Edward Pola (June 23, 1907 – November 3, 1995)[1][2][3][4] was an American actor, radio/television producer, and songwriter.
Biography
editPola was born Sidney Edward Pollacsek[5] in New York City, the son of Ida (Friedmann) and Alexander Pollacsek, who were Hungarian Jews.[citation needed]
In the 1920s, Pola began to write songs. He scored one of England's first sound films, Harmony Heaven (1930). Toward the end of the decade, he moved to the United States. He produced the radio comedy The Alan Young Show,[6] as well as dramatic radio programs. He continued as a producer, moving to television in the 1950s.
His most famous songs include:
- "I Didn't Slip, I Wasn't Pushed, I Fell" (co-written with George Wyle)
- "I Love the Way You Say 'Good Night'" (co-written with George Wyle)
- "I Said My Pajamas (and Put on My Pray'rs)" (co-written with George Wyle)
- "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" (co-written with George Wyle)
- "Quicksilver" (co-written with George Wyle and Irving Taylor)
- "Till The Lights Of London Shine Again" (co-written with Tommie Connor)
In the 1980s, Pola taught Creative Writing to elementary school students at Smiley Elementary School in Redlands, California.
Pola died in Jackson County, Oregon.
References
edit- ^ Ancestry.com. Social Security Death Index [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2009.
- ^ Ancestry.com. Oregon Death Index, 1903-98 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000.
- ^ U.S. Census, 1930, State of California, County of Los Angeles, enumeration district 46, p. 3-A, family 52.
- ^ Passenger list, S.S. Transylvania, port of New York, 20 August 1931.
- ^ Kuntzman, Gersh (25 December 2017). "The Best Christmas Songs Were Written By Jews". Newsweek. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
Andy Williams—not Jewish—got a huge hit in 1963 with this classic by Pola, a Hungarian Jew born Sidney Edward Pollacsek, and Wyle, born Bernard Weissman.
- ^ Sies, Luther F. (2014). Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition, Volume 1. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-5149-4. P. 16.
External links
edit- Edward Pola at IMDb
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