Lee Julian Pockriss (January 20, 1924 – November 14, 2011) was an American

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes 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 ...

who wrote many well-known popular songs and several scores for films and Broadway shows, mainly during the 1960s and 1970s.

Early life and career

Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and graduating from

Erasmus Hall High School Erasmus Hall High School was a four-year public high school located at 899–925 Flatbush Avenue between Church and Snyder Avenues in the Flatbush neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It was founded in 1786 as Erasmus Hall Ac ...

, Pockriss's education at

Brooklyn College , mottoeng = Nothing without great effort , established = , parent = CUNY , type = Public university , endowment = $98.0 million (2019) , budget = $123.96 m ...

was interrupted by World War II, where he served as a

cryptographer Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...

for the US Army Air Force. Upon his return he studied English and music at Brooklyn College, and later attended graduate school in musicology at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

Songwriting success

With

Paul Vance Joseph Paul Florio (November 4, 1929 – May 30, 2022), known professionally as Paul Vance, was an American songwriter and record producer, primarily from the 1950s until the 1970s. His most successful song compositions, all written with Lee Po ...

he co-wrote

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signin ...

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-nominated "

Catch a Falling Star "Catch a Falling Star" is a song written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss. It is best known and was made famous by Perry Como's hit version, recorded and released in late 1957. Background and chart performance The song's melody is based on a theme ...

", recorded in 1957;

Brian Hyland Brian Hyland (born November 12, 1943) is an American pop singer and instrumentalist who was particularly successful during the early 1960s. He continued recording into the 1970s. AllMusic journalist Jason Ankeny says "Hyland's puppy-love pop v ...

's "

Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" is a novelty song telling the story of a shy girl wearing a revealing polka dot bikini at the beach. It was written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss and first released in June 1960 by Brian Hyland ...

", recorded in 1960; and

The Cuff Links The Cuff Links were an American rock/pop studio group from Staten Island, New York, United States. The band had a US No. 9 hit in 1969 with " Tracy", with rich harmonized vocals provided entirely by Ron Dante. The track was produced as part of a ...

' " Tracy", recorded in 1969.

Lee and Paul

In 1959, Pockriss and Vance released a single for

Columbia records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

as "Lee and Paul", a novelty tune called "The Chick".

Other songs

With Hal Hackady he co-wrote Billy Thornhill's "The Key", recorded in 1968 on Wand Records. Again with Hal Hackady, he co-wrote the ballad "Kites"', first recorded by The Rooftop Singers, though a subsequent recording by Simon Dupree and the Big Sound charted at number 8 in Britain. He also wrote

Anita Bryant Anita Jane Bryant (born March 25, 1940) is an American singer known for anti-gay activism. She scored four "Top 40" hits in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including " Paper Roses" which reached No. 5 on the charts. She was t ...

's "

My Little Corner of the World "My Little Corner of the World" (sometimes recorded as "In My Little Corner of the World") is a 1960 love song with music written by Lee Pockriss and lyrics by Bob Hilliard. Anita Bryant version It was first recorded by singer Anita Bryant in ...

", recorded in 1960,

Shelley Fabares Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (; born January 19, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom '' The Donna Reed Show'' (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitco ...

' " Johnny Angel", recorded in 1962, and Clint Holmes' " Playground in My Mind", recorded in 1972.

Broadway and film

With lyricist Anne Croswell he wrote the songs for the Broadway musical ''Tovarich'' starring

Vivien Leigh Vivien Leigh ( ; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967; born Vivian Mary Hartley), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for her definitive performances as Scarlett O'Hara in '' Go ...

, which received a Grammy nomination for Original Cast Album. Pockriss and Croswell also collaborated on the frequently produced '' Ernest in Love'' (based on ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

'') and ''Bodo''. Pockriss also wrote the music for the musicals ''Wonderful Olly'', ''Dolley Madison'', and ''Divorce Of Course'', another collaboration with Hal Hackady. Pockriss wrote seven original songs for MGM's full-length animated film ''The Phantom Tollbooth'', scored the film ''

The Subject Was Roses ''The Subject Was Roses'' is a Pulitzer Prize-winning 1964 play written by Frank D. Gilroy, who also adapted the work in 1968 for a film with the same title. Background The play premiered on Broadway at the Royale Theatre on May 25, 1964, s ...

'' and wrote the title songs for '' One, Two, Three'' and the 1966 Western ''Stagecoach''. In 1969, Pockriss wrote the unproduced musical "Gatsby" based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel. with lyrics by

Carolyn Leigh Carolyn Leigh (August 21, 1926 – November 19, 1983) was an American lyricist for Broadway, film, and popular songs. She is best known as the writer with partner Cy Coleman of the pop standards "Witchcraft" and " The Best Is Yet to Come". With ...

and book by

Hugh Wheeler Hugh Callingham Wheeler (19 March 1912 – 26 July 1987) was a British novelist, screenwriter, librettist, poet and translator. He resided in the United States from 1934 until his death and became a naturalized citizen in 1942. He had attended L ...

. UnsungMusicalsCo. Inc. presented its world premiere in concert form as part of the

New York Musical Theatre Festival The New York Musical Festival (NYMF) was an annual three-week summer festival that operated from 2004 to 2019. It presented more than 30 new musicals a year in New York City's midtown theater district. More than half were chosen by leading theate ...

in September 2011.GATSBY: THE SONGS IN CONCERT
New York Musical Theatre Festival. Retrieved 18 November 2011.

Sesame Street

In the 1980s, Pockriss wrote several songs for the children's educational series ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000 ...

'', including "I'm Between" (sung by Tony), "My Polliwog Ways" (sung by

Kermit the Frog Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Introduced in 1955, Kermit serves as the everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably ''Sesame Street'' and ''The Muppet Show'', as well ...

), "Transylvania Love Call" (

Count von Count Count von Count (known simply as the Count) is a Muppet character on the PBS/HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street.'' He is meant to parody Bela Lugosi's portrayal of Count Dracula. He first appeared on the show in the Season 4 premier ...

), and "My Rock" ( Bert).

Death

Pockriss died aged 87, on November 14, 2011, at his home in Bridgewater, Connecticut, United States, following a long illness.

References

External links

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

biography of Lee Pockriss
Michael Rose Limited
list of Pockriss songs * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pockriss, Lee 1924 births 2011 deaths United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II American cryptographers Musicians from Brooklyn American musical theatre composers Jewish American songwriters Songwriters from New York (state) New York University alumni Erasmus Hall High School alumni Mathematicians from New York (state) Brooklyn College alumni 21st-century American Jews