Ted Shapiro
Encyclopedia
Ted Shapiro was a United States
popular music
composer
, pianist
, and sheet music
publisher.
Shapiro was born in New York City
. He became a Tin Pan Alley
songwriter
and accompanied notable star vaudeville
singers of the day, including Nora Bayes
and Eva Tanguay
. In 1921 he was hired as accompanist and music director for Sophie Tucker
. Shapiro worked with Tucker for the rest of her life, appearing at the piano on stage with her, exchanging banter and wisecracks between songs. Shapiro also wrote a number of songs for Tucker.
Ted Shapiro became a member of ASCAP in 1924. His biggest hits were the holiday standard "Winter Weather" from 1941 and "If I Had You", first published in 1928, which continues to be covered by new recording artists and used in movie soundtracks into the 21st century. His other successful tunes and songs include "He's Home for a Little While", "A Handful of Stars", "To You
", written with Tommy Dorsey
and Benny Davis
, "Far Away Island", "Sitting in the Sand A-Sunnin'", "Now I'm In Love", ""You'll Be Reminded of Me", "Starlight Souvenirs", "This is No Dream", "Dog on the Piano", "Puttin' On the Dog", "Waitin' for Katy", and "Ask Anyone in Love".
, Russia
(now Kaunus, Lithuania
). He was married twice, the first time being to Joan Max of Miami, FL and the second to Susan Seippel Shapiro.
Some of his songs were written in collaboration with his wife Susan Shapiro (b. November 4, 1923), an accomplished jewelry designer, who owned and operated a store called Trifles and Treasures on Kane Concourse in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida. Ted adopted Susan's three children: John,Lynn and Jennifer. John and Lynn are Susan's biological children, while Jennifer was adopted. He was loved and adored by them.
Ted Shapiro died at age 80 in Bay Harbor, Florida.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, and sheet music
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
publisher.
Shapiro was born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He became a Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
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...
and accompanied notable star vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
singers of the day, including Nora Bayes
Nora Bayes
Nora Bayes was a popular American singer, comedienne and actress of the early 20th century.-Early life and career:...
and Eva Tanguay
Eva Tanguay
Eva Tanguay was a Canadian-born singer and entertainer who billed herself as "the girl who made vaudeville famous".-Early life:...
. In 1921 he was hired as accompanist and music director for Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker was a Russian/Ukrainian-born American singer and actress. Known for her stentorian delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertainers in America during the first half of the 20th century...
. Shapiro worked with Tucker for the rest of her life, appearing at the piano on stage with her, exchanging banter and wisecracks between songs. Shapiro also wrote a number of songs for Tucker.
Ted Shapiro became a member of ASCAP in 1924. His biggest hits were the holiday standard "Winter Weather" from 1941 and "If I Had You", first published in 1928, which continues to be covered by new recording artists and used in movie soundtracks into the 21st century. His other successful tunes and songs include "He's Home for a Little While", "A Handful of Stars", "To You
To You
"To You" is a 1939 song composed by Tommy Dorsey with Benny Davis and Ted Shapiro. The song was a top 10 hit on the Billboard charts.-Other recordings:"To You" was recorded by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra and released as an RCA Bluebird 78...
", written with Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
and Benny Davis
Benny Davis
Benny Davis was a vaudeville performer and writer of popular songs. He composed the classic 1926 standard "Baby Face" with Harry Akst.-Life and career:...
, "Far Away Island", "Sitting in the Sand A-Sunnin'", "Now I'm In Love", ""You'll Be Reminded of Me", "Starlight Souvenirs", "This is No Dream", "Dog on the Piano", "Puttin' On the Dog", "Waitin' for Katy", and "Ask Anyone in Love".
Personal
Ted Shapiro was one of at least three children of Joseph and Jennie Shapiro. His parents were Jewish immigrants from KovnoKaunas
Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
, Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(now Kaunus, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
). He was married twice, the first time being to Joan Max of Miami, FL and the second to Susan Seippel Shapiro.
Some of his songs were written in collaboration with his wife Susan Shapiro (b. November 4, 1923), an accomplished jewelry designer, who owned and operated a store called Trifles and Treasures on Kane Concourse in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida. Ted adopted Susan's three children: John,Lynn and Jennifer. John and Lynn are Susan's biological children, while Jennifer was adopted. He was loved and adored by them.
Ted Shapiro died at age 80 in Bay Harbor, Florida.