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Jack Yellen
Jack Yellen
	1924
Background information
Birth name	Jacek Selig Jeleń
Born	July 6, 1892; Raczki, Congress Poland, Russian Empire
Died	April 17, 1991 (aged 98); Springville, Concord, New York, United States
Occupation(s)	Lyricist, screenwriter
Years active	1915–1969
Spouse(s)	Sylvia Stiller, Lucille Hodgeman (Stage Name: Lucille Day)

Jack Selig Yellen (Jacek Jeleń; July 6, 1892 – April 17, 1991)^[1] was an American lyricist and screenwriter. He is best remembered for writing the lyrics to the songs "Happy Days Are Here Again",^[2] which was used by Franklin Roosevelt as the theme song for his successful 1932 presidential campaign, and "Ain't She Sweet", a Tin Pan Alley standard.

Early life and education

Born to a Jewish family^[3] in Raczki, Congress Poland, then part of the Russian Empire, Yellen emigrated with his family to the United States when he was five years old. His parents were Abram and Bessie Yellen.^[4] The oldest of seven children, he was raised in Buffalo, New York, and began writing songs in high school. He graduated with honors from the University of Michigan in 1913 where he was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity.

After graduating he became a reporter for the Buffalo Courier, continuing to write songs on the side.^[5]

Career

Yellen's first collaborator on a song was George L. Cobb, with whom he wrote a number of Dixie songs including "Alabama Jubilee", "Are You From Dixie?", and "All Aboard for Dixieland". He is best remembered for his collaboration with composer Milton Ager. He and Ager entered the music publishing business as part owners of the Ager-Yellen-Bornstein Music Company. Yellen also worked with many other composers such as Sammy Fain and Harold Arlen.

Yellen's collaboration with vaudeville star, Sophie Tucker, for whom he was retained to write special material, produced one of Tucker's most well known songs, "My Yiddishe Momme", a song in English with some Yiddish text. Yellen wrote the lyrics which were set to music by Lew Pollack.^[6] Yellen wrote the lyrics to more than 200 popular songs of the early 20th century. Two of his most recognized songs, still popular in the 21st century, are "Happy Days Are Here Again" and "Ain't She Sweet".

Yellen's screenwriting credits included:


Title	Year	Role
George White's Scandals^[7]	1934	Music composition and additional dialogue
Pigskin Parade^[8]	1936	Co-writer
Little Miss Broadway^[9]	1938	Co-writer
Submarine Patrol^[10]	1938	Co-writer

Awards and legacy

Yellen was one of the earliest members of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and served on its board of directors from 1951 to 1969.^[11] In 1972 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame,^[12] and the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame in 1996.^[13]

The foundation created by Yellen and his second wife, The Lucille and Jack Yellen Foundation, established the ASCAP Foundation Lucille and Jack Yellen Award, an annual award for "aspiring musical theater lyricist or film scorer who exemplifies talent and career potential".^[14]

Personal life

In August 1922, Yellen married 21 year old Sylvia Stiller of Buffalo. They had two children, David and Beth.^[15]^[2] In 1944 he married his second wife, Lucille Hodgeman. Lucille was born in Minnesota in 1915 and raised in Los Angeles. As a dancer and choreographer, she worked with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and 20th Century Fox under the stage name Lucille Day on over 20 films, including The Wizard of Oz.^[16] The Yellens lived for many years on a farm on Mortons Corners Road in the town of Concord, New York. Jack Yellen died April 17, 1991, in Concord at the age of 98.^[2] Lucille Yellen died on August 15, 2010, at age 95.^[17]

Broadway musicals

What's in a Name? (1920) with music by Milton Ager
Rain or Shine (1928) with music by Milton Ager
John Murray Anderson's Almanac (1929)
Follow A Star (1930) with music by Vivian Ellis
You Said It (1931)
George White's Scandals of 1935
George White's Scandals of 1939
Boys and Girls Together (1940)
Sons o' Fun (1941)
Ziegfeld Follies of 1943 (1943)

Film scores

The Adding Machine 1969
The Affair of Susan 1935
Ali Baba Goes to Town 1937
Another Thin Man 1939
Artistic Temper 1932
Bells of Capistrano 1942
Blonde Crazy 1931
Broadway Melody of 1938 1937
Bulldog Drummond 1939
Call of The West 1930
Captain January 1936
Chasing Rainbows 1930
The Christmas Party 1931
Crashing The Gate 1934
George White's Scandals 1934 1935
Glad Rag Doll 1929
Going Hollywood 1933
Happy Landing 1938
The Heart of New York 1932
Hell In The Heavens 1934
Hold That Co-Ed 1938
Honky Tonk 1929
King of Burlesque 1936
The King of Jazz 1930
Little Miss Broadway 1938
Love Is News 1937
My Lucky Star 1938
Night and Day 1946
Our Little Girl 1935
Pigskin Parade 1936
Rain or Shine 1930
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm 1938
Sally, Irene and Mary 1938
Sensations of 1945 – 1944
Sing, Baby, Sing 1936
Submarine Patrol 1938
The Ice Follies of 1939
They Learned About Women 1930
This Is Heaven 1929
Twentieth Century 1934
Unexpected Uncle 1941
Wake Up and Live 1937
You Can't Have Everything 1937

Selected songs

"Alabama Jubilee" – 1915
"Are You from Dixie ('Cause I'm from Dixie Too)" – 1915
"Dancing 'Round the U.S.A" - 1915^[18]
"There's a Garden in Hawaii" with music by George B. McConnell – 1917
"Battle Song of Liberty" - 1917. m: George L. Cobb^[18]
"Johnny Get Your Gun and Be a Soldier" - 1917. m: Jack Glogau^[18]
"Over the Rhine" - 1917. m: Albert Gumble^[19]
"So Long Sammy" - 1917. m: Albert Gumble^[19]
"There's a Vacant Chair in My Old Southern Home" - 1917. m: Al. Piantadosi^[19]
"When It's Circus Day Back Home" - 1917. m: Jack Glogau^[19]
"There's a Lump of Sugar Down in Dixie" - 1918. m: Albert Gumble^[19]
"We're Coming from Cody" - 1918. m: Pvt. Harry Wessel^[19]
"I'm Waiting For Ships That Never Come In" – 1919, recorded by Moon Mullican in 1958.
"Alexander's Band Is Back in Dixie" - 1919. m: Albert Gumble^[18]
"Cootie Tickle, The (Over Here It's the Shimmie Dance)" - 1919. m: Abe Olman^[18]
"Don't Put a Tax on the Beautiful Girls" - 1919 with Milton Ager^[18]
"Johnny's in Town" - 1919. m: Geo. W. Meyer & Abe Olman^[18]
"Down By The O-Hi-O" – 1921
"Louisville Lou" – 1923
"Mama Goes Where Papa Goes" – 1923
"Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)" – 1924
"Hula Lou" – 1924
"Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp Of Savannah)" – 1924
"I Wonder What's Become of Sally" – 1924
"Cheatin' on Me" – 1925
"In Your Green Hat" – 1925
"My Yiddishe Momme" – 1925 with music by Lew Pollack and a huge success for Sophie Tucker.
"No Man's Mama" – 1925 with music by Lew Pollack
"Crazy Words, Crazy Tune" – 1926
"Ain't She Sweet" – 1927
"Glad Rag Doll" – 1929
"Happy Feet" – 1930
"Happy Days Are Here Again" – 1930
"Are You Havin' Any Fun?" – 1939 with music by Sammy Fain
"Life Begins At Forty" – 1937 music and lyrics by Jack Yellen and Ted Shapiro, recorded by Sophie Tucker.

Notes

^ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 2749. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c Eleanor Blau (April 19, 1991). "Jack Yellen, 97, Wrote the Lyrics to 'Happy Days Are Here Again'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
^ Tampa Jewish Federation: "Jews in the News: Carrie Fisher, Norman Lear and Stephen Tobolowsky" Archived 2017-03-19 at the Wayback Machine retrieved March 18, 2017
^ "The life of local songwriter Jack Yellen – Part 1". Springville Journal.
^ "Jack Yellen | Songwriters Hall of Fame". www.songhall.org. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
^ Laurie, Joe, Jr. Vaudeville: From the Honky-tonks to the Palace. New York: Henry Holt, 1953. p. 59.
^ "GEORGE WHITE'S SCANDALS".
^ "'Pigskin Parade,' a Seasonal Musical Comedy, Opens At the Roxy -- 'Here Comes Carter,' at the Palace". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
^ "THE SCREEN; Shirley Temple Forces a Dimple in Her New Picture 'Little Miss Broadway' at the Roxy--Other Films At the 86th St. Garden Theatre At the 86th Street Casino". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
^ "THE SCREEN; ' Submarine Patrol,' an Exciting and Richly Comic Saga of the Splinter Fleet, Opens at the Roxy At the 86th St. Garden Theatre At the 86th Street Casino At the Modern Playhouse". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
^ Bert A. Folkart (April 19, 1991). "Jack Yellen; Composer of 'Happy Days Are Here Again'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
^ "Jack Yellen's Biography at Songwriters Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 2014-10-10.
^ "Jack Yellen's entry at Buffalo Music Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 2014-10-16.
^ "The ASCAP Foundation Lucille and Jack Yellen Award".
^ "Marriages in the Profession: Yellen-Stiller". Billboard. 19 August 1922. p. 106.
^ "The ASCAP Foundation Jack and Lucille Yellen Award". Archived from the original on 2014-10-17.
^ "Lucille Yellen, 95, dancer in Hollywood films, widow of songwriter". The Buffalo News. No. Page D6. October 2, 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Parker, Bernard S. (2007). World War I Sheet Music - Volume 1. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 21, 45, 88, 91, 113, 323, 325. ISBN 978-0-7864-2798-7.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Parker, Bernard S. (2007). World War I Sheet Music - Volume 2. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 518, 590, 669, 674, 764, 776. ISBN 978-0-7864-2799-4.

References

Laurie, Joe, Jr. Vaudeville: From the Honky-tonks to the Palace. New York: Henry Holt, 1953. p. 59.
Yellen, Jack: "The Songwriter and the Red Head". Buffalo Courier Express March 15–22, 1970.