Manning Sherwin
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Manning Sherwin (January 4, 1902 – July 26, 1974) was an American composer. Born in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, Sherwin attended
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
before embarking upon a long career in musical theatre and films. His most enduring composition is the music for "
A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" is a British romantic popular song written in 1939 and published in 1940, with lyrics by Eric Maschwitz and music by Manning Sherwin. Setting Berkeley Square is a large leafy square in Mayfair, a part o ...
", lyrics by Eric Maschwitz, written for ''New Faces'' in 1940. Another wartime success, published in 1939, was " Who's Taking You Home Tonight?", with lyrics by
Tommie Connor Thomas Patrick Connor (16 November 1904 – 28 November 1993) was a British lyricist and songwriter, credited with several hit songs over his long career. He wrote several of the most popular non-religious Christmas songs, including " The Litt ...
. He settled in Britain in 1938, and contributed to
George Posford George Posford, born Benjamin George Ashwell (23 March 1906 – 24 April 1976), was an English composer and conductor. Early life Benjamin George Ashwell was born in 1906 in Folkestone, Kent. He was educated at Downside School in Somerset a ...
's ''Magyar Melody''. His musical ''Sitting Pretty'', whose main hit was the duet "I'll Take a Little Time", was pulled early due to the outbreak of war, and he countered with ''Get A Load of This'' which achieved 698 West End performances (1941-3), ''Something in the Air'' (1943-4) (336 performances, plus 163 more in 1944-5), and '' Under the Counter'' (665 perfs in 1945-7). During the war he worked for British cinema, providing the music for hit wartime comedy features such as ''
Miss London Miss England is a national beauty pageant in England. History The contest, title owned by the Miss World organisation is organised each year by Angie Beasley, a winner of 25 beauty contests in the 1980s and has organised beauty pageants ...
''. His last successful musicals were ''The Kid From Stratford'' (1948-9: 235 performances) and ''
Her Excellency Excellency is an honorific style (manner of address), style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder ...
'' (1949) (jointly composed with Posford, whose real name was Benjamin George Ashwell, perfs 252). A number of his songs also featured in British musical films of the period. Sherwin died in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. He was buried in Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in
Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...
.


References


External links


Philip L. Scowcroft's article on British Light Music Composers
* 1902 births 1974 deaths Columbia University alumni Musicians from Philadelphia American male composers Burials in California 20th-century American composers Burials at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery 20th-century American male musicians {{US-composer-20thC-stub