Irving Berlin was the most prolific of the American songwriters. He wrote over 950 songs for Broadway, Hollywood films, and television. Many songs have become enduring standards in American music, including "Blue Skies," "God Bless America," "I Love a Piano," "Alexander's Ragtime Band," "Puttin' on the Ritz," "Cheek to Cheek," "Blue Skies," and many more. Berlin was born in Russian-controlled Lithuania (then part of the Russian Empire) on May 11, 1888
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His family left Lithuania when he was five years old and settled in St. Louis, Missouri, where he grew up. Berlin attended school at night while working at various jobs during the day to help his mother make ends meet.
He started out as an apprentice at a music publishing company but soon found himself writing songs for local vaudeville theaters. By 1906, Berlin was writing the lyrics for Ethel Merman's act and by 1911 had formed his own musical comedy company. One of his early stage successes was Alexander's Ragtime Band (1911).
He wrote several other successful musicals including The Baby (1917), The Chocolate Soldier (1918), and Red Top (1920). In 1919, Berlin married his first wife Jennie Segal; they had two children, Helen and Irving Jr., who survived into adulthood. After his mother died in 1924, he took over parental responsibilities for Helen while living with her mother until she married in 1926.
By 1925 he had become involved with another woman while still married to Jennie; divorce proceedings followed in 1927 after which he married actress Yvonne De Carlo in 1930 while also divorcing Jennie Segal. In 1931 he met a young singer named Dorothy Fields who would become his third wife a few months later. They spent a few months together with neither giving up their previous spouses but being legally wed from 1933 onward - they were always legally joined until his death from pneumonia on April 14, 1989 - nearly half a century after their first meeting! He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 with Irving Berlin's Music World Society being named after him as well as being made into one of the 100 most important Americans of all time by Life magazine in 1983 with Irving Berlin being named as one of the most important American artists by Time magazine in 1984 and making #1 on their list of America's 100 most patriotic public figures by CBS News in 1988.
