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Billy Rose

 
American Theater Guide: [William Samuel] Billy Rose
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Rose, [William Samuel] Billy [né Rosenberg] (1899–1966), producer and lyricist. The feisty, bantam, theatrical jack‐of‐many‐trades was born in New York and began his theatrical career as a lyricist writing the words for such hits as “A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich, and You” for Charlot's Revue of 1926 and the title song for Great Day (1929). Turning producer, he brought to Broadway Sweet and Low (1930) and a reworked version, Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt (1931), The Great Magoo (1932), Jumbo (1935), Carmen Jones (1943), and Seven Lively Arts (1944). Rose also owned the National Theatre, which he renamed the Billy Rose, and the Ziegfeld Theatre, which he eventually sold to developers. Besides regular theatre work, he ran “Aquacades” at the New York and San Francisco World's Fairs and several popular nightclubs. Biography: Only a Paper Moon: The Theatre of Billy Rose, Stephen Nelson, 1987.

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Dictionary: Rose   (rōz) pronunciation, Billy
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1899-1966.

American impresario and songwriter who produced Crazy Quilt (1931) and other musical comedies and wrote several popular songs, including "Me and My Shadow."


Quotes By: Billy Rose
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Quotes:

"Never invest your money in anything that eats or needs repairing."

Artist: Billy Rose
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Formal Connection With:

Helen Morgan, Vincent Youmans

Relationship With:

Fanny Brice
  • Born: September 06, 1895, New York, NY [The Bronx]
  • Died: February 10, 1966, Montego Bay, Jamaica
  • Active: '20s, '30s, '40s, '50s
  • Genres: Vocal Music
  • Instrument: Performer, Lyricist

Biography

"The little Napoleon of showmanship," Billy Rose was one of the most famous and feared show-biz impresarios of the early 20th century; the diminutive lyricist behind dozens of pop chestnuts (including a number of hits for first wife Fanny Brice), he also produced a series of hit musicals and even authored a widely read syndicated newspaper column, but earned his greatest notoriety for his ruthless, self-aggrandizing business practices. Born William Samuel Rosenberg in New York City on September 6, 1895, he grew up in the immigrant ghettos of Manhattan's Lower East Side, and upon graduating high school landed work as a stenographer for Bernard Baruch, then the head of Woodrow Wilson's war department; after World War I ended, he began writing songs, shortening his name to Billy Rose in the process. With co-writer Con Conrad, in 1923 Rose scored his first hit, "Barney Google," a song inspired by the popular comic strip character; "You've Got to See Mama Every Night" soon followed, while in 1924 he teamed with Marty Bloom and Ernest Brever for the novelty smash "Does the Spearmint Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?"

The list of Rose's subsequent hits is, at least on paper, most impressive; "It's Only a Paper Moon," "I Found a Million Dollar Baby (In a Five and Ten-Cent Store)," "That Old Gang of Mine," "Me and My Shadow," "Tonight You Belong to Me," and "The Night Is Young and You're So Beautiful" are just some of the songs which bear his lyricist credit. However, the extent of his contributions to these songs remains a matter of considerable debate; for example, according to a feature in the March 1999 issue of Retro Magazine, Ira Gershwin (with whom he shares equal credit for the tune "Cheerful Little Earful") claimed Rose contributed only a small change to one line, while other collaborators insist Rose insisted upon authorship for nothing more than a clever title. His co-writers ultimately agreed to Rose's tyrannical demands because of his brilliance as a negotiator; no one tangled with music publishers with the same tenacity or earned so hefty a percentage of the profits, insuring the songwriters received lucrative royalty checks even subtracting Rose's share.

Rose broke into Broadway in 1926, authoring "A Cup of Coffee, A Sandwich and You" for Gertrude Lawrence and The Charlot Revue. His first full-fledged Broadway score, Great Day!, followed in 1929; written with Edward Eliscu and Vincent Youmans, the production yielded numbers including "More Than You Know," "Happy Because I'm in Love," and "Without a Song." That same year Rose married "Funny Girl" Fanny Brice, who in 1930 starred in his first Broadway production, Sweet and Low (later revised under the title Crazy Quilt). In 1935, he mounted Jumbo, a combination musical/circus produced at a then-unprecedented cost of $350,000.00; staged in New York's Hippodrome -- a massive venue the size of a city block -- the show featured indoor aerial stunts, high-wire acts, and wild animals in addition to talent including Jimmy Durante and Paul Whiteman (and even a Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart score). Despite good reviews and packed houses, Jumbo failed to turn a profit, but it nevertheless made Rose (whose name was above the title) one of the most famous producers in America.

At the 1937 Cleveland Great Lakes Expo, Rose introduced his next extravaganza, The Aquacade: a floating amphitheater, it featured water ballet; roller skating; the "Half and Half" (a dancer dressed in an outfit evenly divided between a tuxedo and a cocktail gown); hundreds of swimmers; and two Olympic champions, Johnny Weissmuller and Eleanor Holm, the latter soon becoming the producer's second wife. After returning to Manhattan to open a nightclub named in his own honor, Rose produced a second Aquacade at the 1939 New York World's Fair, repeating the stunt at the San Francisco World's Fair a year later. In the meantime, his club the Diamond Horseshoe also created a sensation for its vaudeville-style entertainment, most notably a chorus line of 250-pound women; in 1945, the nightspot inspired a Hollywood musical, Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe, and also launched the career of an aspiring choreographer named Gene Kelly. Rose didn't neglect Broadway either; after producing Clifford Odets' Clash by Night, he produced Carmen Jones in 1943, Oscar Hammerstein II's all-black adaptation of Bizet's Carmen.

In 1947, Rose began writing "Pitching Horseshoes," a weekly column which at its peak ran in over 200 newspapers across the U.S.; excerpts later resurfaced in his autobiography Wine, Women and Words, complete with illustrations by Salvador Dali. Rose was by this time living in the apartment above the Ziegfeld Theater, which he purchased in 1944; although he remained married to Holm, he reportedly carried on a number of affairs, and became the subject of a major tabloid scandal when his ex-lover Joyce Matthews (the former wife of Milton Berle) slit her wrists in his bathroom. The controversy culminated in a nasty divorce which the press declared "The War of the Roses," and after his marriage to Holm was over, in 1956 Rose wed Matthews, a relationship which itself ended three years later, although the couple briefly remarried. A fourth marriage, to Doris Warner Vidor, went kaput after just six months in 1964, the bride filing for divorce on the grounds of "extreme mental cruelty." Rose died of pneumonia at his Jamaica vacation home on February 10, 1966. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Wikipedia: Billy Rose
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William Billy Rose
Birth name William Samuel Rosenberg
Also known as Billy Rose
Born September 6, 1899(1899-09-06)
Origin New York City, U.S.
Died February 10, 1966 (aged 66)
New York City, U.S.
Occupations Impresario, theatrical showman, lyricist

William "Billy" Rose (September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966)[1] was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. He is credited with many famous songs, notably "Me and My Shadow" (1927), "It Happened in Monterey" (1930) and "It's Only a Paper Moon" (1933).[1] Billy Rose was a major force in entertainment, with shows, such as Jumbo (1935), Billy Rose's Aquacade, and Carmen Jones (1943),[1] his Diamond Horseshoe nightclub, and the Ziegfeld Theatre influencing the careers of many stars. Billy Rose was inducted as a member of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.[1] After divorcing comedian Fanny Brice, he married Olympic swimmer Eleanor Holm.

Contents

Life and work

Born William Samuel Rosenberg to a Jewish family in New York City, he attended Public School 44, where he was the 50-yard dash champion.[1] While in high school, Billy studied shorthand under John Robert Gregg, the inventor of the Gregg System for shorthand notation. He became a world champion of using Gregg notation, taking over 200 words per minute, and writing forward or backward with either hand.[1]

Billy Rose began his career as a stenographic clerk to Bernard Baruch of the War Industries Board during World War I, and became head of the clerical staff.[1] Later he became a lyricist. In this role, he is best known as the credited writer or co-writer of the lyrics to "Me and My Shadow", "Great Day" (with Edward Eliscu), "Does the Spearmint Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight" (with Marty Bloom),[1] "I Found a Million Dollar Baby" (with Mort Dixon) and "It's Only a Paper Moon" (with E. Y. Harburg).

Most of Rose's lyrical credits were collaborations. Biographer Earl Conrad said, "Nobody clearly knew what he wrote or didn't write.... Publishers tend to credit him with writing the songs known to bear his name as a lyricist.... But tales rumble on...that Billy could feed and toss in a remark and monkey around, but that others did most of the writing." Lyricists might have been willing to tolerate a Rose credit grab because Rose was very successful at promoting "his" songs.

He went on to become a Broadway producer, and a theatre/nightclub owner. In June 1934, he opened The Billy Rose Music Hall at 52nd and Broadway in New York with the first Benny Goodman Orchestra. He produced Jumbo, starring Jimmy Durante, at the New York Hippodrome Theatre. For the Fort Worth Frontier Days fair (1936/37),[1] he constructed the huge elaborate dinner theatre Casa Mañana which featured stripper Sally Rand and the world's largest revolving stage. He presented a show at the Great Lakes Exposition in Cleveland, Ohio in 1938.[1]

Rose was diminutive in stature. When he attended a show, his practice was to book four seats: one for himself, one for his date, and the two in front of those so he would have an unobstructed view.

In 1938, he opened Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe, a nightclub in New York City's Times Square in the basement of the Paramount Hotel. It initially opened with a version of his Fort Worth show. The Diamond Horseshoe operated under that name until 1951.

At the 1939 New York World's Fair, Billy Rose's Aquacade[1] starred Olympian Eleanor Holm in what the fair program called "a brilliant girl show of spectacular size and content". He married Holm shortly after divorcing his first wife, comedian Fanny Brice. Future MGM star Esther Williams and Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller were both Aquacade headliners.

Following the 1939 World's Fair, Rose asked John Murray Anderson, who had staged the Aquacade, to recommend a choreographer for a new show at the Horseshoe. Anderson recommended Gene Kelly, then performing in William Saroyan's One for the Money. Rose objected that he wanted someone who could choreograph "tits and asses", not "soft-soap from a crazy Armenian" (Yudkoff, 2001). However, after seeing Kelly's performance, he gave Kelly the job, an important step in Kelly's career.

Billy Rose's mausoleum in Westchester Hills Cemetery

In 1943, he produced Carmen Jones with an all-black cast. An adaptation of Georges Bizet's opera Carmen, the story was transplanted to World War II America by lyricist and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. It was an instant hit. The New York Telegraph called it "far and away the best show in New York"; the New York Times said it was "beautifully done ... just call it wonderful." The New York Herald Tribune said that Oscar Hammerstein II "must be considered one of the greatest librettists of our day" and that Carmen Jones was "a masterly tour de force". It was made into a motion picture in 1954, for which Dorothy Dandridge received an Academy Award nomination.

Billy Rose founded the Billy Rose Sculpture Garden in Jerusalem.

Rose died in 1966 in New York City, aged 66. At the time of his death, his fortune was estimated at about $42 million, which he left entirely to a foundation named after him, disowning both of his sisters. He is interred at Westchester Hills Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

From 1949 until 1955, Rose was the owner/operator of the Ziegfeld Theatre. During that time, the theater housed four musicals and five plays. From 1959 until his death in 1966, he was also the owner/operator of the Billy Rose Theater. During that time the theater housed four plays, one musical, one revue, three ballets, and twenty-nine concert performances. After his death, the theater retained its name, and remained in the ownership of his estate until 1978, when it was renamed. Today it is the Nederlander Theater, currently housing Rent.

Work on Broadway

  • Charlot Revue (1925) - revue - featured co-lyricist for "A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich and You" with Al Dubin, music by Joseph Meyer
  • Padlocks of 1927 (1927) - revue - lyricist
  • Harry Delmar's Revels (1927) - revue - co-lyricist
  • Sweet and Low (1930) - revue - composer, lyricist, and producer
  • Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt (1931) - revue - producer, librettist, and director
  • The Great Magoo (1932) - play - producer
  • Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 (1934) - revue - featured lyricist for "Soul Saving Sadie", "Suddenly", "Countess Dubinsky", and "Sarah, the Sunshine Girl"
  • Jumbo (1935) - musical - producer
  • Clash by Night (1941) - play - producer
  • Carmen Jones (1943) - musical - producer
  • Seven Lively Arts (1944) - revue - producer
  • Concert Varieties (1945) - vaudeville - producer
  • Interplay (1945) - ballet - producer
  • The Immoralist (1954) - play - producer
  • The Wall (1960) - play - co-producer

Posthumous Credits

Further reading

  • Yudkoff, Alvin (2001): Gene Kelly p. 65 Watson-Guptill, ISBN 0-8230-8819-7
  • Billy Rose, Manhattan Primitive, Earl Conrad; World Publishing Company, 1968
  • Billy Rose Presents Casa Mañana, Jan Jones; TCU Press, 1999

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "COMPOSERS - LYRICISTS DATABASE - 'R' entries page 7", 2007, webpage: NFO-tr7.

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

American Theater Guide. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Quotes By. Copyright © 2008 QuotationsBook.com. All rights reserved.  Read more
Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Billy Rose".  Read more

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