Jay Gorney Papers

Jay Gorney, born Abraham Jacob Gornetzky, was a composer and lyricist for theater, films, and television. Born in Bialystok, Russia on December 12, 1896, he immigrated to the United States with his family in 1906. After settling in Detroit, Gorney took piano lessons and improvised music for the local silent film theater. He studied at the University of Michigan in the literary department and took music classes on the side in harmony, counterpoint, and composition. He enlisted in the Navy during World War I and was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. Later earning his LL.B degree, he practiced law for less than one year before deciding to move to New York City and work in musical theater.

Gorney's songs started appearing in Broadway shows in the 1920s. He began collaborating with lyricist E.Y. ("Yip") Harburg and in 1932 they scored their biggest hit in the show Americana with the song "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" This simple melody based on a Russian lullaby soon became the anthem of the Great Depression.

In the 1930s Gorney served as a musical advisor for films made by Paramount Pictures and Universal Films. Capitalizing on this success, Gorney and his family moved in 1934 to Hollywood where he had a contract composing for Fox Films. It was here where he wrote the hits "You're My Thrill" and "Baby, Take a Bow," the latter sung by child-star Shirley Temple, who had recently been discovered by Gorney dancing in the lobby of a movie theater. In 1939 Gorney worked as the administrator, composer, and coordinator of the musical revue, Meet The People, a talent-filled production of legendary forces, that was made into a movie starring Lucille Ball and Dick Powell in 1943.

Gorney eventually moved back to New York and in 1950 was hired by CBS television as a producer, writer, and composer. It was during this period that Gorney was attacked as having pro-Communist sympathies, based on meetings and committees he participated in while living in Hollywood. He was ousted from his new job at CBS. The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) called him to a hearing on May 6, 1953, where he sang his song "The Bill of Rights" and then took the Fifth Amendment when asked if he was a Communist. He was not jailed but was considered to be on a blacklist and lost a number of opportunities to work because of his association with Communist sympathizers.

Gorney died on June 14, 1990 in New York City of complications of Parkinson's disease and pneumonia.

Sources: Gorney, Sondra K. Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?: The Life of Composer Jay Gorney. Lanham, MD.: Scarecrow Press, 2005.