Biography
Born George Wietz in New York in 1890, the future producer, director, author, dancer, and actor died on 11 October 1968 in Hollywood, California. His entry into show business occurred during his teenage years when he partnered with Ben, also known as Benny, Ryan to create a burlesque dancing act. Subsequent modest solo appearances followed in productions including The Echo (1910), Ziegfeld Follies, The Whirl Of Society, The Pleasure Seekers, The Midnight Girl, and Miss 1917, the latter featuring music composed chiefly by the then-youthful Jerome Kern.
In 1919 White launched the initial installment of his own revue series, George White’s Scandals, which blended America’s emerging popular songs, rather than imported European material, with brisk sketches and glamorous female performers. These annual presentations resembled, yet proved somewhat less extravagant than, the preeminent Ziegfeld Follies. Editions continued through 1926, when the longest-running version achieved 424 performances and featured a score by De Sylva, Brown And Henderson that introduced lasting numbers such as “Lucky Day,” “Black Bottom,” and “Birth Of The Blues.”
No Scandals edition appeared in 1927, yet White produced and co-wrote the book, alongside Billy K. Wells, for Manhattan Mary, a show centered on the Scandals that ran 264 performances and included additional De Sylva, Brown And Henderson songs such as “The Five-Step” and “It Won’t Be Long Now”; White performed in it with popular comedian Ed Wynn. The Scandals returned in 1928, followed by further editions in 1929 and 1931. The 1931 production placed future film star Alice Faye in the chorus and employed songs by Lew Brown and Ray Henderson after De Sylva’s departure for Hollywood; Ethel Merman introduced “Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries” and “Ladies And Gentlemen, That’s Love,” while also duetting with Rudy Vallee on “My Song.” Vallee further performed “The Thrill Is Gone” with Everett Marshall and “This Is The Missus” with Peggy Moseley.
George White’s Music Hall Varieties supplanted the Scandals in 1932, presenting future Hollywood star and tap dancer Eleanor Powell together with song-and-dance performer Harry Richman, who introduced Herman Hupfield’s ballad “Let’s Put Out The Lights And Go To Sleep.” Two additional stage editions of George White’s Scandals occurred in 1936 and 1939, each running slightly more than 100 performances amid shifting tastes. Film versions appeared in 1934, 1935, and 1945, with the first two advancing Alice Faye’s movie career. Across the stage and screen productions, performers such as Bert Lahr, Gracie Barrie, Cliff Edwards, Willie and Eugene Howard, Ann Miller, Ray Middleton, Ella Logan, Ann Pennington, Lou Holtz, W.C Fields, Dolores Costello, Ray Bolger, and Ethel Barrymore took part, while songwriters included Irving Caesar, George Gershwin (five scores), Jack Yellen, Harold Arlen, Sam Stept, and Herb Magidson.
In 1919 White launched the initial installment of his own revue series, George White’s Scandals, which blended America’s emerging popular songs, rather than imported European material, with brisk sketches and glamorous female performers. These annual presentations resembled, yet proved somewhat less extravagant than, the preeminent Ziegfeld Follies. Editions continued through 1926, when the longest-running version achieved 424 performances and featured a score by De Sylva, Brown And Henderson that introduced lasting numbers such as “Lucky Day,” “Black Bottom,” and “Birth Of The Blues.”
No Scandals edition appeared in 1927, yet White produced and co-wrote the book, alongside Billy K. Wells, for Manhattan Mary, a show centered on the Scandals that ran 264 performances and included additional De Sylva, Brown And Henderson songs such as “The Five-Step” and “It Won’t Be Long Now”; White performed in it with popular comedian Ed Wynn. The Scandals returned in 1928, followed by further editions in 1929 and 1931. The 1931 production placed future film star Alice Faye in the chorus and employed songs by Lew Brown and Ray Henderson after De Sylva’s departure for Hollywood; Ethel Merman introduced “Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries” and “Ladies And Gentlemen, That’s Love,” while also duetting with Rudy Vallee on “My Song.” Vallee further performed “The Thrill Is Gone” with Everett Marshall and “This Is The Missus” with Peggy Moseley.
George White’s Music Hall Varieties supplanted the Scandals in 1932, presenting future Hollywood star and tap dancer Eleanor Powell together with song-and-dance performer Harry Richman, who introduced Herman Hupfield’s ballad “Let’s Put Out The Lights And Go To Sleep.” Two additional stage editions of George White’s Scandals occurred in 1936 and 1939, each running slightly more than 100 performances amid shifting tastes. Film versions appeared in 1934, 1935, and 1945, with the first two advancing Alice Faye’s movie career. Across the stage and screen productions, performers such as Bert Lahr, Gracie Barrie, Cliff Edwards, Willie and Eugene Howard, Ann Miller, Ray Middleton, Ella Logan, Ann Pennington, Lou Holtz, W.C Fields, Dolores Costello, Ray Bolger, and Ethel Barrymore took part, while songwriters included Irving Caesar, George Gershwin (five scores), Jack Yellen, Harold Arlen, Sam Stept, and Herb Magidson.
Albums