Jay Gorney (December 12, 1896– June 14, 1990) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

theater and film song writer.

Life and career

Gorney was born Abraham Jacob Gornetzsky on December 12, 1896, in

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Białystok is located in the Białystok Up ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

(now part of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

), the son of Frieda (Perlstein) and Jacob Gornetzsky. His family was Jewish. In 1906, he witnessed the Bialystok

pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...

, which forced his family into hiding for nearly two weeks; they soon fled to the United States, arriving on 14 September 1906. The family settled in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, where Jacob Gornetzsky became an engineer at the newly formed

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

. Frieda Gornetzsky bought a piano for her children. At age 14, after two years of lessons, Gorney was offered a job as a pianist at a local

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

. He worked his way through the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

(Class of 1917) and the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a Public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of C ...

(Class of 1919) as a pianist. His studies were interrupted by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, during which he enlisted in the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

. After graduating, he practiced law briefly before pursuing a career in music. Gorney relocated with his wife to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he began his song writing career on

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

. He contributed numerous songs to musicals by the

Shubert brothers The Shubert family was responsible for the establishment of the Broadway district, in New York City, as the hub of the theater industry in the United States. They dominated the legitimate theater and vaudeville in the first half of the 20th cen ...

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...

introduced Gorney to lyricist

Yip Harburg Edgar Yipsel Harburg (born Isidore Hochberg; April 8, 1896 – March 5, 1981) was an American popular song lyricist and librettist who worked with many well-known composers. He wrote the lyrics to the standards "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" ( ...

, who became a frequent collaborator. The pair's most famous song was "

Brother Can You Spare a Dime "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" is one of the best-known American songs of the Great Depression. Written by lyricist Yip Harburg and composer Jay Gorney, it was part of the 1932 musical revue ''Americana''; the melody is based on a Russian-Jewi ...

," based on a lullaby that Gorney learned as a child in Russia. It first appeared in the 1932 Shubert production of ''New Americana'' and became the anthem of the Great Depression. The Gorney-Harburg writing partnership ended when Harburg had an affair with Gorney's wife, whom he subsequently married. Gorney is credited with bringing

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

to 20th Century-Fox (then known as Fox Films). As he was leaving a viewing of her latest picture, ''Frolics of Youth'', Gorney saw Temple dancing in the movie theater lobby. Recognizing her from the screen, he arranged for her to have a tryout for the movie ''

Stand Up and Cheer! ''Stand Up and Cheer!'' is a 1934 American Pre-Code musical film directed by Hamilton MacFadden. The screenplay by Lew Brown and Ralph Spence was based upon a story idea by Will Rogers and Philip Klein. The film is about efforts undertaken du ...

'', which he was working on as a songwriter. The role, which featured Temple singing "Baby Take a Bow" (which was co-written by Gorney) with James Dunn, turned out to be a breakthrough role for Temple. The song would become the title for ''

Baby Take a Bow ''Baby, Take a Bow'' is a 1934 American comedy-drama film directed by Harry Lachman and is one of the earliest Hays code Hollywood films (its MPAA certificate marks it as the third ever code-approved film). The screenplay by Philip Klein and Edwa ...

'', the first film by Fox to feature Temple in a starring role.Shirley Temple Black, "Child Star: An Autobiography" (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1988), 32-36. Gorney's second marriage was to Sondra Karyl (Kattlove), a public relations consultant. Their daughter,

Karen Lynn Gorney Karen Lynn Gorney (born ) is an American actress who had roles in television shows and films including the soap opera ''All My Children'' and the movie ''Saturday Night Fever''. Early life Gorney's father is Jay Gorney, who was born in Białyst ...

, is an actress and dancer who was in the original cast of ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...

'', and starred opposite

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (19 ...

in ''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Manero spends his ...

''. Gorney has two sons, Dr. Roderic Gorney (with first wife Edelaine Roden) and Dan Gorney (with Sondra Karyl). Gorney's 2005 biography, ''Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? The Life of Composer Jay Gorney'', was written by his widow Sondra.

References

External links

*
SondraGorney.com
- Website of Jay Gorney's widow, Sondra, featuring information on her late husband
GorneyMusicPublishing.com
- Jay Gorney's website created by Sondra Gorney, Daniel Gorney, and Karen Lynn Gorney
Jay Gorney's scores
are housed in th

of the

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

Jay Gorney papers, 1896-1993
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

* A collection of material relating to Jay Gorney is housed in th
Great American Songbook Foundation archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorney, Jay 1890s births 1990 deaths Jewish American songwriters People from Białystok Lawyers from Detroit Military personnel from Detroit University of Michigan Law School alumni 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American Jews