Raymond Bernard Evans (February 4, 1915 – February 15, 2007) was an American

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

best known for being a half of a composing-songwriting duo with Jay Livingston, specializing himself in writing lyrics for

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

songs. On

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

Livingston composed, Evans wrote the

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

.Ray Evans papers, 1921-2012
Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, university of Pennsylvania.

Biography

Early life and family

Ray Evans was born on February 4, 1915 to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in Salamanca, New York.

Career

Evans was valedictorian of his high school class, where he played clarinet in the band. The Salamanca High School yearbook from 1931 states: "His original themes and brilliant oral talks are the despair of his classmates. Ray's quite a humorist, too. At times, his satire is positively killing." He received a bachelor's degree in

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

in 1936, writing a senior thesis on "The relation between the central bank, member banks and the money market". In 1934, Evans met Jay Livingston while a student at Penn. Together they played in the university's college dance orchestra, "The Continentals". During school vacations the orchestra was engaged to play on several international cruises. After graduation the duo continued their partnership, seeking a career as a song-writing team in New York and later Hollywood. Their first big break came after auditioning for comedians Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson in 1939. Their song "G'Bye Now" made it into Olsen and Johnson's Broadway revue ''Hellzapoppin. In 1946 Livingston and Evans signed a contract with Paramount Studios in Hollywood. Livingston and Evans did not hit the top until 1946, when they set the music publishing business on fire with " To Each His Own," which reached number one on the Billboard charts for three different artists, and occupied the top five positions on the "Most Played On the Air" chart for four different weeks (August 24, 1946, and again on September 7, September 14 and October 5, five versions appeared simultaneously in the Top Ten). "Buttons and Bows" (1947) was their next multi-million seller, written for the movie '' The Paleface'', with four artists reaching the top ten in 1948. For that song, the duo earned their first major award, the Academy Award for Best Song. They finished off the decade with 1949's "

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...

", written for the movie '' Captain Carey, U.S.A.''. It was a chart hit for seven popular and two country artists in 1950, sold a million for Nat King Cole, and won the pair another Best Song Oscar. Livingston and Evans, both members of ASCAP, won their third

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for the song " Que Sera Sera", featured in the

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

movie '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'' and sung by

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She began her career as a big band singer in 1937, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey ...

. Another popular song that he and Livingston wrote for a film was the song " Tammy", written for the 1957 movie '' Tammy and the Bachelor''. The song was nominated for an

for Best Song. Livingston and Evans also wrote popular TV themes for shows including ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

'' and '' Mr. Ed''. Despite initial doubt on their part that the song would be commercially successful, their Christmas song " Silver Bells", intended for the 1951 Bob Hope film '' The Lemon Drop Kid'', has become a Christmas standard. Evans appeared as himself with Livingston in the film ''

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...

'' in the New Year's Eve party scene. In 1958, the song-writing team was nominated for a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for the musical '' Oh, Captain!.'' Evans also collaborated separately with

Michael Feinstein Michael Jay Feinstein (born September 7, 1956) is an American singer, pianist, and music Revivalist artist, revivalist. He is an archivist and interpreter for the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook. In 1988, he won a Drama Desk Spec ...

, Henry Mancini, Max Steiner, and Victor Young. The song " Dear Heart" from the 1964 film of the same name was written by Livingston and Evans with Henry Mancini; it was nominated for an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

and for the Song of the Year

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

, and was recorded multiple times, charting for

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

, Jack Jones, and Henry Mancini.

Death

He died at age 92 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, on the 42nd anniversary of the death of

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...

, who had made "Mona Lisa" so famous. He was married for nearly 56 years to actress, writer, and playwright Wyn Ritchie Evans. His legacy is maintained and developed by the Ray and Wyn Ritchie Evans Foundation in Culver City, California. The Ray Evans Seneca Theater in his hometown of Salamanca, NY is named after him.

Legacy

Evans is an inductee in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He and Livingston have a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

Works

Ray Evans wrote more than 700 songs for screen, stage, and television. Most were composed with writing partner Jay Livingston.The Ray and Wyn Ritchie Evans Foundation Official Website

Works on Screen

Works on Stage

Works on Television

References

External links

*
The Ray and Wyn Ritchie Evans Foundation Official WebsiteRay Evans papers, 1921-2012
Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania.
Ray Evans Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (1995)
Livingston and Evans Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Ray 1915 births 2007 deaths American musical theatre lyricists Broadway composers and lyricists Best Original Song Academy Award–winning songwriters Jewish American songwriters Wharton School alumni People from Salamanca, New York Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Songwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American songwriters