one of the most popular book musicals of all time, Annie Get Your Gun. He had further hits with 1949โs Miss Liberty and 1950โs Call Me Madam. His final show, 1962โs Mr. President opened to mixed reviews, but became a hit during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Berlin published his last song in 1971 at the age of 83, but his music is still heard today in new movies and TV shows, in revivals of his musicals and in past films and on recordings that are still played by lovers of popular music everywhere. His wife Ellin died in 1988 at 85. Berlin himself died a year later at 101. As Jerome Kern said when asked what place Irving Berlin had in American music, “Irving Berlin has no place in American music, Irving Berlin IS American music.”
ESSENTIAL FILMS
TOP HAT (1935), directed by Mark Sandrich
Berlin received the first of his nine Oscar nominations for the hit song, โCheek to Cheekโ introduced by Fred Astaire in the fourth of nine musicals Astaire made with Ginger Rogers.
The plot of Top Hat is similar to that of the pairโs 1934 hit, The Gay Divorcรฉe, with a score by Cole Porter, in that it deals with mistaken identity and features three of the four major supporting players in that film โ Edward Everett Horton, Erik Rhodes and Eric Blore. The fourth, Alice Brady, was replaced by Helen Broderick.
In addition to โCheek to Cheekโ, Berlinโs score for the film includes โNo Strings (Iโm Fancy Free)โ, โIsnโt This a Lovely Day (to Be Caught in the Rain)?โ, โTop Hat, White Ties and Tailsโ and โThe Piccolinoโ.
ALEXANDERโS RAGTIME BAND (1938), directed by Henry King
Capitalizing on the success of In Old Chicago earlier in the year, Daryl F. Zanuck reassembled that filmโs director and three of the that filmโs four stars โ Tyrone Power, Don Ameche and Alice Faye โ Alice Brady was again the odd star out, replaced by Ethel Merman, Jack Haley and a host of others. The cherry on the top was Berlinโs score comprised mostly of Berlin standards.
Like the previous film, this one chronicles a number of years in the lives of its protagonists. It begins in 1915 and includes such Berlin classics as the title song, โWhen the Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves for Alabamโโ, โOh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morningโ, โA Pretty Girl Is Like a Melodyโ, โBlue Skiesโ, โWhatโll I Doโ, โEaster Paradeโ, and โHeat Waveโ. A new song, โNow It Can Be Toldโ and the filmโs original story written by Berlin both garnered him Oscar nominations. He was also nominated that year for โChange Partners and Dance With Meโ introduced by Astaire in Carefree.
EASTER PARADE (1948), directed by Charles Walters
Fred Astaire had decided to retire after his second Irving Berlin musical with Bing Crosby, 1946โs Blue Skies, but when Gene Kelly broke his heel and had to drop out of Easter Parade, Astaire happily came out of his self-imposed two year retirement to star opposite Judy Garland and continued acting for another thirty-three years.
Following closely the plot line of Holiday Inn in which a starโs longtime partner leaves the stage for Hollywood and he has to break in a new one, Easter Parade takes place from Easter Sunday of one year to the next and as had been the case with most Berlin musicals, includes both his time tested standards with a sprinkling of new tunes. The filmโs highlights include โA Fella with an Umbrellaโ sung by Peter Lawford and Garland, โA Couple of Swellsโ sung and danced by Astaire and Garland dressed as bums and, of course, the title song done to a fare-thee-well by Garland and Astaire in the filmโs finale.
ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (1950), directed by George Sidney
Berlinโs greatest stage success, Annie Get Your Gun was an enormous success for both Ethel Merman and Mary Martin who took it on the road, neither of whom had had successful film careers. MGM bought it for Judy Garland, but she was not up the task and had to bow out. Betty Hutton was brought in and sheโs terrific as Annie Oakley, the larger-than-life sharpshooter.
Huttonโs co-stars include Howard Keel, Louis Calhern (stepping in for Frank Morgan who died of a heart attack after filming a few scenes) and Edward Arnold. Theyโre all fine, but itโs Huttonโs show, just as the stage version was Mermanโs, and Martinโs. Songs include โYou Canโt Get a Man With a Gunโ, โDoinโ What Comes Naturโllyโ, โI Got the Sun in the Morningโ, โAnything You Can Doโ, โThey Say Itโs Wonderfulโ, โMy Desfenses Are Downโ, โThe Girl That I Marryโ and the show business anthem, โThereโs No Business Like Show Businessโ.
WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954), directed by Michael Curtiz
This quasi-remake of 1942โs Holiday Inn was to have re-united Crosby and Astaire, but the illness of Asatireโs wife forced him to withdraw from the film. He was replaced by Danny Kaye, who along with Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen make this a perennial holiday favorite.
Crosbyโs recording of โWhite Christmasโ from Holiday Inn was the biggest selling record of all time. Over 100 million copies were sold. In the years since, Crosby had become the voice of Christmas on records, radio and even television beginning in 1948. The film, the first in Paramountโs widescreen process of VistaVision, was a guaranteed box office bonanza.
Songs, in addition to the title song, include โHeat Waveโ, โ Blue Skiesโ, โSistersโ, “Mandy” and โCount Your Blessings Instead of Sheepโ. The latter earned Berlin his ninth and final Oscar nomination, his seventh for Best Song.
IRVING BERLIN AND OSCAR
- Top Hat (1935) โ nominated โ Best Original Song, โCheek to Cheekโ
- Alexanderโs Ragtime Band (1938) โ nominated โ Best Original Song, โNow It Can Be Toldโ
- Alexanderโs Ragtime Band (1938) โ nominated โ Best Original Story
- Carefree (1938) โ nominated โ Best Original Song, โChange Partners and Dance with Meโ
- Second Fiddle (1939) โ nominated โ Best Original Song, โI Poured My Heart Into a Songโ
- Holiday Inn (1942) โ Oscar – Best Original Song, โWhite Christmasโ
- Holiday Inn (1942) โ nominated โ Best Original Story
- Blue Skies (1946) โ nominated โ Best Original Song, โYou Keep Coming Back Like a Songโ
- White Christmas (1954) โ nominated โ Best Original Song, โCount Your Blessings Instead of Sheepโ
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