Edward Eliscu
Edward Eliscu ( born April 2, 1902 in New York City; † June 18, 1998 in Newtown, Connecticut ) was an American actor, screenwriter and songwriter.
Life
After completing his bachelor's degree at the City College of New York, Edward pulled Eliscu to Broadway, where he appeared as an actor since 1924. In the late 1920s he began to work there as a songwriter. Together with composer Vincent Youmans and songwriter Billy Rose, he wrote the musical Great Day, in 1929 only less than a month ran on Broadway from which, however, the song More Than You Know and Great Day advanced to standard songs and several times later found in films using so for example in Funny Lady (1975 ) with Barbra Streisand as well as in The Fabulous Baker Boys ( The Fabulous Baker Boys, 1989). For Broadway shows such as The Third Little Show, he also wrote sketches.
Called by RKO Pictures in Hollywood, he wrote together with Youmans and Gus Kahn in 1933, the songs for the movie musical Flying Down to Rio, where Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers had their first joint screen appearance. For one of these songs, Carioca, Eliscu, Youmans and Kahn were nominated for the Best Song Oscar in the category. At 20th Century Fox, he was then responsible as scriptwriter and songwriter for a number of movies with child star Jane Withers, as well as for the little movie musical Paddy O'Day, in which Rita Hayworth next Withers played one of her first roles. In the 1940s Eliscu moved to Columbia Pictures and there wrote screenplays for musicals and comedies.
In the 1950s, he was set for his political opinion on the black list of the Committee on Un-American Activities, but continued to work for the theater and eventually also for the US-based television. From 1968 to 1973 he was president of the American Guild of Authors and Composers. In 1975, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. With his wife, the dance teacher and artist Stella Bloch, was married to him until his death, he had sons David and Peter. He died in 1998 at the age of 96 at his home in Newtown, Connecticut.
Filmography (selection)
- I'll Still Belong to You
- Music Makes Me
- Carioca
- Orchids in the Moonlight
- Flying Down to Rio
- I Like a Balalaika
- Keep That Twinkle in Your Eye
- The Torpedo Song
- More Than You Know
- (It's Gonna Be A) Great Day
Screenplay
More songs
- Happy Because I'm in Love
- Ankle Up the altar
- Meet the People
- A Fellow and A Girl
- You Forgot Your Gloves
- They Cut Down the Old Pine Tree
- Without a Song