Gerald Marks (October 13, 1900 – January 27, 1997) was an American composer of

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

. He was best known for the song " All of Me", which he co-wrote with Seymour Simons and has been recorded about 2,000 times. He also wrote the songs "That's What I Want for Christmas" for the film '' Stowaway'' starring

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was na ...

, and " Is It True What They Say About Dixie?" recorded by

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson, ; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-born American singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. Self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer," Jolson was one of the United States' most famous and ...

and Rudy Vallee. The success of "All of Me" led him to become a member of

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

, and he remained active in the organization for decades, serving on its board of directors from 1970 to 1981. Marks was married to Edna Berger, a successful newspaperwoman and labor organizer. She preceded him in death.

References

External links

The Berger-Marks Foundation
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Entry at bmi.com
1900 births 1997 deaths Jewish American songwriters American male composers Musicians from Saginaw, Michigan Songwriters from Michigan ASCAP composers and authors 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American Jews American male songwriters 20th-century American songwriters {{US-composer-20thC-stub