Songwriter Irving Berlin, who celebrated his adopted homeland with memorable melodies and simple but heartfelt lyrics in such standards as "God Bless America" and "White Christmas," died Friday night. He was 101.
Berlin died in his sleep at 5:30 p.m., said his son-in-law, Alton E. Peters. Asked if Berlin had been ill, Peters said, "No, he was 101 years old. . . . He just fell asleep."Peters said nurses were with Berlin when he died, but no family members were present. Bill Hartgrove, evening manager at the Frank Campbell funeral home in Manhattan, said services would be private.
An actor, singer and songwriter, Berlin began his career in the early days of vaudeville, and his songs for a time so dominated the stage and screen that the late composer, Jerome Kern, said, "Berlin has no place in American music. He is American music."
Berlin, whose musical career began when he got a job as a singing waiter, wrote nearly 1,000 songs, from his first big hit, "Alexander's Ragtime Band" in 1911, to "Puttin' on the Ritz," which was revived in 1983 by the Dutch singer Taco and was a hit on the rock charts.
He was an immigrant Russian whose "God Bless America" became the nation's unofficial second national anthem. A Jew, his "White Christmas" and "Easter Parade" became Christian holiday traditions.
Berlin played the piano by ear and never stopped making what he described as "songs with heart." Even in his 90s, he talked of adding yet another musical to his credits, which included 19 stage musicals and 15 movie scores.
At the peak of his career, one smash followed another so readily that Cole Porter once said Berlin "can't help but write hits."
Berlin, along with 11 other American immigrants, received a medal from President Reagan during the Statue of Liberty centennial celebrations in July 1986.
Reagan, a former actor who was featured in 1943's mammoth, flag-waving movie musical "This Is the Army," with songs from Berlin, said in a statement:
"Nancy and I are deeply saddened by the death of a wonderfully talented man whose musical genius delighted and stirred millions, and will live on forever."
On May 11, his 101st birthday, Berlin continued his practice of not paying much attention to his personal holiday. "A quiet day with family. That he always has. He never had any big to-dos," said his secretary, Hilda Schneider.
A year earlier on his centennial, he declined to attend a Carnegie Hall gala led by Frank Sinatra and Leonard Bernstein. Nor did he appear when neighbors assembled beneath his window and serenaded the master of American popular music with his own songs.
"Of course he heard them. He was very thrilled by that," Schneider said.
The biggest names on Broadway played in his musical successes, which began in the World War I era with "Watch Your Step," starring Irene and Vernon Castle, and ran through such post-World War II hits as "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Call Me Madam," both with Ethel Merman.
"A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody," one of many Berlin wrote for the Ziegfeld Follies, became the unofficial theme song for every Ziegfeld extravaganza.
His last Broadway show was "Mr. President" in 1962.
In Hollywood, Berlin did the scores of "Top Hat," starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers; "Holiday Inn" with Astaire and Bing Crosby; "Blue Skies"; "Easter Parade"; "White Christmas"; and "There's No Business Like Show Business."
His music-publishing empire earned him a fortune, which he readily shared with his country in wartime or with favorite causes.
Berlin was awarded three medals for his works and a special Tony award for his contribution to the musical theater.
Explaining the seemingly endless gusher of successful songs, Berlin said his tunes were merely rewrites of seven or eight of his best numbers. "All good songwriters have no more than half a dozen good tunes in their systems, and if they have that many they're liberally blessed," he once said.
Celebrity and great wealth didn't seem to touch the shy personality of the intense, short man with slicked-down wavy hair and dark glasses. He lived a simple life, centered around his songwriting and his family _ his late wife, Ellin, and their three daughters.
Berlin was brought up in poverty amid the immigrant swarm on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Born Israel Baline on May 11, 1888, he was 5 when his family emigrated from Temun in eastern Russia. He was one of eight children and acquired his earliest musical education from his father, a cantor. But his father's death put an end to Berlin's formal education and, at age 8, he went from the second grade to the streets to earn a living.
Known as Izzy, Berlin sold newspapers, guided a blind, singing beggar and worked in vaudeville. In 1907, he wrote the words to his first song, "Marie from Sunny Italy" in collaboration with the piano player at the Chinatown bar where he worked as a singing waiter.
Berlin went to work for music publisher Ted Snyder, who soon made him a partner. In 1911, at the age of 23, he was contributing songs to the Ziegfeld Follies. His "Alexander's Ragtime Band" with its "ragged meter" _ strongly syncopated melody and regularly accented accompaniment _ ushered jazz onto the popular scene and firmly established Berlin as a master of Tin Pan Alley.