L. Wolfe Gilbert | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Gilbert in 1915 | |
| Born | Louis Wolfe Gilbert August 31, 1886 Odessa, Russian Empire |
| Died | July 12, 1970 (aged 83) |
| Other names | Wolfie Gilbert |
| Occupation | Songwriter |
| Years active | 1912–1945 |
| Children | Doris Gilbert |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | Traditional pop |
Louis Wolfe Gilbert (August 31, 1886 – July 12, 1970) was a Russian-born American songwriter of Tin Pan Alley. He is best remembered as the lyricist for "Ramona" (1928), the first movie theme song ever written.[1][2][3]
Born in Odessa, Ukraine, then in the Russian Empire, Gilbert moved to the United States as a young man.[1][4]
Gilbert began his career touring with John L. Sullivan and singing in a quartet at small Coney Island café called College Inn, where he was discovered by English producer Albert Decourville. Decourville brought him to London as part of The Ragtime Octet.
Gilbert's first songwriting success came in 1912, when F. A. Mills Music Publishers published his song "Waiting For the Robert E. Lee" (melody by composer Lewis F. Muir).[4][2] Gilbert later wrote both the words and music to "Down Yonder", a sequel to "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee". "Down Yonder" has become something of a standard as an instrumental, though the lyrics are rarely performed.
He joined ASCAP in 1924.[citation needed]
Gilbert moved to Hollywood in 1929, and began writing for film, television, and radio (including the Eddie Cantor show).[2]
During the 1930s, Gilbert worked on Cuban songs that helped to popularize the rumba in America. Some of these hits for which he wrote English lyrics include "The Peanut Vendor", "Mama Inez", and "Maria My Own".[5][6]
Gilbert wrote the theme lyrics for the popular children's Television Western Hopalong Cassidy, which first aired in 1949 on NBC. He was an innovator in his field, having been one of the first songwriters to begin publishing and promoting a catalog of his own works. He served as the director of ASCAP from 1941 to 1944,[2] and again in 1953. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.[citation needed]
Known as "Wolfie", Gilbert and his wife Rose lived in Beverly Hills and he and his family were members of Temple Israel of Hollywood.
He died in Los Angeles, California on July 12, 1970.[1][4] His original gravesite was at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City (Mausoleum, Court of Sages, Crypt 223) but he was later reinterred at Forest Lawn Cemetery (Cathedral City) near Palm Springs, California.
Gilbert & Friedland was a music publishing partnership between composer, performer, and songwriter Anatole Friedland (also sometimes spelled Anatol Friedland and Anato Friedland) and lyricist L. Wolfe Gilbert.[9]
