Gitz Rice

Gitz Rice in 1918

Gitz Ingraham Rice (born March 5, 1891 in New Glasgow , † October 16, 1947 in New York City ) was a Canadian singer, composer, pianist and entertainer .

Rice studied at the McGill Conservatory and joined the Canadian Army with the outbreak of World War I. He took part in various battles and occasionally played the piano with Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Comedy Company , a group used to entertain troops at the frontlines during breaks in combat. After being wounded in 1917, he was employed as an officer-in-charge for the musical entertainment of the troupe.

During this time he composed songs such as Keep Your Head Down, Fritzie Boy and We Stopped Them at the Marne (published by Leo Feist , 1918), On the Road that Leads Back Home (Ricordi 1918), Some Day I'll Come Back to You , Burmah Moon , Life in a Trench in Belgium and Fun in Flanders (recorded by Henry Burr ) and as his greatest success Dear Old Pal of Mine , a song that John McCormack made his signature tune.

After the war, Rice continued to work as a composer and songwriter and toured with various vaudeville groups. With Bentley Collingwood Hilliam he composed the music for the musical Princess Virtue in 1921 , which only ran for two weeks. In 1925 he joined Frank Croxton's Peerless Entertainers in New York. In 1926 he composed a second musical with Werner Janssen, Nic Nax of 1926 , in which he appeared himself. In the late 1920s he took up several piano roles for Ampico .

The knowledge of Rice's further life is incomplete. It is known that he performed as a singer and pianist at the Maples Inn in Lakeside in the 1940s . In World War II he was again active as an entertainer for the Canadian troops at the front.

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personal data
SURNAME	Rice, Gitz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Rice, Gitz Ingraham (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Canadian singer, composer, pianist and entertainer
DATE OF BIRTH	March 5, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH	New Glasgow
DATE OF DEATH	October 16, 1947
Place of death	New York City