Sid Tepper is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

, best known for his collaborations with Roy C. Bennett

Roy C. Bennett

Roy C. Bennett is an American songwriter known for the songs he wrote with Sid Tepper, which spawned several hits for Elvis Presley...

, which spawned several hits for Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

. Between 1945 and 1970, Tepper and Bennett published over 300 songs.

Biography

As a youth, Tepper's family moved to Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, where Tepper met his future musical collaborator, Roy C. Bennett. Their first hit was "Red Roses for a Blue Lady

Red Roses for a Blue Lady

"Red Roses for a Blue Lady" is a 1948 popular song by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett . It has been recorded by a number of performers. The best-selling recording was made by Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra Vocalists: Vaughn Monroe and The Moon Men on December 15, 1948...

" (1948), recorded by Guy Lombardo

Guy Lombardo

Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...

 and his Royal Canadians. Over the next 22 years, the songwriting team wrote for Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....

, Rosemary Clooney

Rosemary Clooney

Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...

, Peggy Lee

Peggy Lee

Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...

, Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

, Sarah Vaughn, Dean Martin

Dean Martin

Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...

, and many more.

Tepper and Bennett adjusted well to the advent of rock 'n roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

. In 1961, their song "The Young Ones

The Young Ones (song)

"The Young Ones" is a single by Cliff Richard and The Shadows. The song, written by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett, is the title song to the 1961 film The Young Ones and its soundtrack album...

" was instrumental in boosting the career of Cliff Richard

Cliff Richard

Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

, for whom they wrote 21 compositions. They went on to write 43 songs for Elvis Presley, the most of any songwriter, or song writing team (all related to his movies).

In the 1970s, Tepper suffered a heart attack

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

, which necessitated the end of his songwriting partnership with Bennett. Tepper retired in Surfside, Florida

Surfside, Florida

Surfside is a town in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The population was 4,909 at the 2000 census. As of 2005, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 4,710.-Geography:...

. In 2002, he and Bennett were honored in Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

for their part in Elvis Presley's stellar career. Tepper lived in Surfside until 2004, when he moved to a retirement community in the Miami area. He was honored by the town of Surfside for his works in 2008.