HIS RAGTIME SONG INSPIRED A TRENDY DANCE. Because he co-wrote the song, called “Marie from Sunny Italy,” with a pianist, Berlin only received half (approximately 37 cents) of the payment for the piece. In 1907, Berlin sold the publishing rights to his first song to a music publisher for 75 cents. HE EARNED A HANDFUL OF COINS FOR HIS FIRST SONG. He later worked as a singing waiter in Chinatown. To support himself, he busked on the streets and in back rooms of saloons for money, hoping that passersby and bar regulars would give him their spare change. Though the young boy had already been selling newspapers to try to help his family make money, Berlin quit school and, in an attempt to lessen the financial burden for his mother, he also moved out and lived in a ghetto on the Bowery, beginning when he was just 14 years old. He died of chronic bronchitis when Berlin was just 13. AFTER HIS FATHER DIED, HE QUIT SCHOOL AND BEGAN SINGING ON THE STREET.īerlin's father, Moses Baline, had been a cantor (one who leads prayer songs) in Russia, but had trouble finding steady work in America. In 1911, he legally made the change from Izzy Baline to Irving Berlin. Berlin." Berlin allowed a rumor to circulate that it was a printing error that created his pen name, but biographers tend to note that he chose it because it closely resembled his birth name, but sounded less ethnic. He went by Izzy in America in an attempt to assimilate, and when his first composition was printed, it bore the name "I. In the early 1890s, Berlin’s parents moved their family of eight (Israel, who was 5 at the time, was the youngest of six) from Russia to New York City’s Lower East Side to escape anti-Jewish pogroms. Israel Isidore Baline was born in Mohilev, Russia. In honor of what would be Berlin’s 130th birthday, here are 11 facts about the legendary songwriter.
Irving Berlin is famous for writing classic American songs such as “White Christmas,” “God Bless America,” "Puttin' on the Ritz," and “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” Known as the King of Tin Pan Alley, he wrote more than 1000 songs that appeared in movies, TV shows, and Broadway musicals.
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