Lew Pollack

Lew Pollack (June 16, 1895 – January 18, 1946) was an American song composer and musician active during the 1920s and the 1930s.

Lew Pollack
BornJuly 16 1895
New York City, New York, United States
DiedJanuary 18 1946 (aged 50)
Hollywood, Los Angeles, United States

Career

Pollack 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.

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), "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 amongst others. He died of a heart attack in Hollywood at age 50.[5]

Recognition

Lew Pollack was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

References
  1. 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.
  2. "Songwriters Hall of Fame". songhall.org. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  3. "allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  4. "ASCAP". Ascap.com. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  5. "Lew pollack, 50, Noted for Songs". The New York Times. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
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