Mack Gordon: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Irving Berlin

• Harry Warren
• Harry Revel
• James Van Heusen
• Ray Henderson
• Josef Myrow
• Vincent Youmans

Birth Name:

Morris Gittler

Born:

Jun 21, 1904 in Warsaw, Poland

Died:

Mar 1, 1959 in New York, NY

Genres:

Music, Standards & Vocal Music, Show Tunes, Classical Music, Traditional Pop Vocal Music

Decades Active:

1930's|1940's

American pop lyricist Mack Gordon wrote hit songs for stage productions and, most often, for movies. He was involved in two important movie songwriting duos: with composer Harry Revel in the 1930s and with Harry Warren in the 1940s. Gordon was born in Warsaw, Poland, and moved to N.Y.C. with his parents while still a child, and grew up in Brooklyn and the Bronx. His start in show business came early, as a boy soprano in a minstrel show. Later, Gordon worked as a singing comic in vaudeville. When he started songwriting in the early '30s, Gordon teamed up with Revel and after writing for a few stage shows, the duo moved to Hollywood in 1933. From this point on, the team wrote numerous hits for films, including The Gay Divorcee (1934), Paris in Spring (1935), Poor Little Rich Girl (1936), Thanks for Everything (1938), and many more. Beginning in 1940, Gordon began writing with Warren and the two created hit songs for a number of movies, including That Night in Rio (1941), Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943), Summer Stock, and many more. Gordon also wrote songs by himself, such as "My Heart Is an Open Book" (1935), and collaborated on numerous hits with other composers, including Josef Myrow, Ray Henderson, and Jimmy Van Heusen. With over 120 hits, Gordon was one of the most successful screen lyricists and some of his best-known songs are "Time on My Hands" (1930), "Stay as Sweet as You Are" (1934), "Chattanooga Choo Choo" (1941), "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo" (1942), "You'll Never Know" (1943), "I Can't Begin to Tell You" (1945), and "You Make Me Feel So Young" (1946).

- Joslyn Layne, All Music Guide