George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva (January 27, 1895 – July 11, 1950) 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. ...

, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs, and along with

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

and Glenn Wallichs, he co-founded

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

Biography

DeSylva was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, but grew up in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, where he joined the Theta Xi fraternity. His father, Aloysius J. De Sylva, was better known to American audiences as actor Hal De Forrest. Aloysius was of

multiracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used ...

ancestry, with his father being born in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

and his mother being born in either

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. His father was Dr. James M. Fenwick, a Black physician who emigrated to the United States in 1865. In 1889, Aloysius legally changed his surname from Fenwick to De Sylva to pass as for white, more specifically, someone from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. Buddy's father was also a lawyer as well as an actor. His mother, Georgetta Miles Gard, was the daughter of

Los Angeles 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, ...

police chief George E. Gard. DeSylva's first successful songs were those used by

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson, ; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-born American singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. Self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer," Jolson was one of the United States' most famous and ...

on Broadway in the 1918 production of ''Sinbad'', which included "I'll Say She Does". Soon thereafter, he met Jolson and in 1918 the pair went to New York and DeSylva began working as a songwriter in

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...

. In the early 1920s, DeSylva frequently worked with composer

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

. Together, they created the

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

one-act

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

'' Blue Monday'' set in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, which is widely regarded as a forerunner to ''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' ( ) is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play ''Porgy (play), ...

'' ten years later. In April 1924, DeSylva married Marie Wallace, a

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Foll ...

dancer. In 1925, DeSylva became one third of the songwriting team with lyricist

Lew Brown Lew Brown (born Louis Brownstein; December 10, 1893 – February 5, 1958) was a lyricist for popular songs in the United States. During World War I and the Roaring Twenties, he wrote lyrics for several of the top Tin Pan Alley composers, espec ...

and composer

Ray Henderson Ray Henderson (born Raymond Brost; December 1, 1896 – December 31, 1970) was an American songwriter. Early life Born in Buffalo, New York, Henderson moved to New York City and became a popular composer in Tin Pan Alley. He was one-third of ...

, one of the top

s of the era. The team was responsible for the song "Magnolia" (1927) which was popularized by Lou Gold's orchestra. The writing and publishing partnership continued until 1930, producing a string of hits and the perennial Broadway favorite '' Good News''. DeSylva joined ASCAP in 1920 and served on the ASCAP

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

between 1922 and 1930. He became a producer of stage and screen musicals. DeSylva relocated to Hollywood and was contracted to Fox Studios. During this tenure, he produced movies such as '' The Little Colonel'', '' The Littlest Rebel'', '' Captain January'', '' Poor Little Rich Girl'' and '' Stowaway''. In 1941, he became the

Executive Producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

, a position he would hold until 1944. At Paramount, he was also an uncredited executive producer for ''

Double Indemnity ''Double Indemnity'' is a 1944 American film noir directed by Billy Wilder and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. Wilder and Raymond Chandler adapted the screenplay from James M. Cain's Double Indemnity (novel), novel of the same na ...

'', '' For Whom the Bell Tolls'', '' The Story of Dr. Wassell'' and '' The Glass Key''. Betty Hutton always credited DeSylva for bringing her to Hollywood and launching her film career. The Paramount all-star extravaganza '' Star Spangled Rhythm'', which takes place at the Paramount film studio in Hollywood, features a fictional movie executive named "B.G. DeSoto" (played by Walter Abel) who is a

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

of DeSylva. In 1942,

, Glenn Wallichs and DeSylva together founded

. He also founded the Cowboy label. He is sometimes credited as: Buddy De Sylva, Buddy DeSylva, Bud De Sylva, Buddy G. DeSylva and B.G. DeSylva. Buddy DeSylva died in Hollywood, aged 55, and is buried at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.

Individual songs

*Desylva, Buddy, B. G. De Sylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson. ''Seven Veils''. 26 March 1927 *Desylva, Buddy, B. G. De Sylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson. ''Good News: vocal selection''. lace of publication not identified Chappell, n.d. *Henderson, Ray, B. G. De Sylva, and Bud Green. "Alabamy Bound". New York: Shapiro, Bernstein & Co, 1925. *De Sylva, B. G., Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson. "Magnolia". 1927. * " Avalon" * " April Showers" * " The Best Things in Life Are Free" * " The Birth of the Blues" * " Button Up Your Overcoat" * " California, Here I Come" * " If You Knew Susie" * " It All Depends on You" * " Look for the Silver Lining" * " Somebody Loves Me" * " Sonny Boy" * " The Varsity Drag" * " You're the Cream in My Coffee"

Broadway credits

*1919 – '' La La Lucille'' (music by

) *1922 – '' George White's Scandals of 1922'' (music by

, and included premiere of one-act jazz opera '' Blue Monday'') *1922 – '' Orange Blossoms'' (music by

Victor Herbert Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and co ...

) *1922 – ''The Yankee Princess'' (music by Emmerich Kalman) *1923 – '' George White's Scandals of 1923'' (music by

) *1924 – ''Sweet Little Devil'' (music by

) *1924 – '' George White's Scandals of 1924'' music by

*1925 – ''Big Boy'' (music by Joseph Meyer and James F. Hanley) *1925 – ''Tell Me More!'' (co-lyricist with

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the ...

music by

) *1925 – '' George White's Scandals of 1925'' (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson) *1925 – ''Captain Jinks'' (music by Lewis Gensler) *1926 – '' George White's Scandals of 1926'' (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson) *1926 – '' Queen High'' (music by Lewis Gensler) *1927 – '' Good News'' (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson) *1927 – ''Manhattan Mary'' (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson) *1928 – '' George White's Scandals of 1928'' (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson) *1928 – '' Hold Everything!'' (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson) *1929 – '' Follow Thru'' (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson) *1930 – '' Flying High'' (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson) *1932 – '' Take a Chance'' (music by Nacio Herb Brown, Richard A. Whiting and Vincent Youmans)

Selected filmography

* '' Stepping Sisters '' (1932) * '' My Weakness'' (1933) * '' The Stork Club'' (1945)

In popular culture

The 1956 Hollywood film '' The Best Things in Life Are Free'', starring Gordon MacRae, Dan Dailey, and

Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine ( ; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perf ...

, depicted the De Sylva, Brown and Henderson collaboration.

References

External links

* * *
Buddy DeSylva at the Internet Archive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Desylva, Buddy 1895 births 1950 deaths American people of Portuguese descent Broadway composers and lyricists Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Capitol Records Musicians from New York City People from Greater Los Angeles Songwriters from New York (state) University of Southern California alumni 20th-century American songwriters