Ray Evans
American songwriter (1915–2007)
title: "Ray Evans" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1915-births", "2007-deaths", "american-musical-theatre-lyricists", "broadway-composers-and-lyricists", "best-original-song-academy-award–winning-songwriters", "jewish-american-songwriters", "wharton-school-alumni", "people-from-salamanca,-new-york", "burials-at-westwood-village-memorial-park-cemetery", "songwriters-from-new-york-(state)", "20th-century-american-jews", "21st-century-american-jews", "20th-century-american-songwriters"] description: "American songwriter (1915–2007)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Evans" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American songwriter (1915–2007) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Ray Evans |
| image | Ray evans photo.jpg |
| background | non_performing_personnel |
| birth_name | Raymond Bernard Evans |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Salamanca, New York, United States |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| genre | film music |
| occupation | Lyricist |
| years_active | 1937-2001 |
| past_member_of | songwriting duo with Jay Livingston |
| :: |
| name = Ray Evans | image = Ray evans photo.jpg | caption = | image_size = | background = non_performing_personnel | birth_name = Raymond Bernard Evans | alias = | birth_date = | birth_place = Salamanca, New York, United States | death_date = | death_place = Los Angeles, California, United States | instrument = | genre = film music | occupation = Lyricist | years_active = 1937-2001 | label = | past_member_of = songwriting duo with Jay Livingston | website = Raymond Bernard Evans (February 4, 1915 – February 15, 2007) was an American songwriter best known for being a half of a composing-songwriting duo with Jay Livingston, specializing himself in writing lyrics for film songs. On music Livingston composed, Evans wrote the lyrics.
Biography
Early life and family
Ray Evans was born on February 4, 1915, to a Jewish family in Salamanca, New York, United States.
Career
Evans was valedictorian of his high school class, where he played clarinet in the band. The Salamanca High School yearbook from 1931 states: "His original themes and brilliant oral talks are the despair of his classmates. Ray's quite a humorist, too. At times, his satire is positively killing." He received a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in 1936, writing a senior thesis on "The relation between the central bank, member banks and the money market".
In 1934, Evans met Jay Livingston while a student at Penn. Together they played in the university's college dance orchestra, "The Continentals". During school vacations the orchestra was engaged to play on several international cruises. After graduation the duo continued their partnership, seeking a career as a song-writing team in New York and later Hollywood. Their first big break came after auditioning for comedians Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson in 1939. Their song "G'bye Now" made it into Olsen and Johnson's Broadway revue Hellzapoppin. In 1946, Livingston and Evans signed a contract with Paramount Studios in Hollywood.
Livingston and Evans did not hit the top until 1946, when they set the music publishing business on fire with "To Each His Own", which reached number one on the Billboard charts for three different artists, and occupied the top five positions on the "Most Played On the Air" chart for four different weeks (August 24, 1946, and again on September 7, September 14 and October 5, five versions appeared simultaneously in the Top Ten). "Buttons and Bows" (1947) was their next multi-million seller, written for the movie The Paleface, with four artists reaching the top ten in 1948. For that song, the duo earned their first major award, the Academy Award for Best Song. They finished off the decade with 1949's "Mona Lisa", written for the movie Captain Carey, U.S.A., in which it was performed by Sergio de Karlo. "Mona Lisa" was a chart hit for seven popular and two country artists in 1950, sold a million for Nat King Cole, and won the pair another Oscar for Best Song.
Livingston and Evans, both members of ASCAP, won their third Academy Award for the song "Que Sera Sera", featured in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Man Who Knew Too Much and sung by Doris Day. Another popular song that he and Livingston wrote for a film was the song "Tammy", written for the 1957 movie Tammy and the Bachelor. The song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. Livingston and Evans also wrote popular TV themes for shows including Bonanza and Mr. Ed.
Despite initial doubt on their part that the song would be commercially successful, their Christmas song "Silver Bells", intended for the 1951 Bob Hope film The Lemon Drop Kid, has become a Christmas standard.
Evans appeared as himself with Livingston in the film Sunset Boulevard in the New Year's Eve party scene.
In 1958, the song-writing team was nominated for a Tony Award for the musical Oh, Captain!. Evans also collaborated separately with Michael Feinstein, Henry Mancini, Max Steiner, and Victor Young. The song "Dear Heart" from the 1964 film of the same name was written by Livingston and Evans with Henry Mancini; it was nominated for an Oscar and for the Song of the Year Grammy Award, and was recorded multiple times, charting for Andy Williams, Jack Jones, and Henry Mancini.
Death
He died aged 92 in Los Angeles, California, on the 42nd anniversary of the death of Nat King Cole, who had made "Mona Lisa" so famous. Evans was married for nearly 56 years to actress, writer, and playwright Wyn Ritchie Evans. His legacy is maintained and developed by the Ray and Wyn Ritchie Evans Foundation in Culver City, California. The Ray Evans Seneca Theater in his hometown of Salamanca, NY, is named after him.
Legacy
Evans is an inductee in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He and Livingston have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Works
Ray Evans wrote more than 700 songs for screen, stage, and television. Most were composed with writing partner Jay Livingston.
Works on Screen
::data[format=table]
| Date | Movie | Production | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | Secrets of a Co-Ed | Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) | Brazilly Willy |
| 1944 | I Accuse My Parents | Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) | {{plainlist |
| 1944 | Swing Hostess | Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) | {{plainlist |
| 1944 | Why Girls Leave Home | Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) | {{plainlist |
| 1945 | Crime, Inc. | Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) | {{plainlist |
| 1945 | Kitty | Paramount Pictures | Kitty |
| 1945 | People Are Funny | Paramount Pictures | Hey Jose |
| 1945 | The Stork Club | Paramount Pictures | A Square In The Social Circle |
| 1946 | Double Rhythm | Paramount Pictures | Have The Last Kiss On Me |
| 1946 | Monsieur Beaucaire | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1946 | My Favorite Brunette | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1946 | To Each His Own | Paramount Pictures | To Each His Own |
| 1947 | Champagne For Two | Paramount Pictures | Ho! Ho! Jose! |
| 1947 | Dream Girl | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1947 | Easy Come, Easy Go | Paramount Pictures | Easy Come, Easy Go |
| 1947 | Golden Earrings | Paramount Pictures | Golden Earrings |
| 1947 | Paris In The Spring | Paramount Pictures | At The Carnival |
| 1947 | Smooth Sailing | Paramount Pictures | Great Feeling |
| 1947 | The Big Clock | Paramount Pictures | The Big Clock |
| 1947 | The Imperfect Lady | Paramount Pictures | Piccadilly Tilly |
| 1947 | Whispering Smith | Paramount Pictures | Laramie |
| 1948 | Beyond Glory | Paramount Pictures | Beyond Glory |
| 1948 | Catalina Interlude | Paramount Pictures | Catalina |
| 1948 | Isn't It Romantic? | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1948 | Sorrowful Jones | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1948 | Speed to Spare | Pine-Thomas Productions-Paramount Pictures | Golden Earrings |
| 1948 | The Paleface | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1949 | Bride of Vengeance | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1949 | Copper Canyon | Paramount Pictures | Copper Canyon |
| 1949 | Dear Wife | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1949 | My Friend Irma | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1949 | Paid In Full | Paramount Pictures | You're Wonderful |
| 1949 | Song of Surrender | Paramount Pictures | Song of Surrender |
| 1949 | Streets of Laredo | Paramount Pictures | The Streets of Laredo |
| 1949 | Sunset Blvd. | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1949 | The Great Lover | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1949 | The Heiress | Paramount Pictures | My Love Loves Me |
| 1950 | Ace In The Hole | Paramount Pictures | We're Coming Leo |
| 1950 | Captain Carey, U.S.A. | Paramount Pictures | Mona Lisa |
| 1950 | Fancy Pants | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1950 | Lucy Gallant | Paramount Pictures | How Can I Tell Her? |
| 1950 | My Friend Irma Goes West | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1950 | No Man of Her Own | Paramount Pictures | The Lie |
| 1950 | Samson and Delilah | Paramount Pictures | The Song of Delilah |
| 1950 | The Furies | Paramount Pictures | T.C. Round-Up Time |
| 1950 | The Redhead and the Cowboy | Paramount Pictures | Trav'lin' Free |
| 1951 | Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1951 | Anything Can Happen | Paramount Pictures | Love Laughs At Kings |
| 1951 | Crosswinds | Paramount Pictures | Crosswinds |
| 1951 | Here Comes The Groom | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1951 | My Favorite Spy | Paramount Pictures | Just A Moment More |
| 1951 | Rhubarb | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1951 | Sangaree | Pine Thomas Productions-Paramount Pictures | Sangaree |
| 1951 | Somebody Loves Me | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1951 | Son of Paleface | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1951 | That's My Boy | Paramount Pictures | Ridgeville Fight Song |
| 1951 | The Lemon Drop Kid | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1951 | When Worlds Collide | Paramount Pictures | When Worlds Collide |
| 1952 | Houdini | Paramount Pictures | The Golden Years |
| 1952 | Off Limits | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1952 | The Stars Are Singing | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1952 | Those Redheads from Seattle | Paramount Pictures | Mister Banjo Man |
| 1952 | Thunder In The East | Paramount Pictures | The Ruby and the Pearl |
| 1952 | What Price Glory | 20th Century Fox | {{plainlist |
| 1953 | Here Come The Girls | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1953 | Red Garters | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1954 | Casanova's Big Night | Paramount Pictures | Pretty Mandolin |
| 1954 | Mister Roberts | Warner Bros. | Let Me Hear You Whisper |
| 1954 | Sabrina | Paramount Pictures | Dream Girl |
| 1954 | Three Ring Circus | Paramount Pictures | Hey, Punchinello |
| 1955 | Raw Wind in Eden | Universal International Pictures | The Magic Touch |
| 1955 | The Man Who Knew Too Much | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1955 | The Second Greatest Sex | Universal International Pictures | The Second Greatest Sex |
| 1956 | Istanbul | Universal International Pictures | I Was A Little Too Lonely (And You Were A Little Too Late) |
| 1956 | Tammy and the Bachelor | Universal International Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1956 | The Mole People | Universal International Pictures | The Mole People |
| 1956 | The Scarlet Hour | Paramount Pictures | Never Let Me Go |
| 1957 | Omar Khayyam | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1957 | Saddle the Wind | MGM | Saddle the Wind |
| 1957 | The James Dean Story | Warner Bros. | Let Me Be Loved |
| 1957 | This Happy Feeling | Universal International Pictures | This Happy Feeling |
| 1958 | Another Time Another Place | Paramount Pictures | Another Time Another Place |
| 1958 | Girls On The Loose | Universal Pictures | I Was A Little Too Lonely (And You Were A Little Too Late) |
| 1958 | Houseboat | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1958 | Once Upon A Horse | Universal International Pictures | Once Upon A Horse |
| 1958 | The Big Beat | Universal International Pictures | As I Love You |
| 1958 | Vertigo | Paramount Pictures | Vertigo |
| 1959 | A Private's Affair | 20th Century Fox | {{plainlist |
| 1959 | The Blue Angel | 20th Century Fox | Lola-Lola |
| 1959 | Take a Giant Step | United Artists | Take a Giant Step |
| 1960 | All Hands On Deck | 20th Century Fox | {{plainlist |
| 1961 | The Two Little Bears | 20th Century Fox | Honey Bear |
| 1961 | Too Late Blues | Paramount Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1962 | Krazy Kat | King Features-Paramount | {{plainlist |
| 1962 | Wait Until Dark | Warner Bros. | Wait Until Dark |
| 1964 | Dear Heart | Warner Bros. | Dear Heart |
| 1964 | Tammy and the Doctor | Universal Pictures | Tammy |
| 1964 | Those Calloways | Walt Disney | Angel |
| 1964 | Youngblood Hawke | Warner Bros. | On My Way (The Youngblood Hawke theme) |
| 1965 | Charade | Universal Pictures | Punch and Judy |
| 1965 | Harlow | Paramount Pictures | Lonely Girl |
| 1965 | Never Too Late | Paramount Pictures | Never Too Late |
| 1965 | The Night of the Grizzly | Paramount Pictures | Angela |
| 1965 | The Third Day | Warner Bros. | Love Me Now |
| 1966 | Arabesque | Universal Pictures | We've Loved Before |
| 1966 | Is Paris Burning? | Paramount Pictures | Paris Smiles |
| 1966 | The Oscar | Embassy Pictures | {{plainlist |
| 1966 | This Property is Condemned | Paramount Pictures | Wish Me A Rainbow |
| 1966 | Torn Curtain | Universal International Pictures | The Green Years |
| 1966 | What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? | United Artists | In the Arms of Love |
| 1976 | The Far Side of Paradise | New World Pictures | Foxtrot |
| 1976 | W.C. Fields and Me | Universal International Pictures | The Joke's On Me |
| 1984 | The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud | 20th Century Fox | Angel In The Night |
| 1986 | Mona Lisa | Handmade Film and Palace Productions | Mona Lisa |
| :: |
Works on Stage
::data[format=table]
| Date | Musical | Production | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Hellzapoppin' | Olsen and Johnson | {{plainlist |
| 1941 | Sons o' Fun | Olsen and Johnson | Additional Music by Jay Levinson and Ray Evans |
| 1942 | New Hellzapoppin' of 1943 | Olsen and Johnson | Hellzapoppin' Polka |
| 1951 | I Love Lydia | Players Ring, Hollywood, California | {{plainlist |
| 1954 | Oh, Captain! | Alvin Theatre | {{plainlist |
| 1954 | That's Life | Los Angeles Revue | {{plainlist |
| 1961 | Let It Ride | Eugene O'Neill Theater | {{plainlist |
| 1976 | Kentucky Lucky | Unproduced | {{plainlist |
| 1979 | Sugar Babies | Mark Hellinger Theatre | {{plainlist |
| 1984 | The Italian Look | Unproduced | {{plainlist |
| 1984 | West of East | Unproduced | {{plainlist |
| 1987 | The Red Parasol | Unproduced | {{plainlist |
| 1987 | What Fools These Mortals Be | Unproduced | {{plainlist |
| 1988 | The Odyssey of Runyon Jones | Valley Music Theater | {{plainlist |
| 1990 | The Passions of Perichole | Unproduced | {{plainlist |
| :: |
Works on Television
::data[format=table]
| Date | Show | Production | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | Satins And Spurs | NBC | {{plainlist |
| 1956 | The Dinah Shore Chevy Show | NBC | Anniversary Rose |
| 1958 | Peter Gunn | NBC | {{plainlist |
| 1959 | Bonanza | NBC | {{plainlist |
| 1959 | Mr. Lucky | CBS | Mr. Lucky |
| 1959 | The Chevy Show | NBC | That Ain't Right |
| 1959 | General Electric Theater | MCA-TV | {{plainlist |
| 1960 | Mister Ed | CBS | {{plainlist |
| 1965 | Tammy | ABC | Tammy |
| 1970 | To Rome With Love | CBS | To Rome With Love |
| 1977 | The Busters: Ransom for Alice | NBC | A Dude And A Doll |
| 1979 | A Family Circus Christmas | Cullen-Kasdan Productions | The Dreamer |
| 1988 | Bonanza: The Next Generation | NBC | Bonanza |
| 1993 | Bonanza: The Return | NBC | Bonanza |
| 1995 | Bonanza: Under Attack | NBC | Bonanza |
| :: |
References
References
- [http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017/d/ead/upenn_rbml_MsColl860 Ray Evans papers, 1921-2012], Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, university of Pennsylvania.
- Bloom, Nate. (2006-12-19). "The Jews Who Wrote Christmas Songs". InterfaithFamily.
- Bloom, Nate. (December 22, 2014). "All those Holiday/Christmas Songs: So Many Jewish Songwriters!". [[Jewish World Review]].
- Nguyen, Daisy. (February 17, 2007). "Songwriter Ray Evans Dies in LA at 92". Associated Press.
- (1931). "The Seneca". Published by the senior class of Salamanca High School.
- Chadbourne, Eugene. "Ray Evans". allmusic.
- (2012). "American Popular Song Lyricists: Oral Histories, 1920s-1960s". McFarland & Company.
- (2002). "Reading Lyrics". Pantheon Books.
- (April 24, 1948). "Ten tunes in forthcoming films". Long Beach Press Telegram Newspaper Archives.
- (October 5, 1946). "Records Most Played on the Air".
- (September 14, 1946). "Records Most Played on the Air".
- (September 7, 1946). "Records Most Played on the Air".
- (August 24, 1946). "Records Most Played on the Air".
- Severo, Richard. (February 17, 2007). "Ray Evans, Lyricist of Hit Songs From Movies, Dies at 92". The New York Times.
- (1986). "Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954". Record Research Inc.
- "The Ray & Wyn Ritchie Evans Foundation {{!}} The official website of Ray Evans, American songwriter, Livingston and Evans, Music, Archives, Films".
- Leigh, Spencer. (February 20, 2007). "Ray Evans". [[The Independent]].
- (2006). "America's Songs: The Stories Behind the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley". Routledge.
- Reed, Christopher. (February 20, 2007). "Ray Evans". The Guardian.
- (2007-02-17). "Que Sera composer Ray Evans dies". [[BBC News]].
- (17 April 2003). "Wyn Ritchie Evans: Performer, Wife of Ray Evans (obituary)".
- "Ray Evans". Songwritershalloffame.org.
- "Hollywood Walk of Fame".
- [http://www.rayevans.org The Ray and Wyn Ritchie Evans Foundation Official Website].
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::