Ellin Berlin

Ellin Berlin
Berlin c. 1926
Berlin c. 1926
BornEllin Mackay
(1903-03-22)March 22, 1903
DiedJuly 29, 1988(1988-07-29) (aged 85)
OccupationAuthor
NationalityAmerican
Spouse
​
(m. 1926)​
Children4, including Mary Ellin
ParentsClarence Mackay
Katherine Duer Mackay

Ellin Berlin (née Mackay, 22 March 1903 – 29 July 1988) was an American author. She was married to Irving Berlin.

Biography

Ellin's parents were financier Clarence Mackay, and Katherine Duer Mackay. She met Irving Berlin in 1924. Ellin's father opposed their relationship from the start. Irving wooed her with letters and songs over the airwaves such as "Remember" and "All Alone".[1]

They eloped and were married in a simple civil ceremony at the Municipal Building, away from media attention. Because Irving was Jewish and Ellin was an Irish Catholic, their life was followed in every possible detail by the press, which found the romance between a self-made Jewish immigrant from the Lower East Side and a young heiress to be a sensational story.[2]

For nearly three years Clarence Mackay refused to speak to the Berlins. They reconciled after the death of the Berlins' son, Irving Berlin Jr., on Christmas Day in 1928, less than one month after he was born.[3] The Berlins were married for 63 years until her death in 1988. They had four children: Mary Ellin Barrett in 1926; Irving Berlin, Jr. in 1928; Linda Louise Emmet in 1932; and Elizabeth Irving Peters in 1936.[4]

Ellin Berlin wrote a number of articles for The New Yorker before her marriage. In 1933 she began writing short stories for the Saturday Evening Post and Ladies' Home Journal. In 1944 she published her first novel, Land I Have Chosen. This was followed by Lace Curtain (1958), Silver Platter (1957), and The Best of Families (1970).[5]

She was a member of the United States Assay Commission.[6]

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References

  1. ^ Barrett, Mary Ellin (1995). Irving Berlin: a daughter's memoir. Simon & Schuster. pp. 98–99, 123–124. ISBN 978-0671711498.
  2. ^ Krebs, Albin (July 30, 1988). "Ellin Berlin, 85, a Novelist, Dies; The Songwriter's Wife of 62 Years". The New York Times. p. 32, Sec. 1.
  3. ^ Furia, Philip; Wood, Graham (1998). Irving Berlin: A Life in Song. New York: Schirmer Books. ISBN 978-0-02-864815-6.
  4. ^ Berger, Marilyn (September 23, 1989). "Irving Berlin, Nation's Songwriter, Dies". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "Ellin Mackay Berlin, Novelist". Chicago Tribune. 29 July 1988. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  6. ^ Pessolano-Filos, Francis (1983). The Assay Medals and the Assay Commissions, 1841–1977. Eros Publishing Company. p. xiv.