Henry "Hank" Sylvern (born Henry Silverstein, March 26, 1908 – July 4, 1964) was an American

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical inst ...

, composer, conductor and arranger.

Early life and career

Born and raised in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, Sylvern was the eldest of three children born to Herman Silverstein and Mary Sheflin."United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4VY-YZW : accessed 14 March 2023), Henry Silverstein in household of Herman Silverstein, Brooklyn (Districts 0251-0500), Kings, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 486, sheet 10A, line 17, family 171, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1540; FHL microfilm 2,341,275. He began his music studies at the

Paris Conservatory The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

and later attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

. Silvern's first nationwide exposure came via his 1941 collaboration with lyricist Ruth Poll, "I'm a Military Man Now," which, at

Treasury Secretary The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

Henry Morgenthau's request, was unveiled on the premiere broadcast of a revamped version of the

U.S. Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

's wartime radio series, ''The Treasury Hour—Millions for Defense''. Subsequently, Sylvern worked on many radio and television shows, some of which are listed below: :''

Nick Carter, Master Detective ''Nick Carter, Master Detective'' was a Mutual radio crime drama based on tales of the fictional private detective Nick Carter from Street & Smith's dime novels and pulp magazines. Nick Carter first came to radio as ''The Return of Nick Carte ...

'', radio series, 1943Buxton, Frank; Owen, Bill (1972). ''The Big Broadcast, 1920 - 1950''. New York: The Viking Press. pp.&nbs
21223
:'' Arthur Godfrey Time'', 1945, radio series, 1945 :'' Suspense'', 1949, TV series; musical director :''

Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of ''Tom Corbett—Space Cadet'' stories that were depicted in television, radio, books, comic books, comic strips, and other media in the 1950s. The stories followed the adventures of Corbett, Ast ...

'', 1950, TV series; theme song composer :''USA Canteen'' (aka ''

The Jane Froman Show ''The Jane Froman Show'' was an American musical variety television series starring singer and actress Jane Froman that aired on CBS from 1952–1955. The title ''USA Canteen'' was used from the show's premiere on October 18, 1952, until De ...

''), 1952, TV series; orchestra leader and musical director :''

The Phil Silvers Show ''The Phil Silvers Show'', originally titled ''You'll Never Get Rich'', is a sitcom which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959. A pilot titled "Audition Show" was made in 1955, but it was never broadcast. 143 other episodes were broadcast – all half-a ...

'' (aka ''Sergeant Bilko'', "You'll Never Get Rich"), 1955, TV series :''

Dotto ''Dotto'' was a 1958 American television game show that was a combination of a general knowledge quiz and the children's game connect the dots. Jack Narz served as the program's host, with Colgate-Palmolive as its presenting sponsor. ''Dotto'' ...

'', 1958, TV seriesSchwartz, David; Ryan, Steve; Wostbrock, Fred (1995). ''The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows''. 2nd ed. New York: Facts on File. pp.&nbs
50119
. :'' Make a Face'' 1961, TV series He was also an organist who played music for innumerable radio shows and also wrote the following radio show theme songs: :'' Mark Trail'', ''

The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin ''The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin'' is an American children's television series in the Western genre that aired from October 1954 to May 1959 on the ABC television network. In all, 164 episodes aired. The show starred Lee Aaker as Rusty, a boy o ...

'', ''

Space Academy ''Space Academy'' is an American science fiction television series produced by Filmation that originally aired Saturday mornings on the CBS television network, from September 10 to December 17, 1977. (Repeats ran on and off until September 1, 1979 ...

'', '' Strike It Rich'' Sylvern recorded a Christmas album named ''Christmas in Hi-Fi (Organ, Bells, Chimes)''. He also wrote the music for an

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

children's story-telling LP record (CH-103), ''The Wonderful World of Fairy Tales''. He played the organ while

Robert Q. Lewis Robert Q. Lewis (born Robert Goldberg; April 25, 1921 – December 11, 1991) was an American radio and television personality, comedian, game show host, and actor. Lewis added the middle initial "Q" to his name accidentally on the air in 1942, ...

told ''The Ugly Duckling'', ''The Pied Piper of Hamelin'', ''The Sleeping Beauty'', ''The Steadfast Tin Soldier'', ''Jack and the Beanstalk'', ''Rapunzel'', ''Beauty and the Beast'', ''Rumpelstiltskin'', ''Pinocchio'', ''Thumbelina'', ''The Little Mermaid'', and ''The Wizard of Oz'' stories. Between 1945 and 1949, Sylvern worked alongside his second wife, Jeanne Harrison—she as director, he as musical director—on a number of radio programs, most notably '' Adventures of Boston Blackie''. In addition they recorded two records for children. In June 1950, Sylvern was named "outstanding musical director of radio and TV for 1949-50" by ''Song Hits Magazine''. In 1956, he was elected to the Board of Governors of the

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation is the charitable arm of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The Foundation’s educational and preservation programs include the Summer Internship program, the College Television Awards ...

Personal life and death

Sylvern was married at least twice: first—from January 7, 1934 until her death on January 12, 1942—to Pearl Flexer, with whom he had a daughter, Bryna, and then—from February 2, 1946 until their divorce, circa spring 1952—to radio and TV producer-director, Jeanne—aka "Jean"—Harrison.Seaman, Barbara (1996).
Lovely Me : The Story of Jacqueline Susann
'. New York: Seven Stories Press. p. 222. . On July 4, 1964, Sylvern died of undisclosed causes at his home in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of

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 ...

References

External links

Hank Sylvern
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Hank Sylvern
at

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* * * * * 1908 births 1964 deaths American radio personalities RCA Victor artists {{US-radio-bio-stub

Early life and career

Personal life and death

References

Further reading

External links