Harry Ruby
Harry Ruby | |
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Born | Harry Rubenstein January 27, 1895 New York City,U.S. |
Died | February 23, 1974 | (aged 79)
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Harry Rubenstein(January 27, 1895 – February 23, 1974), known professionally asHarry Ruby,was an American pianist, composer, songwriter and screenwriter,[2]who was inducted into theSongwriters Hall of Famein 1970.[3]He was married tosilent filmactressEileen Percy.
Biography
[edit]Ruby was born inNew York Cityin 1895.[2]After failing at his early ambition to become a professional baseball player, he toured thevaudevillecircuit as a pianist with the Bootblack Trio and the Messenger Boys Trio.
In his early career worked as a pianist and song plugger for theGus EdwardsandHarry Von Tilzerpublishing firms (one of his co-workers at Edwards' place was the youngWalter Winchell,who was also a song plugger). Ruby also played in vaudeville acts, nickelodeons and cafes throughout New York.
From 1917-1920, Ruby collaborated with songwritersEdgar Leslie,Sam Lewis,Joe YoungandGeorge Jesselon the hit songs “What’ll We Do Saturday Night When the Town Goes Dry”, “When Those Sweet Hawaiian Babies Roll Their Eyes”, “Come on Papa”,“Daddy Long Legs” and “And He’d Say Oo-La-La Wee Wee.”[4]
Ruby found his most sustained success as a composer after meeting the man who would become his longtime partner, lyricistBert Kalmar.[2]Kalmar and Rubywere a successful songwriting team for nearly three decades until Kalmar's death in 1947, a partnership portrayed in the 1950MGMmusicalThree Little Words,starringFred Astaireas Kalmar andRed Skeltonas Ruby.[5]
A good friend ofGroucho Marx,Ruby appeared several times on his television program,You Bet Your Life.In his 1972 concert atCarnegie Hall,Marx gave the following introduction before performing a song of Ruby's: "I have a friend in Hollywood... I think I do, I'm not so sure. [laughter] His name is Harry Ruby [applause] and he wrote a lot of songs that I've sung over the years..."[6]
- Today, Father, is Father's Day
- And we're giving you a tie
- It's not much we know
- It is just our way of showing you
- We think you're a regular guy
- You say that it was nice of us to bother
- But it really was a pleasure to fuss
- For according to our mother
- You're our father
- And that's good enough for us
- Yes, that's good enough for us
InThe Dick Cavett Show,recorded June 13, 1969, Marx also sang a second stanza, and introduced it with, "Isn't that a beautiful melody? And a beautiful sentiment:... Today, father, is father's day.... 16 men in that orchestra: nine of them are illegitimate children [laughter]. Nine and a half including the director."
- The tie that you got
- Didn't cost such a lot
- And we'll give you the same tie next year.
- You tell us it was nice of us to bother
- But it really was a pleasure to fuss
- For they say, a child can only have one father
- And you are the one for us.
- And you are the one for us.
Works
[edit]Selected film scores[7]
- Animal Crackers(1930)
- Horse Feathers(1932)
- Duck Soup(1933)
- Bright Lights(1935)
- Walking on Air(1936)
- Wake Up and Dream(1946)
- Three Little Words(1950)
Selected screenplays[7]
- The Kid from Spain(1932)
- Horse Feathers(1932)
- Duck Soup(1933)
- Bright Lights(1935)
- Walking on Air(1936)
- The Life of the Party(1937)
- Lovely to Look At(1952)
Selected Broadway scores[8]
- Ziegfeld Folliesof 1918(1918) -revue- featured songwriter
- Helen of Troy, New York(1923) -musical- co-composerand co-lyricist
- No Other Girl(1924) - musical - co-composer and co-lyricist
- Holka Polka(1925) - musical - co-book-editor
- The Ramblers(1926) - musical - co-composer, co-lyricist and co-bookwriter
- Lucky(1927) - musical - co-bookwriter
- The Five O'Clock Girl(1927) - musical - composer
- She's My Baby(1928) - musical - co-bookwriter
- Good Boy(1928) - musical - co-composer and co-lyricist
- Animal Crackers(1928) - musical - co-composer and co-lyricist
- Top Speed(1929) - musical - co-producerand co-bookwriter
- High Kickers(1941) - musical - co-composer, co-lyricist and co-bookwriter
- Fosse(1998) - revue - featured songwriter for "Who's Sorry Now?"fromAll That Jazz1979
Notable songs[2]
- "Rebecca Came Back From Mecca" (1921)[9]
- "The Sheik of Avenue B" (1922)[10]
- "Who's Sorry Now?"(1923), Kalmar and Ruby's first big hit
- "I Wanna Be Loved by You"(1928), a hit forHelen Kane,known as the "Boop-boop-a-doop girl", and sung byMarilyn Monroein the filmSome Like It Hot
- "Hooray for Captain Spaulding"fromAnimal Crackers(1928): became Groucho Marx's signature tune.
- "I Love You So Much" (1928)
- "Three Little Words"(1930), their biggest hit.
- "Nevertheless"(1931), a hit forJack Denny(vocal by Bob May) that year,[11]later done byThe Mills BrothersandFrank Sinatra
- "I'm Against It", "I Always Get My Man" and "Everyone Says I Love You" fromHorse Feathers(1932)
- "Hail, Hail Freedonia" fromDuck Soup(1933)
- "What a Perfect Combination" (1932), lyrics by Kalmar andIrving Caesar,music by Ruby andHarry Akst,written for theBroadway showThe Kid,starringEddie Cantor
- "A Kiss to Build a Dream On"(1935), their last hit
- "Show Me a Rose" (1952), Groucho Marx recording
- "The Real McCoys"(1957-1963), television theme
Selected bibliography
- The Kalmar-Ruby Song BookRandom House(1936) B009X7KK6KIntroduction byBen Hechtwith contributions byGroucho Marx,
Robert Benchley,Moss Hart,Irving Berlin,Marc Connelly,James Kevin McGuinness,Franklin P. AdamsandNunnally Johnson. - Songs My Mother Never SangRandom House(1943) B002B9VFCA
- The Four Marx Brothers in Monkey Business and Duck SoupSimon & Schuster(1973) 978-0671212735S.J. Perelman;Will B. Johnstone;Bert Kalmar;and Harry Ruby
Death
[edit]Ruby died on February 23, 1974, inWoodland Hills, California,[2]and was interred at theChapel of the PinesinLos Angeles.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Rochester Evening Journal - Google News Archive Search".Retrieved2013-12-05.
- ^abcdeColin Larkin,ed. (1997).The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music(Concise ed.).Virgin Books.p. 1043.ISBN1-85227-745-9.
- ^Harry Ruby biographyArchived2016-11-12 at theWayback Machine,Songwritershalloffame.org. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- ^"Harry Ruby".Songwriters Hall of Fame.RetrievedJanuary 27,2023.
- ^Harry Ruby song catalogArchived2016-08-07 at theWayback Machine,Songwritershalloffame.org. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- ^An Evening With Groucho(Beverly Hills: A & M Records, 1972),Archive.org. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
- ^abHarry Ruby filmographyIMDb.Retrieved: April 29, 2013.
- ^Harry Ruby stage scoresIBDb.Retrieved: April 29, 2013.
- ^"What's a Nice Jewish Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? – Arab Kitsch".
- ^Philip George Furia; Michael L. Lasser (2006).America's Songs: The Stories Behind the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley.Taylor & Francis. pp. 35–.ISBN978-0-415-97246-8.
- ^Whitburn, Joel (1986).Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954.Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 125.ISBN0-89820-083-0.
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Photo of Harry Ruby
- Harry RubyatAllmusic
- Harry Ruby at the Sheet Music Consortium
- Harry Ruby recordingsat theDiscography of American Historical Recordings.
Streaming audio
- Video