Jack Whiting

b. 22 June 1901 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 15 February 1961, New York City, New York, USA. On stage from his youth, by the 20s Whiting was often on Broadway and usually in musicals. His appearances in this decade include Aren’t We All? and Stepping Stones (both 1923), Annie Dear (1924), When You Smile (1925), Rainbow Rose, The Ramblers (1926), Yes, Yes, Yvette (1927), She’s My Baby and Hold Everything! (both 1928), and Heads Up (1929). In the 30s he was in America’s Sweetheart (1931, singing Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s ‘I’ve Got Five Dollars’ with Ann Sothern), Take A Chance (1932, in which he sang Nacio Herb Brown, Richard Whiting and Buddy De Sylva’s songs ‘So Do I’, ‘Tickled Pink’ and ‘I Long To Belong To You’), Calling All Stars (1934, singing Harry Akst and Lew Brown’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’, ‘If It’s Love’, ‘I Don’t Want To Be President’ and ‘I’d Like To Dunk You In My Coffee’), Hooray For What! (1937, which starred Ed Wynn), and Very Warm For May (1939, singing Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s ‘In Other Words, Seventeen’, ‘Heaven In My Arms’ and ‘All In Fun’). Whiting’s 40s shows included Walk With Music and Hold On To Your Hats (both 1940), Beat The Band (1942), and The Overtons (1945). In the 50s, Whiting was in the play Springtime Folly (1951), Of Thee I Sing (1952) and Hazel Flagg (1953), in which he memorably sang Jule Styne and Bob Hilliard’s ‘Every Street’s A Boulevard In Old New York’. Also in 1953 he was in A Girl Can Tell and the following year he appeared in The Golden Apple. Whiting’s film appearances in the 30s were all small roles and included Top Speed and The Life Of The Party (all 1930), Men Of The Sky (1931), Sailing Along and Give Me A Sailor (both 1938). His television appearances in the 50s include minor roles in drama series such as Studio One (1955), as well as The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial and The Marge And Gower Champion Show (both 1957).