Irving Caesar (born Isidor Keiser, July 4, 1895 – December 17, 1996) was an American lyricist and composer primarily for

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

who wrote lyrics for numerous song standards, including " Swanee", " Sometimes I'm Happy", " Crazy Rhythm", and " Tea for Two", one of the most frequently recorded tunes ever written. In 1972, he was inducted into the

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work represent and maintain the heri ...

Biography

Caesar, the son of Morris Keiser, a Romanian Jewish lawyer and

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, was born in New York City, United States. His older brother Arthur Caesar was a successful

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

screenwriter. Around 1901, Caesar composed his first poem—which can be ascribed to his exposure to literature in the environment of his father's bookstore.https://www.ascapfoundation.org/irving-caesar/about The Caesar brothers spent their childhood and teen years in Yorkville, the same

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

neighborhood where the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chi ...

were raised. Caesar knew the Marx Brothers during his childhood. He was educated at Chappaqua Mountain Institute in

Chappaqua, New York Chappaqua ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of New Castle, in northern Westchester County, New York, United States. It is approximately north of New York City. The hamlet is served by the Chappaqua station of the Metr ...

. In his career, Caesar collaborated with a wide variety of composers and songwriters, including

Rudolf Friml Charles Rudolf Friml"Mrs. Rudolf Friml to Receive Divorce"
...

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

Sigmund Romberg Sigmund Romberg (July 29, 1887 – November 9, 1951) was a Hungarian-born American composer. He is best known for his Musical theatre, musicals and operettas, particularly ''The Student Prince'' (1924), ''The Desert Song'' (1926) and ''The New Moo ...

Victor Herbert Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and co ...

Ted Koehler Ted L. Koehler (July 14, 1894 – January 17, 1973) was an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. Life and career Koehler was born in 1894 in Washington, D.C. He started out as a photo-engraver, but ...

and

Ray Henderson Ray Henderson (born Raymond Brost; December 1, 1896 – December 31, 1970) was an American songwriter. Early life Born in Buffalo, New York, Henderson moved to New York City and became a popular composer in Tin Pan Alley. He was one-third of ...

. Two of his best known numbers, " I Want to Be Happy" and "Tea for Two", were written with

Vincent Youmans Vincent Millie Youmans (September 27, 1898 – April 5, 1946) was an American Broadway composer and producer. A leading Broadway composer of his day, Youmans collaborated with virtually all the greatest lyricists on Broadway: Ira Gershwin, ...

for the 1925 musical ''

No, No, Nanette ''No, No, Nanette'' is a musical with a book by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel based on Mandel's 1919 Broadway play ''My Lady Friends''; lyrics by Irving Caesar and Harbach; and music by Vincent Youmans. The farcical story centers on three coup ...

''. Another of his biggest hits, " Animal Crackers in My Soup", was popularized by

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was na ...

in her 1935 film '' Curly Top.'' " Just a Gigolo", his 1929 adaptation of an Austrian song, was a hit for

Louis Prima Louis Leo Prima (; December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American trumpeter, singer, entertainer, and bandleader. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he ...

in the 1950s and again for

David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Known for his wild and energetic stage persona, he was the lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen for three stints: from 1974 to 1985, during 1996, and from 2006 to when ...

in the 1980s. In the late 1930s, along with composer Gerald Marks, he wrote a famous series of children's songs focusing on safety. Caesar made hundreds of appearances in schools performing the "Sing a Song of Safety," "Sing a Song of Friendship" (a United Nations-inspired series focusing on world peace, racial tolerance and friendship) and "Songs of Health" collections. Caesar served on the songwriters' performance-rights organization

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

board of directors from 1930 to 1946 and again from 1949 to 1966. He was a founder of the Songwriters Guild of America. He died, aged 101, in New York on December 18, 1996, at which point he had been married to Christina Ballestros—a caretaker of his—for two years.

Broadway credits

Note: All productions are

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

unless otherwise stated. * *'' La La Lucille'' (1919) – additional lyrics *'' Kissing Time'' (1920) – adaptation of an earlier version of this musical – co-lyricist *''Pins and Needles'' (1922) –

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

– co-lyricist *''The Greenwich Village Follies of 1922'' (1922) –

– co-lyricist and co-bookwriter *''The Greenwich Village Follies of 1923'' (1923) –

– co-lyricist *''The Greenwich Village Follies of 1924'' (1924) –

– co-lyricist *''Betty Lee'' (1924) – co-lyricist *''

'' (1925) – co-lyricist *''Charlot Revue'' (1925) –

– featured lyricist for "Gigolette" and "A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich and You" *'' Yes, Yes, Yvette'' (1926, Chicago; 1927, Broadway) – lyricist *''Sweetheart Time'' (1926) – co-lyricist *'' Ziegfeld's Revue "No Foolin'"'' (1926) –

– co-lyricist *''Betsy'' (1926) – co-bookwriter *''Talk About Girls'' (1927) – lyricist *''

Here's Howe ''Here's Howe!'' is a musical theatre, musical in two acts with music by Roger Wolfe Kahn and Joseph Meyer (songwriter), Joseph Meyer and lyrics by Irving Caesar. The swing music standard "Crazy Rhythm" was written for this show. The work's Musica ...

'' (1928) – lyricist *''Americana of 1928'' (1928) –

– co-lyricist *''Polly'' (1929) – co-composer and co-lyricist *''George White's Scandals of 1929'' (1929) –

– co-composer and co-lyricist *'' Ripples'' (1930) – co-lyricist *''Nina Rosa'' (1930) – lyricist *''The Wonder Bar'' (1931) – play – co-playwright/adaptor of the original German *''George White's Scandals of 1931'' (1931) –

– co-bookwriter *''George White's Music Hall Varieties of 1932'' (1932) –

– co-composer and lyricist *''Melody'' (1933) – lyricist *''Shady Lady'' (1933) – reviser *''Continental Varieties'' (1934) –

– dialogue-writer *'' The White Horse Inn'' (1936) – English-version lyricist *''My Dear Public'' (1943) – co-composer, co-lyricist, and co-bookwriter Post-retirement credits: *''The American Dance Machine'' (1978) – dance

– featured lyricist *''Up in One'' (1979) –

– featured songwriter *''Big Deal'' (1986) – featured English-version lyricist for "Just a Gigolo" *''Sally Marr...and her escorts'' (1994) – play – featured lyricist for "Tea for Two"

References

External links

* *
''New York Times'' obituary

Irving Caesar recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Caesar, Irving Jewish American songwriters American lyricists American people of Romanian-Jewish descent American men centenarians 1895 births 1996 deaths Townsend Harris High School alumni People from Yorkville, Manhattan People from Chappaqua, New York 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American Jews Jewish centenarians