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Jack Wolf; June 6, 1912 – November 15, 2004)

Early life and education
His Mother, Fanny, was a columnist who wrote in the 1910’s for the Jewish Daily Forward. She was a revolutionary who was friends with Emma Goldman and Jack’s teacher about the value of good writing, strong women and passionate caring. His Father, William had been a rabbi in Russia but he claimed he lacked faith and left that calling to work as an entrepreneur when he came to the United States with his family.

Jack was the first son and the third of his parents’ six children. He was a state champion athlete in several sports: tennis, pole vaulting and high jumping. Jack was also an amateur actor and a class debater while in school.

Early Influences
Jack began his musical career during WWII when he was doing his wartime alternate service (due to a skin disease) on an assembly line in a nearby military airplane factory. This line left him sitting without any work to do for six minutes when he waited for the next airplane part to drop down in front of him. Never one to do nothing when he could create something, Jack started writing words to the background music the factory played for its wartime workers. The rest, as they say, is history.

Jack always considered himself to be a “lucky man” in everything and throughout his life, expressed his gratitude often. Fortuitously for his music life, Jack’s transport buddy to and from the airplane factory was also a writer in the music business. After the war ended and they’d completed their service, he introduced Jack to the Brill Building and the business of music writing.

Jack held one job very early in his music career unlike any that followed. He worked for Hildegarde, the legendary chanteuse. In those days, “Hildie” as Jack always called her, was so popular that she was booked six months out of every year at the Persian Room in the Plaza Hotel. Jack did the lighting for Hildegarde as she was a perfectionist who required that everyone on her team be a music-based professional. Jack learned about team playing in the music biz from this gig; his wife sat by nightly, knitting booties for the daughter they’d soon have and later give her a Sweet Sixteen party at – the Plaza.

Jack’s brother-in-law, Herbert Moss, co-owned one of NYC’s biggest recording studios, Gotham Recorders in the 1950’s and 60’s, and was involved in early television production. Herbert gave Jack a number of friendly “boosts,” generously introducing him into the music and entertainment worlds they would soon share. George Wolf, a younger brother of Jack’s, was also a successful advertising executive who also worked in early television production. Jack worked with him in television as well. George’s son, Dick Wolf, became well-known for his writing, like so many others in the Wolf family. Jack’s nephew, Dick, is most notably remembered for creating and writing the “Law and Order” television franchise.

Jack used to say that there were many different businesses in show biz and you needed to know which one(s) you were in and which you weren’t: as time went along, it became clear that producing television was not one of Jack’s arenas but Jack rarely missed an opportunity for creativity. Instead he saw the value of getting his songs “associated” with some of the biggest TV entertainers of the 50’s, Red Buttons and Jan Murray. What ensued was that Jack’s songs were heard daily “on the front and back ends” of many people’s favorite shows in the 50’s and beyond.

Jack enjoyed writing with many different terrific music writers, composers who often coupled with him for just a few wonderful songs they left us with. Some of those co-writers are:


 * Robert Arthur
 * Burt Bacharach …. need more be said
 * Harold Barlow
 * Ludvig van Beethoven
 * Bennie Benjamin
 * Dr. “Bugs” Bower … who also wrote “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” and most of Jack’s rock n’ roll
 * Johannes Brahms
 * Red Buttons … co-authored “The HoHo” songs
 * Leon Carr
 * Robert Colby … composer on Howard Keel’s “The American Dream” festival’s theme music
 * Joe Darion … composed the remarkable “Man of LaMancha” music
 * Joel Herron … co-writer on “I’m A Fool to Want You”
 * Arthur Kent
 * “Fud” Livingston
 * Herbert Moss
 * Jan Murray … co-wrote “Treasure Hunt” and “These Are the Closing Credits”
 * Fred Norman
 * Gloria Shayne
 * Frank Sinatra … added his special touch to three of Jack’s songs
 * George Siravo
 * George David Weiss

Perhaps due to having multiple talented musical partners with different “ears” or maybe just innate versatility, but it’s unmistakable in reviewing his catalog that Jack wrote in many different styles and almost every musical genre. He took pride in being able to write rock n’ roll in spite of his age. He liked to think he contributed to advertising with his inclusion of the first rock n’ roll tune to a jingle with Thom McAn shoes. Although less known than some of his loved standards, Jack wrote a number of novelty songs, some of which are remarkably catchy.

Of course, the crowning glory of Jack’s career is the haunting lyrics and music of “I'm a Fool to Want You.”  This tune has been covered by literally hundreds of our favorite artists, arranged by the best and shared with the world for the past 60+ years.