Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin (1888-1989) was the most popular single songwriter in history.  He wrote more hits–and made more money–than any of his competitors in the Golden Age of American Popular Music.  He wrote the scores for 19 Broadway shows and 18 Hollywood musicals, including such successes as Annie Get Your Gun, Call Me Madam, and White Christmas. Originally named Israel Beilin, he was born in Russia; when he was a boy, his family fled to the US to escape religious persecution. In his youth, he sang on street corners and in saloons. Although he could neither read nor write music–he needed a musical secretary to put his songs on paper–he wrote more than 1500 songs in his career, including such favorites as “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” “A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody,” “I Love a Piano,” and “God Bless America.”