Leo Edwards (21 February 1886 – 12 July 1978) was a

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 ...

and

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 ...

composer and pianist. He worked closely with

Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. (; March 21, 1867 – July 22, 1932) was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1907–1931), inspired by the ''Folies Bergère'' of Paris. He also p ...

, writing music for the ''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Ai ...

'' for over a decade. He also wrote music for

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, W ...

and collaborated with his two brothers, the composer Gus Edwards and music publisher and talent agent Ben Edwards, in addition to writing music for several New York music publishing firms.

Life and career

Born in Leo Schmelowsky in Posen, Germany, Leo Edwards was the brother of composer and vaudeville musician Gus Edwards, music publisher and talent agent Ben Edwards, and vaudeville songstress Dorothea Edwards. His brother Ben had a famous daughter, the singer and song writer Joan Edwards. In 1891 he traveled to the United States with his family on the steamship ''Spaarndam''; arriving at the Port of New York on 29 July 1891. The family settled in the Williamsburg neighborhood of

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 ...

. Leo Edwards worked for music publishing firms as a staff composer; writing music for T. B. Harms, M. Witmark & Sons, the Gus Edwards Music Company, Leo Feist Inc., and the DeSylva Publishing Company. In 1914 he was a charter member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. His Broadway credits as a composer include '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1902), ''

The Blue Paradise ''The Blue Paradise'' is a musical in a prologue and two acts, with music by Edmund Eysler, Sigmund Romberg and Leo Edwards, lyrics primarily by Herbert Reynolds, and a book by Edgar Smith, based on the operetta ''Ein Tag im Paradies'' (''A D ...

'', ''The Merry Whirl'' (1911), and the

of 1912, 1913, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1921 and 1923. Edwards co-wrote the popular song "My Fantasy" with

and Jack Meskill, which is an adaptation of the

Polovtsian Dances The Polovtsian Dances, or Polovetsian Dances ( rus, Половецкие пляски, Polovetskie plyaski from the Russian "Polovtsy"—the name given to the Kipchaks and Cumans by the Rus' people) form an exotic scene at the end of act 2 of Alex ...

theme from the opera ''

Prince Igor ''Prince Igor'' ( rus, Князь Игорь, Knyáz Ígor ) is an opera in four acts with a prologue, written and composed by Alexander Borodin. The composer adapted the libretto from the Ancient Russian epic '' The Lay of Igor's Host'', which re ...

'' by Alexander Borodin. He also wrote "I'm an Indian" for Fanny Brice. His other notable songs include "Isle d' Amour"; "Sweetheart, Let's Grow Old Together"; "My Fantasy"; "That's What the Rose Said to Me"; "Little Seeds of Kindness"; "So Long, Good Bye"; "If They Don't Stop Making Them So Beautiful"; "Waiting for the Dawn and You"; and "Let's Grow Old Together". Some of his other collaborators in song writing included

Earl Carroll Earl Carroll (September 16, 1893 – June 17, 1948) was an American theatrical producer, director, writer, songwriter and composer. Early life Carroll was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1893. He lived as an infant in the Nunnery Hill ( Fine ...

Blanche Merrill Blanche L. Merrill (born Blanche V. Dreyfoos; July 22/23, 1883"Blanche Merrill," ''U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014'' on ''Ancestry.com'' accessed June 5, 2018 (access by subscription). – October 5, 1966) was a songwriter specia ...

, and Herbert Reynolds. Edwards was married to Olga Edwards who was a singer with

. She died in 1940 at the age of 46. His second wife, Gertrude Edwards, died in 1965. Edwards lived at the

Olcott Hotel The Olcott Hotel is on West 72nd Street in New York City's Upper West Side. It was built by the Lapidus Engineering Company beginning in late 1925. The edifice was one of a number of structures constructed at the time from Central Park West to ...

in New York City. He died there at the age of 92 in 1978.

References

External links

Victor Discography: Leo Edwards (composer)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Leo 1886 births 1978 deaths American musical theatre composers German emigrants to the United States Vaudeville performers