Billy Rose (born William Samuel Rosenberg; September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966) was an American

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. H ...

, theatrical showman and

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income de ...

. For years both before and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Billy Rose was a major force in entertainment, with shows such as ''Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt'' (1931), ''

Jumbo Jumbo (about December 25, 1860 – September 15, 1885), also known as Jumbo the Elephant and Jumbo the Circus Elephant, was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan. Jumbo was exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and ...

'' (1935), '' Billy Rose's Aquacade'' (1937), and '' Carmen Jones'' (1943). As a lyricist, he is credited with many songs, notably " Don't Bring Lulu" (1925), " Tonight You Belong To Me" (1926), " Me and My Shadow" (1927), "More Than You Know" (1929), " Without a Song" (1929), "

It Happened in Monterrey "It Happened in Monterey" or "It Happened in Monterrey" is a 1930 song composed by Mabel Wayne, with lyrics by Billy Rose and performed by Paul Whiteman and his orchestra. It was written for the 1930 musical film, ''King of Jazz'', and was subsequ ...

" (1930) and " It's Only a Paper Moon" (1933). Despite his accomplishments, Rose may be best known today as the husband of famed comedian and singer Fanny Brice (1891–1951).

Life and work

Rose was born to a Jewish family in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, United States. He attended Public School 44, where he was the 50-yard dash champion. While in high school, Billy studied

shorthand Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''st ...

under John Robert Gregg, the inventor of the Gregg System for shorthand notation. He won a dictation contest using Gregg notation, taking over 150 words per minute, and writing forward or backward with either hand. Billy Rose began his career as a stenographic clerk to

Bernard Baruch Bernard Mannes Baruch (August 19, 1870 – June 20, 1965) was an American financier and statesman. After amassing a fortune on the New York Stock Exchange, he impressed President Woodrow Wilson by managing the nation's economic mobilization in ...

of the

War Industries Board The War Industries Board (WIB) was a United States government agency established on July 28, 1917, during World War I, to coordinate the purchase of war supplies between the War Department (Department of the Army) and the Navy Department. Becaus ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, and became head of the clerical staff. Later he became a lyricist. In this role, he is best known as the credited writer or co-writer of the lyrics to "Me and My Shadow," "Great Day" (with Edward Eliscu), "Does the Spearmint Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight" (with Marty Bloom), "I Found a Million Dollar Baby" (with Mort Dixon) and "It's Only a Paper Moon" (with E. Y. Harburg). Most of Rose's lyrical credits were collaborations. Biographer Earl Conrad said, "Nobody clearly knew what he wrote or didn't write.... Publishers tend to credit him with writing the songs known to bear his name as a lyricist.... But tales rumble on ... that Billy could feed and toss in a remark and monkey around, but that others did most of the writing." Lyricists might have been willing to tolerate a Rose credit grab because Rose was very successful at promoting "his" songs. He went on to become a Broadway producer, and a theatre/nightclub owner. In June 1934, he opened The Billy Rose Music Hall at 52nd and Broadway in New York with the first

Benny Goodman Orchestra Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His conc ...

. He produced ''

'', starring

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced songs ...

, at the New York

Hippodrome Theatre The Hippodrome Theatre, also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theater in New York City from 1905 to 1939, located on Sixth Avenue between West 43rd and West 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It was called the worl ...

. For the Fort Worth Frontier Centennial (1936–37), he constructed the huge elaborate dinner theatre Casa Mañana which featured celebrated fan-dancer

Sally Rand Sally Rand (born Helen Gould Beck; April 3, 1904 – August 31, 1979) was an American burlesque dancer, vedette, and actress, famous for her ostrich feather fan dance and balloon bubble dance. She also performed under the name Billie Beck ...

and the world's largest revolving stage. He produced the

Aquacade Aquacade may refer to: *Billy Rose's Aquacade, aquatic show *Rhyolite/Aquacade, US reconnaissance satellite program * Aquacade (show) Aquacade may refer to: *Billy Rose's Aquacade, aquatic show *Rhyolite/Aquacade, US reconnaissance satellite progr ...

at the

Great Lakes Exposition The Great Lakes Exposition (also known as the World Fair of 1936) was held in Cleveland, Ohio, in the summers of 1936 and 1937, along the Lake Erie shore north of downtown. The fair commemorated the centennial of Cleveland's incorporation as a ci ...

in Cleveland, Ohio in 1937. Rose was diminutive in stature. When he attended a show, his practice was to book four seats: one for himself, one for his date, and the two in front of those so he would have an unobstructed view. In 1929, he married Fanny Brice, who went on to star in the 1931 Broadway production of ''Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt''. The marriage lasted for nine years, ending in divorce in 1938. In 1938, he opened Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe, a nightclub in New York City's

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

in the basement of the

Paramount Hotel The Paramount Hotel (formerly the Century-Paramount Hotel) is a hotel in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb, the hotel is at 235 West 46th Street, between Eighth A ...

. It initially opened with a version of his Fort Worth show. The Diamond Horseshoe operated under that name until 1951. At the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Pur ...

, Billy Rose's Aquacade starred Olympian Eleanor Holm in what the fair program called "a brilliant girl show of spectacular size and content." Future MGM star

Esther Williams Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Ol ...

and

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

star

Johnny Weissmuller Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. H ...

were both ''Aquacade'' headliners. Rose began an affair with the then-married Holm, who left her husband for Rose. The couple married in 1939. Following the 1939 World's Fair, Rose asked John Murray Anderson, who had staged the ''Aquacade'', to recommend a

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

for a new show at the Horseshoe. Anderson recommended Gene Kelly, then performing in

William Saroyan William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''Th ...

's ''One for the Money''. Rose objected that he wanted someone who could choreograph "tits and asses," not "soft-soap from a crazy

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

" (Yudkoff, 2001). However, after seeing Kelly's performance, he gave Kelly the job, an important step in Kelly's career. In 1943, he produced '' Carmen Jones'' with an all-black cast. An adaptation of

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, '' Carmen'', which has become ...

's opera ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opér ...

,'' the story was transplanted to

America by lyricist and librettist

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight ...

. It was an instant hit. The ''New York Telegraph'' called it "far and away the best show in New York"; ''The New York Times'' said it was "beautifully done ... just call it wonderful." The ''New York Herald Tribune'' said that

"must be considered one of the greatest librettists of our day" and that ''Carmen Jones'' was "a masterly tour de force." It was made into a motion picture in 1954, for which

Dorothy Dandridge Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922 – September 8, 1965) was an American actress, singer and dancer. She is the first African-American film star to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, which was for her performance in '' C ...

received an Oscar nomination. In 1946, Rose's memoir ''Wine, Women and Words'', dedicated to Rose's early patron

Bernard M. Baruch Bernard Mannes Baruch (August 19, 1870 – June 20, 1965) was an American financier and statesman. After amassing a fortune on the New York Stock Exchange, he impressed President Woodrow Wilson by managing the nation's economic mobilization in W ...

, was published in New York by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pub ...

. The book was illustrated, including the cover of the numbered and signed first edition of 1500 copies, by

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

whom Rose met while producing events at the 1939 World's Fair. Following the publication of ''Wine, Women and Words'' Rose appeared on the cover of ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' on June 2, 1947. Rose and Holm divorced in 1954. On July 2, 1956, he married showgirl Joyce Mathews (1919-1999), and they divorced July 23, 1959. They then remarried on December 29, 1961, only to divorce again on February 10, 1964, exactly two years before he died. (In the 1940s, Mathews had twice married and twice divorced comedian

Milton Berle Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over 80 years, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and tel ...

.) Later in 1964, Rose married Doris Ruth Vidor (née Warner; 1912-1978), who was the widow of film director

Charles Vidor Charles Vidor (born Károly Vidor; July 27, 1900June 4, 1959) was a Hungarian film director. Among his film successes are ''The Bridge'' (1929), ''The Tuttles of Tahiti'' (1942), ''The Desperadoes'' (1943), ''Cover Girl'' (1944), '' Together A ...

. Billy Rose founded the Billy Rose Sculpture Garden at the

Israel Museum The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. His legendary pragmatism is illustrated by a seeming minor event at the sculpture garden opening ceremony, which Rose attended personally. When asked by one of the many distinguished guests what, in the event of war, Rose would have Israel do with these artworks, many of which were modern, steel abstracts, Rose unsmilingly replied, "Melt them down for bullets." From 1949 until 1955, Rose was the owner-operator of the Ziegfeld Theatre. During that time, the theater housed four musicals and five plays. In 1965, he sold the theater to be demolished to make way for a new skyscraper, the Fisher Bros. Building. Billy Rose was a board member of American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. ASCAP often slandered rock-and-roll songs. In general, Rock and Roll performers wrote the music and lyrics themselves. Consequently, as rock musicians increasingly wrote their own songs, professional songwriters, formerly dominant figures in music industry, encountered less demand for their work. As an ASCAP member, Billy Rose labeled rock-and-roll songs "junk" and was quoted as saying, "in many cases they are obscene junk much on the level with dirty comic magazines."

Later years and death

From 1959 until his death in 1966, he was also the owner-operator of the

Billy Rose Theater Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge * Billy, a you ...

. During that time the theater housed four plays, one musical, one

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own du ...

, three ballets, and twenty-nine concert performances. After his death, the theater retained its name, and remained in the ownership of his estate until 1978, when it was renamed. Today it is the Nederlander Theatre. Rose in 1965 was offered, but declined, the role to oversee the

1964 New York World's Fair The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 US states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or ...

towards its conclusion. Rose was a wealthy man when he died of lobar pneumonia at his vacation home in Montego Bay, Jamaica at the age of 66. At the time of his death, his fortune was estimated at about $42 million ($ in dollars), which he left entirely to the Billy Rose Foundation, Inc (for the support of fine and performing arts), disowning both of his sisters. He is interred at Westchester Hills Cemetery in

Hastings-on-Hudson, New York Hastings-on-Hudson is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Westchester County located in the southwestern part of the administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Greenburgh, New York, Greenburgh in the state of New Yor ...

. In 1970, Rose was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.

Depictions

Rose was a leading character in the 1975 musical film '' Funny Lady,'' a sequel to ''Funny Girl'', which continues the story of Fanny Brice, again played by

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

. Despite physical dissimilarities, actor James Caan was cast as Rose. The 1962 film '' Billy Rose's Jumbo'', starring

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

, depicted the original Broadway show staged by Rose. Although he was not involved in the making of the film, a contractual stipulation made it mandatory that his name appear in the title. Saul Bellow's novella, ''

The Bellarosa Connection ''The Bellarosa Connection'' is a 1989 novella by the American author Saul Bellow. The book takes the form of an ongoing dialogue between the Fonstein family about the impact of the Holocaust. This is an especially significant story as it represen ...

'', depicts Billy Rose as a benevolent figure helping Jewish people to escape the Nazis in Europe.

Work on Broadway

*''Charlot Revue'' (1925) – revue – featured co-lyricist for "A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich and You" with

Al Dubin Alexander Dubin (June 10, 1891 – February 11, 1945) was an American lyricist. He is best known for his collaborations with the composer Harry Warren. Life Al Dubin came from a Russian Jewish family that emigrated to the United States from Swi ...

, music by Joseph Meyer *''Padlocks of 1927'' (1927) – revue – lyricist *''Harry Delmar's Revels'' (1927) – revue – co-lyricist *'' Sweet and Low'' (1930) – revue – composer, lyricist, and producer *''Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt'' (1931) – revue – producer, librettist, and director *''The Great Magoo'' (1932) – play – producerLeague, The Broadway
"The Great Magoo – Broadway Play – Original , IBDB"
''www.ibdb.com''. *''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Follies of the ...

of 1934'' (1934) – revue – featured lyricist for "Soul Saving Sadie", "Suddenly", "Countess Dubinsky", and "Sarah, the Sunshine Girl" *''

'' (1935) – musical – producer *'' Clash by Night'' (1941) – play – producer *'' Carmen Jones'' (1943) – musical – producer *''Seven Lively Arts'' (1944) – revue – producer *''Concert Varieties'' (1945) –

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 compositio ...

– producer *''Interplay'' (1945) –

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

– producer *'' The Immoralist'' (1954) – play – producer *''

The Wall ''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/ CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-i ...

'' (1960) – play – co-producer Posthumous Credits *'' Ain't Misbehavin''' (1978) – revue – featured lyricist for " I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling" from film ''

Applause Applause (Latin ''applaudere,'' to strike upon, clap) is primarily a form of ovation or praise expressed by the act of clapping, or striking the palms of the hands together, in order to create noise. Audiences usually applaud after a performa ...

'' (1929) *'' Big Deal'' (1986) – musical – featured lyricist for " Me and My Shadow" *'' Fosse'' (1999) – revue – featured lyricist for "Dancin' Dan ( Me and My Shadow)"

References

External links

* *
Billy Rose recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Billy 1899 births 1966 deaths Songwriters from New York (state) American entertainment industry businesspeople Burials at Westchester Hills Cemetery Impresarios Jewish American songwriters Musicians from New York City 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American Jews