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."

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* 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