Billy Rose
Billy Rose | |
---|---|
Born | William Samuel Rosenberg September 6, 1899 New York City, U.S. |
Died | February 10, 1966 Montego Bay, Jamaica | (aged 66)
Other names | Billy Rose |
Spouses | Joyce Mathews
(m. 1956; div. 1959)
(m. 1961; div. 1963)Doris Warner Vidor (m. 1964) |
Billy Rose (born William Samuel Rosenberg; September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966)
Despite his accomplishments, Rose may be best known today as the husband of famed comedian and singer Fanny Brice (1891–1951).
Life and work
Rose was born to a
Billy Rose began his career as a
Most of Rose's lyrical credits were collaborations. Biographer Earl Conrad said, "Nobody clearly knew what he wrote or didn't write.... Publishers tend to credit him with writing the songs known to bear his name as a lyricist.... But tales rumble on ... that Billy could feed and toss in a remark and monkey around, but that others did most of the writing." Lyricists might have been willing to tolerate a Rose credit grab because Rose was very successful at promoting "his" songs.
He went on to become a
Rose was diminutive in stature. When he attended a show, his practice was to book four seats: one for himself, one for his date, and the two in front of those so he would have an unobstructed view.
In 1929, he married Fanny Brice, who went on to star in the 1931 Broadway production of Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt. The marriage ended in divorce in 1938.
In 1938, he opened Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe, a nightclub in New York City's Times Square in the basement of the Paramount Hotel. It initially opened with a version of his Fort Worth show. The Diamond Horseshoe operated under that name until 1951.
At the
were both Aquacade headliners. Rose began an affair with the then-married Holm, who left her husband for Rose. The couple married in 1939.Following the 1939 World's Fair, Rose asked
In 1943, he produced
In 1946, Rose's memoir Wine, Women and Words, dedicated to Rose's early patron
Following the publication of Wine, Women and Words Rose appeared on the cover of Time on June 2, 1947.
In 1946, he began publishing a series of ads for the Diamond Horseshoe in the New York Daily News.[4] This led to a syndicated column, Pitching Horseshoes, that Rose produced until December, 1950. At its height, it reached 2,000 newspapers.[5]
Rose and Holm divorced in 1954. On July 2, 1956, he married showgirl Joyce Mathews (1919-1999), and they divorced July 23, 1959. They then remarried on December 29, 1961, only to divorce again on February 10, 1964, exactly two years before he died. (In the 1940s, Mathews had twice married and twice divorced comedian Milton Berle.) Later in 1964, Rose married Doris Ruth Vidor (née Warner; 1912-1978), who was the widow of film director Charles Vidor.
Billy Rose founded the Billy Rose Sculpture Garden at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Israel. His legendary pragmatism is illustrated by a seeming minor event at the sculpture garden opening ceremony, which Rose attended personally. When asked by one of the many distinguished guests what, in the event of war, Rose would have Israel do with these artworks, many of which were modern, steel abstracts, Rose unsmilingly replied, "Melt them down for bullets."
From 1949 until 1955, Rose was the owner-operator of the Ziegfeld Theatre. During that time, the theater housed four musicals and five plays. In 1965, he sold the theater to be demolished to make way for a new skyscraper, the Fisher Bros. Building.
Billy Rose was a board member of American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.
Later years and death
From 1959 until his death in 1966, he was also the owner-operator of the Billy Rose Theater. During that time the theater housed four plays, one musical, one revue, three ballets, and twenty-nine concert performances. After his death, the theater retained its name, and remained in the ownership of his estate until 1978, when it was renamed. Today it is the Nederlander Theatre.
In 1965 Rose was offered, but declined, the role to oversee the 1964 New York World's Fair towards its conclusion.
Rose was a wealthy man when he died of lobar pneumonia at his vacation home in Montego Bay, Jamaica at the age of 66. At the time of his death, his fortune was estimated at about $42 million ($340 million in 2021 dollars),[7] which he left entirely to the Billy Rose Foundation (for the support of fine and performing arts),[8] disowning both of his sisters. He is interred at Westchester Hills Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.
In 1970, Rose was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
Depictions
Rose was a leading character in the 1975 musical film Funny Lady, a sequel to Funny Girl, which continues the story of Fanny Brice, again played by Barbra Streisand. Despite physical dissimilarities, actor James Caan was cast as Rose.
The 1962 film
Saul Bellow's novella, The Bellarosa Connection, depicts Billy Rose as a benevolent figure helping Jewish people to escape the Nazis in Europe.[citation needed]
Work on Broadway
- Charlot Revue (1925) – revue – featured co-lyricist for "A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich and You" with Al Dubin, music by Joseph Meyer
- Padlocks of 1927 (1927) – revue – lyricist
- Harry Delmar's Revels (1927) – revue – co-lyricist
- Sweet and Low (1930) – revue – composer, lyricist, and producer
- Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt (1931) – revue – producer, librettist, and director
- The Great Magoo (1932) – play – producer[9]
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 (1934) – revue – featured lyricist for "Soul Saving Sadie", "Suddenly", "Countess Dubinsky", and "Sarah, the Sunshine Girl"
- Jumbo (1935) – musical – producer
- Clash by Night (1941) – play – producer
- Carmen Jones (1943) – musical – producer
- Seven Lively Arts (1944) – revue – producer
- Concert Varieties (1945) – vaudeville – producer
- Interplay (1945) – ballet – producer
- The Immoralist (1954) – play – producer
- The Wall (1960) – play – co-producer
Posthumous Credits
- Ain't Misbehavin' (1978) – revue – featured lyricist for "I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling" from film Applause (1929)
- Big Deal (1986) – musical – featured lyricist for "Me and My Shadow"
- Fosse (1999) – revue – featured lyricist for "Dancin' Dan (Me and My Shadow)"
Further reading
- Yudkoff, Alvin (2001): Gene Kelly p. 65 Watson-Guptill, ISBN 0-8230-8819-7
- Wine, Women and Words, Billy Rose, Simon & Schuster, 1946
- Billy Rose, Manhattan Primitive, Earl Conrad; World Publishing Company, 1968
- Billy Rose Presents Casa Mañana, Jan Jones; TCU Press, 1999
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Composers – Lyricists Database – 'R' entries page 7". 2007. Archived from the original on December 29, 2005.
- ^ "GREAT LAKES EXPOSITION" in Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Case Western Reserve University
- ^ DeMarco, Laura. "Greatness on the Lake." Sun News [Cleveland] July–Aug. 2016, Life sec.: 1. Print.
- ^ "Kickoff", Billy Rose, Daily News, December 4, 1940
- ^ "Bye Bye ByLine", Billy Rose, Daily News, December 4, 1940
- ^ David P. Szatmary, Rockin' in Time, 8th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2014), p. 25.
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ Roberts, Ken Schwencke, Mike Tigas, Sisi Wei, Alec Glassford, Andrea Suozzo, Brandon (May 9, 2013). "Billy Rose Foundation Inc - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ League, The Broadway. "The Great Magoo – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
Further reading
- Yudkoff, Alvin (2001): Gene Kelly p. 65 Watson-Guptill, ISBN 0-8230-8819-7
- Wine, Women and Words, Billy Rose, Simon & Schuster, 1946
- Billy Rose, Manhattan Primitive, Earl Conrad; World Publishing Company, 1968
- Billy Rose Presents Casa Mañana, Jan Jones; TCU Press, 1999