Nilo Menéndez Barnet (

Matanzas Matanzas (Cuban ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas (Spanish ''Bahia de Matanzas''), east ...

, 26 September 1902 -

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...

, 15 September 1987) was a

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n-born naturalized American songwriter. Menéndez came to the United States in 1924 when he was 22. He wrote his best known song "

Aquellos Ojos Verdes "Green Eyes" is a popular song, originally written in Spanish under the title "Aquellos Ojos Verdes" ("Those Green Eyes") by Adolfo Utrera and Nilo Menéndez in 1929. The English translation was made by Eddie Rivera and Eddie Woods in 1931. Span ...

" in 1929 and was recorded several times by Latin artists and translated into English in 1931. The song became a major hit when

Jimmy Dorsey James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards "I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary People ...

recorded it as "Green Eyes" around 1941.Nilo Menendez, Composer of 'Green Eyes,' Dies at 84
September 25, 1987 "Menendez came to the United States in 1924 and wrote "Green Eyes" ("Aquellos Ojos Verdes") in 1929. Although it had been recorded on other labels, it was not until the Jimmy Dorsey band recorded it in about 1942 that it became a longtime resident of the Hit Parade."

References

1902 births 1987 deaths 20th-century composers Cuban emigrants to the United States People with acquired American citizenship {{Cuba-composer-stub