Jay Gorney

Jay Gorney (December 12, 1896– June 14, 1990) was an American theater and film song writer. Life and career Gorney was born Abraham Jacob Gornetzsky on December 12, 1896, in Białystok, Russia (now part of Poland), the son of Frieda (Perlstein) and Jacob Gornetzsky. His family was Jewish. In 1906, he witnessed the Bialystok pogrom, which forced his family into hiding for nearly two weeks; they soon fled to the United States, arriving on 14 September 1906. The family settled in Detroit, Michigan, where Jacob Gornetzsky became an engineer at the newly formed Ford Motor Company. Frieda Gornetzsky bought a piano for her children. At age 14, after two years of lessons, Gorney was offered a job as a pianist at a local Nickelodeon. He worked his way through the University of Michigan (Class of 1917) and the University of Michigan Law School (Class of 1919) as a pianist. His studies were interrupted by World War I, during which he enlisted in the Navy. After graduating, he practiced law briefly before pursuing a career in music. Gorney relocated with his wife to New York City, where he began his song writing career on Tin Pan Alley. He contributed numerous songs to musicals by the Shubert brothers. Ira Gershwin introduced Gorney to lyricist Yip Harburg, who became a frequent collaborator. The pair's most famous song was "Brother Can You Spare a Dime," based on a lullaby that Gorney learned as a child in Russia. It first appeared in the 1932 Shubert production of New Americana and became the anthem of the Great Depression.