Sunny Skylar (October 11, 1913 – February 2, 2009) was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

, and music publisher. He was born Selig Sidney Shaftel in

Brooklyn, New York 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 ...

, one of four children, to Sarah and Jacob Shaftel (or Schaftel), Jewish immigrants from Russia. His father sold knit goods. In the 1940s, he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was a headliner at hotels such as The Flamingo and the El Rancho, among others. As a singer, he appeared with a number of

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

s, including those led by

Ben Bernie Benjamin Anzelwitz, known professionally as Ben Bernie (May 30, 1891 – October 23, 1943),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. ...

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, ...

Abe Lyman Abe Lyman (August 4, 1897 – October 23, 1957) was a popular bandleader from the 1920s to the 1940s. He made recordings, appeared in films and provided the music for numerous radio shows, including ''Your Hit Parade''. His name at birth was Abra ...

, George Hall and

Vincent Lopez Vincent Lopez (December 30, 1895 – September 20, 1975) was an American bandleader, actor, and pianist. Early life and career Vincent Lopez was born of Portuguese immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, Distinguished Am ...

. It was Lopez who changed the singer's professional name from Sonny Schuyler to Sunny Skylar. After the end of the big band era, Skylar continued to sing in

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

s and

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

s until

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

. He was married four times: Joyce Coleman, 1942, Manhattan, NY; Christine Belanger, 1969, Las Vegas, NV (divorced, 1971); Jari Dee Rheinick, 1974, Las Vegas, NV (divorced after one month); Jacqueline Marlene Williams Trent, 1979, Las Vegas, NV; to whom he remained married until her death in 2008). He died in Las Vegas on February 2, 2009 and was buried in Davis Memorial Park, Las Vegas. His grave marker shows his name as Sunny Skylar.

List of compositions

Among the songs he wrote (either music or lyrics) are: * " Amor" * "

And So to Sleep Again "And So to Sleep Again" is a popular song, written in 1951 by Joe Marsala and Sunny Skylar. It was popularized by Patti Page in 1951. The Page recording was issued by Mercury Records as catalog number 5706, and first reached the '' Billboard'' ...

" * "Atlanta, G.A." * "

Bésame Mucho "Bésame Mucho" (; "Kiss Me A Lot") is a bolero song written in 1940 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez. It is one of the most popular songs of the 20th century and one of the most important songs in the history of Latin music. It was re ...

" (translation of the original Mexican song) * "Cry, Cry, Cry" * “Don’t Cry” * "Don't Wait Too Long" * "Gotta Be This or That" * "

Hair of Gold, Eyes of Blue "Hair of Gold, Eyes of Blue" is a popular song. It was written by Sunny Skylar. The song was published in 1948. Popular versions of the song were recorded by Gordon MacRae, by The Harmonicats, and by Jack Emerson ''(né'' Abraham Jacob Melamerson ...

" * "I Miss Your Kiss" * "

If You Loved Me "If You Loved Me" is a song written by Paul Nelson and Tom Shapiro, and recorded by American country music artist Tracy Lawrence. It was released in December 1995 as the first single from his album ''Time Marches On''. It peaked at number 4 on the ...

" (English version for Polnareff's '

Soul Coaxing (Ame Caline) "Soul Coaxing" or , written in 1967 by French singer/songwriter Michel Polnareff, provided Raymond Lefèvre and His Orchestra with a 1968 instrumental hit. Chart performance Released in the States in January 1968, "Soul Coaxing" peaked at No. 4 ...

') * " It Must Be Jelly ('Cause Jam Don't Shake like That)" * * "Louisville, K.Y." * "

Love Me with All Your Heart "Love Me with All Your Heart" is a popular song, based on the Spanish language song "Cuando calienta el sol", originally composed as "Cuando Calienta El Sol En Masachapa". The music was written by , a Nicaraguan songwriter and bandleader. SADAIC (t ...

" * "Nola" * "Where There's Smoke, There's Fire" * " You're Breaking My Heart"

References

1913 births 2009 deaths American male composers American music publishers (people) Musicians from Brooklyn American people of Russian-Jewish descent 20th-century American singers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male singers {{US-singer-stub