Janice Torre
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Janice Renée Torre (August 17, 1914 – February 21, 1985) was a songwriter and lyricist best known for the song "
Paper Roses "Paper Roses" is a popular song written and composed by Fred Spielman and Janice Torre. It first was a top five hit in 1960 for Anita Bryant. Marie Osmond recorded it in 1973 and took her version to number one on the US country chart. Anit ...
", which she wrote with composer Fred Spielman.


Early years

Janice Torre was born in New Orleans, the daughter of Peter Torre, an Italian immigrant developer in the oil industry, and Juanita Mottram. Janice graduated from
Academy of the Sacred Heart (New Orleans) The Academy of the Sacred Heart is a private Catholic high school in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is located within the Archdiocese of New Orleans and was established in 1886 by the Society of the Sacred Heart. Athletics Academy of the Sacred H ...
,
H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, or Newcomb College, was the coordinate women's college of Tulane University located in New Orleans, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was founded by Josephine Louise Newcomb in 1886 in memory of her daughter ...
of
Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...
, where she was president of her Senior Class, and
Yale School of Drama The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...
. At Newcomb she was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi.


Musical career

Janice Torre collaborated with the composer Fred Spielman. Torre wrote song lyrics for the films '' All Shook Up'' with
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
, ''
Tom Thumb Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. ''The History of Tom Thumb'' was published in 1621 and was the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tan ...
'', '' Luxury Liner'' with
Lauritz Melchior Lauritz Melchior (20 March 1890 – 18 March 1973) was a Danish-American opera singer. He was the preeminent Richard Wagner, Wagnerian tenor of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s and has come to be considered the quintessence of his voice type. Late i ...
, ''
In the Good Old Summertime ''In the Good Old Summertime'' is a 1949 American Technicolor musical film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. It stars Judy Garland, Van Johnson, S.Z. Sakall, Spring Byington, Clinton Sundberg, and Buster Keaton in his first featured film role at M ...
'' with
Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...
, '' Big City'', and ''
Girls! Girls! Girls! ''Girls! Girls! Girls!'' is a 1962 Golden Globe-nominated American musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley as a penniless Hawaii-based fisherman who loves his life on the sea and dreams of owning his own boat. " Return to Sender", which reache ...
'' (1962) with Elvis Presley. Torre and Spielman wrote the television musical adaptation of
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
's '' A Christmas Carol'', titled ''
The Stingiest Man In Town is a 1978 animated Christmas musical television special based on Charles Dickens' 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol''. It was created by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, and features traditional animation rather than the stop motion animatio ...
'' (1956).


Personal and later years

Janice Torre was married to Gregory Manning Perky, a science teacher at the
Isidore Newman School Isidore Newman School is a private, nondenominational, co-educational college preparatory school located on an campus in the uptown section of New Orleans, Louisiana. Jeré Longman of ''The New York Times'' described Isidore Newman as "one of ...
in New Orleans. She composed her last film score in 1962. She died in New York City and is interred in
Metairie Cemetery Metairie Cemetery is a cemetery in southeastern Louisiana. The name has caused some people to mistakenly presume that the cemetery is located in Metairie, Louisiana, but it is located within the New Orleans city limits, on Metairie Road (and fo ...
, New Orleans.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torre, Janice 1914 births 1985 deaths American film score composers American women film score composers American musical theatre composers Women musical theatre composers Songwriters from Louisiana American musical theatre librettists American musical theatre lyricists 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Writers from New Orleans Musicians from New Orleans H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College alumni Schools of the Sacred Heart alumni Yale School of Drama alumni American women composers American writers of Italian descent 20th-century American women musicians 20th-century American composers 20th-century women composers Burials at Metairie Cemetery