Edward Eliscu (April 2, 1902 – June 18, 1998) was an American lyricist, playwright, producer and actor, and a successful writer of songs for films.

Life

Eliscu was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York City. He attended

DeWitt Clinton High School , motto_translation = Without Work Nothing Is Accomplished , image = DeWitt Clinton High School front entrance IMG 7441 HLG.jpg , seal_image = File:Clinton News.JPG , seal_size = 124px , ...

in Manhattan as a classmate of director

George Cukor George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head ...

. He then attended

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. He then began acting in

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

plays. Eliscu's first film score was with

Vincent Youmans Vincent Millie Youmans (September 27, 1898 – April 5, 1946) was an American Broadway composer and producer. A leading Broadway composer of his day, Youmans collaborated with virtually all the greatest lyricists on Broadway: Ira Gershwin, Ot ...

and Billy Rose for the film '' Great Day''. Two well-known songs from that show include "More Than You Know," and "Without a Song." He married the dancer and journalist Stella Bloch in 1931. They both worked in the film industry until the

House Committee on Un-American Activities The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

named her husband in the 1950s. This ended his career in the film and later in the television industry.Stella Bloch papers
New York Public Library. Retrieved October 19, 2015 Eliscu together with his wife's cousin

Mortimer Offner Mortimer Offner (November 3, 1900 – September 1965) was an American photographer, political activist, and screenwriter. He created portraits of leading film stars before successfully moving to screenwriting. His career ended when he was blackli ...

moved away from Hollywood and returned to New York. Elscu was inducted into the

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...

in 1975.Songwriters Hall of Fame
. Retrieved October 19, 2015 He died on June 18, 1998, aged 96, in Newtown, Connecticut. Eliscu is the grandfather of music journalist and broadcaster

Jenny Eliscu Jenny Eliscu is a radio host for Sirius XM and a contributing editor for ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. She also had a recurring presence on the TV program ''I'm from Rolling Stone'' and has been on other music programs, including ''Behind the Music' ...

Works

Selected film and theatre scores

* ''Lady Fingers'' * ''

The Street Singer A street singer is a street performance artist who performs by singing. Street Singer or The Street Singer may also refer to: Film and theatre * ''The Street Singer'' (1912 film), an American short silent film * ''The Street Singer'' (1937 film) ...

'' * ''A Little Racketeer'' * ''Frederica'' (also librettist) * ''

Meet the People ''Meet the People'' (1944) is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical film, musical comedy film made, and set, during World War II, and starring Lucille Ball and Dick Powell and featuring Virginia O'Brien, Bert Lahr, Rags Ragland and June Allyson. The film ...

'' (also producer) * '' The Banker's Daughter'' * ''9:15 Revue'' * ''

The Garrick Gaieties ''Garrick Gaieties'' is a revue with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, the first successful musical by this songwriting team. It debuted in 1925 on Broadway and was the first of three ''Garrick Gaiety'' revues, which were sub ...

'' (1930) * ''

The Little Show ''The Little Show'' was a musical revue with lyrics by Howard Dietz and music by Arthur Schwartz. It was the first of 11 musicals that featured the songs of Dietz and Schwartz. The revue opened at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway on April 30, 192 ...

'' * ''

Flying Down to Rio ''Flying Down to Rio'' is a 1933 American pre-Code RKO musical film famous for being the first screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, although Dolores del Río and Gene Raymond received top billing and the leading roles. Among the ...

'' (1933) * ''

The Gay Senorita ''The Gay Senorita'' is a 1945 American comedy-drama film directed by Arthur Dreifuss, which stars Jinx Falkenburg, Jim Bannon, and Steve Cochran. Cast list * Jinx Falkenburg as Elena Sandoval * Jim Bannon as Phil Frentiss, also known as Phil Do ...

'' (1945)

Selected hits

*"Happy Because I'm in Love" *"Ankle Up the Altar" *"Music Makes Me" *"Orchids in the Moonlight" *"Meet the People" *"A Fellow and a Girl" *"You Forgot Your Gloves" *"Without a Song" *"More Than You Know"

Selected collaborators

* Billy Rose *

Jay Gorney Jay Gorney (December 12, 1896– June 14, 1990) was an American theater and film song writer. Life and career Gorney was born Abraham Jacob Gornetzsky on December 12, 1896, in Białystok, Russia (now part of Poland), the son of Frieda (Perlst ...

*Henry Myers (composer) *

John Green John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author, YouTube content creator, podcaster, and philanthropist. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including '' The Fault in Our Stars'' (2012), which is ...

Gus Kahn Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including " Pretty Baby", " Ain't We Got Fun?", " Carolina in the Morning", " Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo ...

Vernon Duke Vernon Duke ( 16 January 1969) was a Russian-born American composer/songwriter who also wrote under his birth name, Vladimir Dukelsky. He is best known for " Taking a Chance on Love," with lyrics by Ted Fetter and John Latouche (1940), "I Can' ...

Manning Sherwin Manning Sherwin (January 4, 1902 – July 26, 1974) was an American composer. Born in Philadelphia, Sherwin attended Columbia University before embarking upon a long career in musical theatre and films. His most enduring composition is the music ...

Richard Myers Richard Bowman Myers (born March 1, 1942) is a retired four-star general in the United States Air Force who served as the 15th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As chairman, Myers was the highest ranking uniformed officer of the United Stat ...

*Ned Lehac * Billy Hill

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eliscu, Edward 1902 births 1998 deaths Songwriters from New York (state) American male stage actors 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American singers DeWitt Clinton High School alumni City College of New York alumni 20th-century American male writers American people of Romanian descent