Harburg, E. Y. ("Yip")

E.Y. (Yip) Harburg, Academy Award winning lyricist, was born April 8, 1898 in New York City. Among his best known songs are “Over the Rainbow,” “April in Paris,” “Brother Can You Spare a Dime,” and the musical Finian's Rainbow. Among his principal collaborators were Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Burton Lane, Arthur Schwartz, Jerome Kern, Jule Styne, Sammy Fain, Jeff Alexander, Jay Gorney, Larry Orenstein, Earl Robinson, and Philip Springer.

Mr. Harburg died in Los Angeles in 1981.

E.Y. (Yip) Harburg, Academy Award winning lyricist, was born April 8,1898 in New York City.

Among his best known songs are "Over the Rainbow," "April in Paris," "Brother Can You Spare a Dime," and the musical "Finian's Rainbow." Among his principal collaborators were Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Burton Lane, Arthur Schwartz and Jerome Kern.

Mr. Harburg died in Los Angeles in 1981.

E. Y. "Yip" Harburg, academy award winning lyricist, was born in New York City on April 8, 1898. He received his nickname "Yipsel" (Yiddish for squirrel) during his youth on the Lower East Side. Harburg received his education in the New York City Public School System, eventually graduating from City College. While in college he collaborated with Ira Gershwin, a fellow student, on a light verse column in the school newspaper. It was during this time that Harburg was introduced to the works of Gilbert and Sullivan and was greatly influenced by the lyrical style of W. S. Gilbert.

After graduating from college he went into the electrical supply business which went bankrupt in the stock market crash in 1929. It was the experience of being unemployed in the Depression which led to the beginning of his career as a lyricist, writing the lyrics for the song Brother Can You Spare a Dime with Jay Gorney for the review Americana . From there his career as a lyricist took off with shows such as Garrick Gaieties, Ziegfeld Follies, Life Begins at 8:40, and Hooray For What? Among his early film credits are The Singing Kid, Gold Diggers of 1937, Cabin in the Sky, Can't Help Singing, Centennial Summer and the academy award winning, The Wizard of Oz .

His Hollywood career came to abrupt end however, when he was blacklisted by the film industry after World War II. His outspoken political views and his affiliation with the Hollywood Democratic Committee made him a prime candidate for McCarthyites of the post-war era resulting in his absence from the Hollywood film scene for 12 years and the revoking of his passport.

Banned by the Hollywood studios, Harburg returned to the New York theater where he continued writing lyrics for musicals, including Finian's Rainbow, Flahooley, Jamaica, The Happiest Girl in the World, and Darling of the Day . Of these productions, Finian's Rainbow and Flahooley show marked political and social views. Harburg returned to Hollywood in 1962 with the film Gay Purr-ee, an animated feature film with Judy Garland as the voice of the main character. In 1968 his Broadway musical, Finian's Rainbow was recreated on the screen with Fred Astaire and Petula Clark in starring roles.

Harburg's musical collaborators were numerous. Among them were: Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Jay Gorney, Jerome Kern, Burton Lane and Arthur Schwartz. He also wrote plays and among his playwriting credits are Flahooley and Finian's Rainbow, co-authored by Fred Saidy, and What a Day For A Miracle, co-authored by Henry Myers. He also wrote a book of light verse entitled Rhymes for the Irreverent .

Harburg wrote lyrics up until his death. He also lectured and made personal appearances throughout his career. He was a guest speaker in the successful Lyrics and Lyricists Series of the 92nd Street YMHA. He died on March 5, 1981 in Los Angeles, California days before he was scheduled to receive the Johnny Mercer Award of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.

E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, academy award winning lyricist, was born in New York City on April 8, 1898. He received his nickname "Yipsel" (Yiddish for squirrel) during his youth on the Lower East Side. Harburg received his education in the the New York City public school system, eventually graduating from City College. While in college he collaborated with Ira Gershwin, a fellow student, on a light verse column in the school newspaper. It was during this time that Harburg was introduced to the works of Gilbert and Sullivan and was greatly influenced by the lyrical style of W.S. Gilbert.

After graduating from college he went into the electrical supply business. This went bankrupt in the stock market crash in 1929. It was the experience of being unemployed in the Depression which led to the beginning of his career as a lyricist, writing the lyrics for the song " Brother Can You Spare a Dime " with Jay Gorney for the review Americana. From there his career took off with shows such as Garrick Gaieties, Ziegfeld Follies, Life Begins at 8:40, and Hooray for What? Among his early film credits are The Singing Kid, Gold Diggers of 1937, Cabin in the Sky, Can't Help Singing, Centennial Summer, and the Academy Award winning, The Wizard of Oz .

His Hollywood career, came to an abrupt end, when he was blacklisted by the film industry after World War II. His outspoken political views and his affiliation with the Hollywood Democratic Committee made him a prime candidate for the McCarthyites of the post-war era resulting in his absence from the Hollywood film scene for 12 years and the revoking of his passport.

Banned by the Hollywood studios, Harburg returned to the New York theater where he continued writing lyrics for musicals including Finian's Rainbow, Flahooley, Jamaica, The Happiest Girl in the World, and Darling of the Day . Of these productions, Finian's Rainbow and Flahooley show marked political and social views. Harburg returned to Hollywood in 1962 with the film Gay Purr-ee, an animated feature film with Judy Garland as the voice of the main character. In 1968 his Broadway musical Finian's Rainbow was recreated on the screen with Fred Astaire and Petula Clark in starring roles.

Harburg's musical collaborators wer numerous. Among them were: Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Jay Gorney, Jerome Kern, Burton Lane, and Arthur Schwartz. He also wrote plays and among his playwright credits are Flahooley and Finian's Rainbow, co-authored by Fred Saidy; and What a Day For a Miracle co-authored by Henry Myers. He also wrote a book of light verse entitled Rhymes for the Irreverent .

Harburg wrote lyrics up until his death. He also lectured and made personal appearances throughout his career. He was a guest speaker in the successful Lyrics and Lyricists Series of the 92nd Street YMHA. He died on March 5, 1981 in Los Angeles, California days before he was scheduled to receive the Johnny Mercer Award of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.

Edgar Yipsel ("Yip") Harburg was born Irwin Hochberg on April 8, 1896, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. (Some sources give the year of his birth as 1898.) He showed his flair for light verse at an early age, but after graduating from the City College of New York in 1917, he pursued a career in business, while continuing to write in his spare time. After a period of prosperity, his electrical supply company failed in the late 1920s, and he decided to change careers.

Harburg quickly achieved great success as a lyricist. Over the years, he collaborated with many composers, including Jay Gorney, Vernon Duke, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, Burton Lane, Sammy Fain, and Jule Styne. Harburg wrote the lyrics for shows such as Finian's Rainbow and films such as The Wizard of Oz . His long list of hit songs includes "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?," "April in Paris," "It's Only a Paper Moon," "Over the Rainbow," and "How are Things in Glocca Morra?"

Harburg's Hollywood career came to a halt in the early 1950s when he was blacklisted. A staunch advocate of a variety of left-leaning causes, Harburg was never a member of the Communist Party. The blacklist did not prevent him from working on Broadway, but his musicals after Finian's Rainbow did not match the success of his earlier works.

Yip Harburg died on March 5, 1981 in Brentwood, California.