Samuel Timberg (May 21, 1903 – August 26, 1992) was an American musician and composer for the stage, film studios, and television.
Biography
Timberg was born in New York City to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family originating in Austria, youngest son of Israel and Mary Timberg and brother of vaudeville performers Herman Timberg and Hattie Darling. He studied piano under
Rubin Goldmark
Rubin Goldmark (August 15, 1872 – March 6, 1936) was an American composer, pianist, and educator.Perlis, ''New Grove Dictionary of American Music'', v. II, p. 239 Although in his time he was an often-performed American nationalist composer, hi ...
with hopes of becoming a classical performer; the death of his father in 1919, however, forced him to leave his studies and find work. Just 16, Sammy joined Herman's act as a straight man, and also began conducting the orchestra.
To increase the family earnings, Herman also wrote material for other acts, including
Georgie Price
George Edwards "Georgie" Price (January 5, 1901 – May 10, 1964) was an American vaudeville singer and comic who performed in Vitaphone shorts in the 1920s and 1930s.
Early life, family and education
Price was born on the Lower East Side of ...
and
Clark and McCullough
Clark and McCullough were a comedy team consisting of comedians Bobby Clark and Paul McCullough. They starred in a series of short films during the 1920s and 1930s. Bobby Clark was the fast-talking wisecracker with painted-on eyeglasses; P ...
(and, a few years later,
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly sixty years. Silvers achieved major popu ...
). In 1920 the Timbergs were hired by Chico Marx to develop a follow-up to the
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...
hit revue ''Home Again'' after the failure of the 1918 Kahn/Swerling production ''Cinderella Girl''. In February 1921 the Marx Brothers introduced ''On The Mezzanine'' which toured across the US and in Britain; it was written by Herman and managed by Hattie, while 18-year old Sammy led the orchestra and co-wrote the music.
Sammy also found work with other performers and in 1929 supplied songs for Broadway revues ''Broadway Nights'', ''Dutchess of Chicago'', and ''The Street Singer'', all choreographed by
Busby Berkeley
Busby Berkeley (born Berkeley William Enos; November 29, 1895 – March 14, 1976) was an American film director and musical choreographer. Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns. Berke ...
. He also worked for the Shuberts, and organized and led his own touring orchestra.
Timberg was perhaps most famous for the music he wrote for cartoons while music director of the Fleischer Studios, such as
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Betty Boop, and Superman. He also contributed songs to two Fleischer feature-length animated films, '' Gulliver's Travels'' and ''
Mr. Bug Goes to Town
''Mr. Bug Goes to Town'' (also known as ''Hoppity Goes to Town'' and ''Bugville'') is a 1941 American animated Technicolor feature film produced by Fleischer Studios, previewed by Paramount Pictures on December 5, 1941, and released in California ...
''. Possibly his best known and most-recorded song, '' It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day,'' was a feature from ''Gulliver''. He remained with the organization to compose shorts when the Fleischers were succeeded by Famous Studios, serving as the studio's musical director until
Winston Sharples
Winston Singleton Sharples (March 1, 1909 – April 3, 1978) was an American composer known for his work with animated short subjects, especially those created by the animation department at Paramount Pictures. In his 35-year career, Sharples s ...
officially succeeded him in 1943.
He composed and conducted the score for MGM recording of the Lionel Barrymore '' A Christmas Carol''. He unsuccessfully managed the early career of
Jackie Gleason
John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...
Eydie Gormé
Eydie Gormé ( ; born Edith Gormezano; August 16, 1928 – August 10, 2013) was an American singer who had hits on the pop and Latin pop charts. She sang solo and in the duo Steve and Eydie with her husband, Steve Lawrence, on albums and telev ...
, and others until he retired in the 1960s.
In the 1960s Timberg moved to
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...
, where he died in 1992. He was the father of writer and journalist Robert Timberg, Patricia Timberg and Rosemarie Eisenberg Shaw.
Well-known Songs
* Don't Take My Boop-Oop-A-Doop Away (1931)
* Brotherly Love (1936), from the ''Popeye'' cartoon of that name.
* It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day (1939), with Sharples and Nieburg
* Boy, Oh Boy (1941) with Frank Loesser
* Help Yourself To My Heart (1947), Frank Sinatra
In 2004, Timberg's daughter Pat released a CD of his music: ''Boop-Oop-A-Doin': modern recordings of Sammy Timberg, composer for the Max Fleischer toons''.
See also
*
Bob Rothberg
Bob Rothberg (October 28, 1901, New York City, New York – February 1, 1938, New York City, New York) was a Tin Pan Alley songwriter and lyricist. ASCAP 1936. Educ: New York public schools 1915; DeWitt Clinton High School, New York 1919; accounta ...