Bennett A. "Ben" Ryan (March 30, 1892 – July 5, 1968) was an American
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...
who wrote the music and lyrics to the popular song "
(The Gang that Sang) Heart of My Heart". He also wrote or co-wrote many other popular songs including "
Inka Dinka Doo
"Inka Dinka Doo" is a 1933 popular song whose words were written by Ben Ryan, and whose music was composed by James Francis "Jimmy" Durante.
Background
The song debuted in the 1934 movie '' Palooka,'' a film about the comics character Joe Paloo ...
", "
M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I
M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I is a song written by Bert Hanlon and Ben Ryan, with music by Harry Tierney. The conductor of the song was Josef Pasternack. It was written by Ben Ryan for Frances White, who introduced it in the Florenz Ziegfeld revue ''M ...
", "No Nothing", "The Thrill of a New Romance", "When Frances Dances with Me", and "When I Send You a Picture of Berlin".
Born in
Kansas City, Missouri, Ryan was also a
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
performer, film actor and screen writer. Between 1914–1925, he teamed with Harriet Lee as the "Ryan & Lee" duo's comedy and singing-and-dancing vaudeville acts, including the hit "Won and One is Two". Following a lengthy illness, on July 5, 1968, he died at his home in
Leonia, New Jersey.
[via ]Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
"Ben Ryan, Noted Song Writer, Dies In Jersey"
''The Indianapolis Star
''The Indianapolis Star'' (also known as ''IndyStar'') is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, when the '' Indiana ...
'', July 7, 1968. Accessed May 16, 2016. "Leonia, N.J. (AP) Song writer and vaudeville performer Ben Ryan, who wrote "Inka Dinka Doo" for Jimmy Durante, died Friday at his home here after a long illness."
References
External links
*
1892 births
1968 deaths
American lyricists
Musicians from Kansas City, Missouri
People from Leonia, New Jersey
Songwriters from New Jersey
Songwriters from Missouri
20th-century American composers
{{US-songwriter-stub