Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including "Pretty Baby", "Ain't We Got Fun?", "Carolina in the Morning", "Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' Bye!)", "My Buddy" "I'll See You in My Dreams", "It Had to Be You", "Yes Sir, That's My Baby", "Love Me or Leave Me", "Makin' Whoopee", "My Baby Just Cares for Me", "I'm Through with Love", "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and "You Stepped Out of a Dream".
Life and career
Kahn was born in 1886 in Bruschied, in the Rhine Province of the Kingdom of Prussia, the son of Theresa (Mayer) and Isaac Kahn, a cattle farmer. The Jewish family emigrated to the United States and moved to Chicago in 1890. After graduating from high school, he worked as a clerk in a mail order business before launching one of the most successful and prolific careers from Tin Pan Alley.
Kahn was a lyricist for the 1919 musical Oh, What A Girl! which featured a score co-authored by Jacques Presburg and Charles Jules. Throughout the 1920s, he continued to contribute to Broadway scores such as Holka Polka (1925), Kitty's Kisses (1926), Artists and Models (1927), Whoopee! (1928), and Show Girl (1929). He went on to write song lyrics for several movies, primarily for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Death and legacy
Kahn died in Beverly Hills, California, on October 8, 1941, of a heart attack at age 54. He was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
His catalog contained some of the greatest collections of songs from the first half of the 20th century, and it is for this reason that he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970, nearly 30 years after his death. His son, songwriter and musician Donald Kahn, died at the age of 89 on April 11, 2008, in Beverly Hills, California. His daughter, Irene, was married to Arthur Marx, the son of Groucho Marx.
Gus Kahn's most famous songs include "My Buddy" (1922) with music by Walter Donaldson; "It Had To Be You" (1924), with music by Isham Jones; and "Makin' Whoopee" (1928), with music by Walter Donaldson. Kahn was also the lyricist for the Ted Healy/Three Stooges short film Beer and Pretzels (1933), with music by Al Goodhart. Kahn has been incorrectly associated with the song "Side by Side", which has words and music by Harry M. Woods.
Kahn's papers are housed at the Great American Songbook Foundation.
Danny Thomas played Kahn opposite Doris Day as Grace LeBoy in the 1951 film I'll See You in my Dreams.
Selected songs
- "I Wish I had a Girl" (1907)
- "Everybody Rag with Me" (1914)
- "Memories" (1915)
- "Pretty Baby" (1916)
- "So Long, Mother" (1917). m: Egbert Van Alstyne
- "Cherry Blossom" (1917). m: Harry Ramond
- "On the Road to Home Sweet Home" (1917). m: Egbert Van Alstyne