Jean Schwartz
Jean Schwartz (November 4, 1878 – November 30, 1956) was a Hungarian-born American songwriter.
Schwartz was born in Budapest, Hungary. His family moved to New York City when he was 13 years old. He took various music-related jobs including demonstrating and selling sheet music in department stores before being hired as a staff pianist and song-plugger by the Shapiro-Bernstein Publishing House of Tin Pan Alley. He published his first composition, a cakewalk, in 1899. He became known as an accomplished lyricist, although he also continued to write music.
In 1901, he began a successful collaboration with William Jerome. They co-wrote many songs which were used in Broadway shows, including "Mr. Dooley," which was sung by the title character in The Wizard of Oz, as well as the Ziegfeld Follies. They worked with Eddie Morton for the song "I'm A Member of the Midnight Crew" in 1909. Their biggest hit together was the 1910 song "Chinatown, My Chinatown", still popular with Dixieland bands. Schwartz and Jerome stopped working together in 1913.
Songwriters on parade
In the late 1930s, Schwartz and several of his fellow hitmakers formed a revue called "Songwriters on Parade", performing all across the Eastern Seaboard on the Loew's and Keith circuits.
Schwartz continued working on show tunes through 1937. He died in Los Angeles, California.
Selected works
- Schwartz, Jean, and William Jerome. Bedelia: The Irish Coon Song Serenade. New York: Shapiro, Remick & Co, 1903. OCLC 10156242
- Schwartz, Jean, and William Jerome. Chinatown, My Chinatown. New York: Jerome H. Remick & Co, 1910. OCLC 44553598
- Schwartz, Jean, Sam M. Lewis, and Joe Young. Hello Central! Give Me No Man's Land. New York: Waterson-Berlin & Snyder Co., 1918. OCLC 70180234
- Schwartz, Jean, Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young, and Sigmund Romberg. Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody. New York: Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, 1918. OCLC 16510835