Jack Lawrence (film composer)

Jack Lawrence (actually Jack Lawrence Schartz ; born April 7, 1912 in Brooklyn , New York , † March 16, 2009 in Redding , Connecticut ) was an American songwriter . He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.

Life

Lawrence Schwartz grew up in Brooklyn as the son of a Jewish family originally from Ukraine . He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School and then studied podiatry at the First Institute of Podiatry , where he graduated in 1932. As a child he wrote his own songs. At 20 he became a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers . He was able to publish his first work Play, Fiddle, Play in the year of his graduation. It was used in the 1933 film Dinner at eight . In 1939 The Ink Spots recorded his song If I Didn't Care .

During World War II he served as a Coast Guard and later with the United States Merchant Marine . He also wrote other songs during the war. After the war, he settled in Hollywood, where he continued to work on his songwriting career. Meanwhile, Frank Sinatra had made All or Nothing at All a hit with music by Arthur Altman . Other number one hits were Linda for Buddy Clark (1963 also a hit for Jan and Dean ), which he wrote for Linda Eastman , the daughter of his lawyer, and Tenderly for Sarah Vaughan and later Rosemary Clooney . Beyond the Sea also became known for Bobby Darin . He also wrote the lyrics for various songs on Broadway

For Hold My Hand from the film One Night with Susanne , which he co-wrote with Richard Myers , he was nominated for the best movie song at the 1955 Academy Awards.

In 1975 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In 2009 his book Between the Sheets: The Stories behind My Songs was published .

Private life

Until his death in 1975, Lawrence lived openly homosexually with his then partner David Myden. In 1979 he adopted his partner Richard Debnam, with whom he lived until his own death. Jack Lawrence died in March 2009 at the age of 96 from kidney failure and complications from a fall.

Web links

• Jack Lawrence in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Jack Lawrence at Allmusic (English)
• Jack Lawrence in the Internet Broadway Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Richard Severo: Jack Lawrence, Writer of Hit Songs, Dies at 96. The New York Times , March 18, 2009, accessed January 22, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Jack Lawrence. Songwriters Hall of Fame, accessed January 22, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Redding songwriter Jack Lawrence's estate to go on sale Dec. 12. Newstimes, December 4, 2009, accessed January 22, 2020 .