This
date in 1888 saw the birth of Irving Berlin, US composer who is
famous for writing classic American songs like White Christmas,
God Bless America, Puttin' on the Ritz, and There’s No
Business Like Show Business.
He
was born in Russia and given the name Israel Isidore Baline. His
father, Moses, was a cantor, which meant he led the religious songs
in the synagogue.
The
family moved to America when he was five in order to escape
anti-Jewish pogroms. He would later say that he remembered very
little about Russia. His one abiding memory was of his house burning
down.
In
order to fit in, he went by the name of Izzy in New York. The name
Berlin came when his first song was published and the credit read
“I. Berlin”. He claimed it was a typo but it’s thought he
chose it to sound more American and changed his name to Irving
Berlin officially in 1911.
He
co-wrote his first song in 1907. It was called Marie from Sunny
Italy. It was sold to a music publisher for 75 cents; since he’d
written it with someone else, Berlin only received half of that.
His
father died when he was just 13, leaving the family struggling
financially. He left school in order to go to work and earn Money.
In due course he moved out of the family home so there would be one
less mouth to feed. During this time he supported himself by busking
on the street, eventually getting a job as a singing waiter.
Despite
writing some of the best known songs ever, Berlin had no training in
music at all. He couldn’t read or write Music – he had to pay
secretaries to write the tunes down. He could only play the Piano using the black keys in the key of F, so he bought a special piano
that would change key for him.
He
was married twice. His first wife was Dorothy Goetz, who he married
in 1912, but the marriage came to a tragic end in less than a year
as Dorothy died from typhoid which she caught during their
honeymoon. Berlin’s song When I Lost You was written while
he was grieving for her. In 1925 he married Ellin Mackay, a Catholic
whose father disowned her for marrying a Jew. They had three
daughters and were together for 62 years until Ellin died in 1988.
They
had a son, too, Irving Jr, but he died of Sudden Infant Death
Syndrome, on Christmas Day, 1928. Every year, on Christmas Day, the
Berlins would lay a Christmas wreath on his grave, a tradition their
heirs continue to this day.
His
service in WWI was to write patriotic songs to encourage the troops.
During this time he wrote a musical revue called Yip! Yip!
Yaphank! Which was initially performed by soldiers but
eventually played at theatres as well. Berlin would perform a song
called Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning at each
performance himself. During World War II, Berlin wrote This Is
The Army, which became a Broadway musical and 1943 film starring Ronald Reagan. He donated all the show’s earnings to the U.S. Army
Emergency Relief Fund. Yip! Yip! Yaphank! Had also been
written not for profit, but to raise money for a community building
on his army base. Later, he would donate all the profits from the
patriotic song God Bless America to the Boy and Girl Scouts
and the Campfire Girls.
Irving
Berlin died in his sleep at his home in Manhattan on September 22,
1989. He was 101 years old. When his death was announced, the lights
on Broadway were dimmed as a mark of respect.
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