Buddy DeSylva

2025-10-04T05:14:13Z

2600:382:37E2:C4F5:C1F4:EE3F:E0CF:C04:

{{short description|American songwriter, film producer and record executive (1895–1950)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Buddy DeSylva
| image = Buddy G. DeSylva 1928.jpg
| caption = Buddy G DeSylva in 1928
| image_size =
| birth_name = George Gard DeSylva
| alias = Buddy De Sylva, Buddy DeSylva, Bud De Sylva, Buddy G. DeSylva, B.G. DeSylva
| birth_date = {{birth date|1895|01|27}}
| birth_place = [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1950|07|11|1895|01|27}}
| death_place = [[Los Angeles]], California, U.S.
| instrument =
| genre =
| occupation = [[Songwriter]], [[film producer]], [[music executive|record executive]]
| years_active =
| label =
| past_member_of = [[Lew Brown]], [[Ray Henderson]]
| website =
}}
[[File:April Showers cover.jpg|thumb|Song written by Buddy DeSylva]]
'''George Gard''' "'''Buddy'''" '''DeSylva''' (January 27, 1895 – July 11, 1950)<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|pages=655/6}}</ref> was an American [[songwriter]], [[film producer]] and [[record executive]]. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs, and along with [[Johnny Mercer]] and [[Glenn Wallichs]], he co-founded [[Capitol Records]].

==Biography==
DeSylva was born in [[New York City]],<ref name="LarkinGE"/> but grew up in [[California]],<ref name="LarkinGE"/> and attended the [[University of Southern California]], where he joined the [[Theta Xi]] fraternity.

His father, Aloysius J. De Sylva, was better known to American audiences as actor [[:de:Hal De Forrest|Hal De Forrest]].<ref name=BDeSYLVA>{{cite web|title=Composers-Lyricists Database, Biography: Buddy DeSylva|url=http://www.nfo.net/cal/td3.html|access-date=2008-01-10|archive-date=2008-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228060606/http://www.nfo.net/cal/td3.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Aloysius was of [[multiracial]] ancestry, with his father being born in the [[West Indies]] and his mother being born in either [[England]] or [[Scotland]].<ref>Year: 1870; Census Place: New York Ward 8 District 8, New York, New York; Roll: M593_981; Page: 206B</ref> His father was Dr. James M. Fenwick, a Black physician who emigrated to the United States in 1865.<ref>Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.</ref> In 1889, Aloysius legally changed his surname from Fenwick to De Sylva to pass as for white, more specifically, someone from [[Portugal]].<ref>Massachusetts State Government. List of Persons Whose Names Have Been Changed in Massachusetts, 1780-1892. Boston, MA, USA: 1893.</ref>

Buddy's father was also a lawyer as well as an actor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jasen |first=David A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7l-TAgAAQBAJ&dq=Hal+De+Forrest&pg=PA107 |title=Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song |date=June 2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-94901-3 |pages=107 |language=en}}</ref> His mother, Georgetta Miles Gard, was the daughter of [[Los Angeles Police Department|Los Angeles]] [[Chief of police|police chief]] [[George E. Gard]].

DeSylva's first successful songs were those used by [[Al Jolson]] on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in the 1918 production of ''Sinbad'', which included "I'll Say She Does". Soon thereafter, he met Jolson and in 1918 the pair went to New York and DeSylva began working as a songwriter in [[Tin Pan Alley]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/>

In the early 1920s, DeSylva frequently worked with composer [[George Gershwin]].<ref name=Furia88>{{cite book|last1=Furia|first1=Philip|title=The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: a History of America's Great Lyricists|date=1990|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0195064089|page=88}}</ref> Together, they created the [[Experimental theatre|experimental]] [[One-act play|one-act]] [[jazz]] [[opera]] ''[[Blue Monday (opera)|Blue Monday]]'' set in [[Harlem]], which is widely regarded as a forerunner to ''[[Porgy and Bess]]'' ten years later.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

In April 1924, DeSylva married Marie Wallace, a [[Ziegfeld Follies]] dancer.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

In 1925, DeSylva became one third of the songwriting team with lyricist [[Lew Brown]] and composer [[Ray Henderson]], one of the top [[Tin Pan Alley]] [[songwriter]]s of the era.<ref name=Furia87>{{cite book|last1=Furia|first1=Philip|title=The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: a History of America's Great Lyricists|date=1990|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0195064089|page=87}}</ref> The team was responsible for the song "Magnolia" (1927) which was popularized by [[Lou Gold]]'s orchestra.<ref name=Jasen2003>{{cite book|last1=Jasen|first1=David A.|title=Tin Pan Alley An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of Song|date=2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0415938775|page=109}}</ref> The writing and publishing partnership continued until 1930, producing a string of [[Hit song|hits]] and the perennial [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] favorite ''[[Good News (musical)|Good News]]''.<ref name=Furia94>{{cite book|last1=Furia|first1=Philip|title=The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: a History of America's Great Lyricists|date=1990|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0195064089|page=94}}</ref>

DeSylva joined [[ASCAP]] in 1920 and served on the ASCAP [[board of directors]] between 1922 and 1930. He became a producer of [[Musical theatre|stage]] and [[Musical film|screen musicals]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/> DeSylva relocated to [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] and was contracted to [[20th Century Fox|Fox Studios]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/>

During this tenure, he produced movies such as ''[[The Little Colonel (1935 film)|The Little Colonel]]'', ''[[The Littlest Rebel]]'', ''[[Captain January (1936 film)|Captain January]]'', ''[[Poor Little Rich Girl (1936 film)|Poor Little Rich Girl]]'' and ''[[Stowaway (1936 film)|Stowaway]]''.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> In 1941, he became the [[Executive producer|Executive Producer]] at [[Paramount Pictures]], a position he would hold until 1944. At Paramount, he was also an uncredited executive producer for ''[[Double Indemnity]]'', ''[[For Whom the Bell Tolls (film)|For Whom the Bell Tolls]]'', ''[[The Story of Dr. Wassell]]'' and ''[[The Glass Key]]''. [[Betty Hutton]] always credited DeSylva for bringing her to Hollywood and launching her film career.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryclairekendall/2013/03/11/betty-huttons-miraculous-recovery/|title=Betty Hutton's Miraculous Recovery|first=Mary Claire|last=Kendall|website=Forbes.com}}</ref>

The Paramount all-star extravaganza ''[[Star Spangled Rhythm]]'', which takes place at the Paramount film studio in Hollywood, features a fictional [[Studio executive|movie executive]] named "B.G. DeSoto" (played by [[Walter Abel]]) who is a [[parody]] of DeSylva.

In 1942, [[Johnny Mercer]], [[Glenn Wallichs]] and DeSylva together founded [[Capitol Records]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He also founded the [[Cowboy Records|Cowboy label]].

He is sometimes credited as: Buddy De Sylva, Buddy DeSylva, Bud De Sylva, Buddy G. DeSylva and B.G. DeSylva.

Buddy DeSylva died of a heart ailment in Hollywood, aged 55, and is buried at [[Glendale, California|Glendale's]] [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale|Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery]].<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/1950/07/12/archives/buddy-de-sylva-54-film-leader-dead-producer-of-hit-pictures-and.html</ref>

==Individual songs==
*Desylva, Buddy, B. G. De Sylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson. ''Seven Veils''. 26 March 1927<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zjYhAQAAIAAJ&dq=%22SEVEN+VEILS%22+DE+SYLVA+BROWN+HENDERSON&pg=RA1-PA67|page=67|title=Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series|date=23 August 1954|access-date=23 August 2021|via=Google Books}}</ref>
*Desylva, Buddy, B. G. De Sylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson. ''Good News: vocal selection''. [Place of publication not identified]: Chappell, n.d. {{OCLC|495863850}}
*Henderson, Ray, B. G. De Sylva, and Bud Green. "Alabamy Bound". New York: Shapiro, Bernstein & Co, 1925. {{OCLC|645628000}}
*De Sylva, B. G., Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson. "Magnolia". 1927. {{OCLC|918927178}}
* "[[Avalon (Al Jolson song)|Avalon]]"
* "[[April Showers (song)|April Showers]]"
* "[[The Best Things in Life Are Free (Ray Henderson song)|The Best Things in Life Are Free]]"
* "[[The Birth of the Blues]]"
* "[[Button Up Your Overcoat]]"
* "[[California, Here I Come]]"
* "[[If You Knew Susie]]"
* "[[It All Depends on You]]"
* "[[Look for the Silver Lining]]"
* "[[Somebody Loves Me]]"
* "[[Sonny Boy (song)|Sonny Boy]]"
* "[[The Varsity Drag]]"
* "[[You're the Cream in My Coffee]]"

==Broadway credits==
*1919 – ''[[La La Lucille]]'' (music by [[George Gershwin]])
*1922 – ''[[George White's Scandals|George White's Scandals of 1922]]'' (music by [[George Gershwin]], and included premiere of one-act jazz opera ''[[Blue Monday (opera)|Blue Monday]]'')
*1922 – ''[[Orange Blossoms (musical)|Orange Blossoms]]'' (music by [[Victor Herbert]])
*1922 – ''The Yankee Princess'' (music by [[Emmerich Kalman]])
*1923 – ''[[George White's Scandals|George White's Scandals of 1923]]'' (music by [[George Gershwin]])
*1924 – ''Sweet Little Devil'' (music by [[George Gershwin]])
*1924 – ''[[George White's Scandals|George White's Scandals of 1924]]'' music by [[George Gershwin]]
*1925 – ''Big Boy'' (music by [[Joseph Meyer (songwriter)|Joseph Meyer]] and [[James F. Hanley]])
*1925 – ''Tell Me More!'' (co-lyricist with [[Ira Gershwin]] music by [[George Gershwin]])
*1925 – ''[[George White's Scandals|George White's Scandals of 1925]]'' (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson)
*1925 – ''Captain Jinks'' (music by Lewis Gensler)
*1926 – ''[[George White's Scandals|George White's Scandals of 1926]]'' (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson)
*1926 – ''[[Queen High]]'' (music by Lewis Gensler)
*1927 – ''[[Good News (musical)|Good News]]'' (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson)
*1927 – ''Manhattan Mary'' (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson)
*1928 – ''[[George White's Scandals|George White's Scandals of 1928]]'' (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson)
*1928 – ''[[Hold Everything!]]'' (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson)
*1929 – ''[[Follow Thru]]'' (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson)
*1930 – ''[[Flying High (musical)|Flying High]]'' (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson)
*1932 – ''[[Take a Chance (musical)|Take a Chance]]'' (music by [[Nacio Herb Brown]], [[Richard A. Whiting]] and [[Vincent Youmans]])

==Selected filmography==
* ''[[Stepping Sisters ]]'' (1932)
* ''[[My Weakness (film)|My Weakness]]'' (1933)
* ''[[The Stork Club (1945 film)|The Stork Club]]'' (1945)

==In popular culture==
The 1956 [[Hollywood (film industry)|Hollywood]] film ''[[The Best Things in Life Are Free (film)|The Best Things in Life Are Free]]'', starring [[Gordon MacRae]], Dan Dailey, and [[Ernest Borgnine]], depicted the De Sylva, Brown and Henderson collaboration.<ref name=Jasen>{{cite book|last1=Jasen|first1=David A.|title=Tin Pan Alley An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of Song|date=2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0415938775|page=110}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* Ewen, David (1970). ''Great Men of American Popular Song'' ASIN: B000OKLHXU
* {{Cite book |last=Green |first=Stanley |author-link=Stanley Green (historian) |title=The world of musical comedy: the story of the American musical stage as told through the careers of its foremost composers and lyricists |date=1984 |publisher=Da Capo press |isbn=978-0-306-80207-2 |edition=4. ed., rev. and enlarged |series=Da Capo Paperback |location=New York}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|auto=yes}}
*{{IBDB name}}
*{{IMDb name|0221865|Buddy G. DeSylva}}
*{{Cite news |date=2013-07-09 |title="Why Don't you Marry the Girl?": How the 1909 Copyright Act Helped Bring Down DOMA {{!}} Trademark and Copyright Law |url=https://www.trademarkandcopyrightlawblog.com/2013/07/why-dont-you-marry-the-girl-how-the-1909-copyright-act-helped-bring-down-doma/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223171316/https://www.trademarkandcopyrightlawblog.com/2013/07/why-dont-you-marry-the-girl-how-the-1909-copyright-act-helped-bring-down-doma/ |archive-date=2024-02-23 |access-date=2025-05-31 |work=Trademark and Copyright Law |language=en-US}}
*[https://archive.org/details/TheJazzAge Buddy DeSylva at the Internet Archive]
*{{Cite web |title=B. G. De Sylva |url=https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/102287/De_Sylva_B._G |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=[[Discography of American Historical Recordings]]}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desylva, Buddy}}
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1950 deaths]]
[[Category:American people of Portuguese descent]]
[[Category:Broadway composers and lyricists]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)]]
[[Category:Capitol Records]]
[[Category:Musicians from New York City]]
[[Category:People from Greater Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Songwriters from New York (state)]]
[[Category:University of Southern California alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American songwriters]]

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Buddy DeSylva