Harry Von Tilzer (born Harry Gumm, July 8, 1872 – January 10, 1946) was an American composer, songwriter and vaudeville performer.

Early life

Von Tilzer was born in Detroit, Michigan. His parents, Sarah (Tilzer) and Jacob Gumbinsky, were Polish Jewish immigrants. Harry ran away and joined a traveling circus at age 14, where he adopted his mother’s maiden name as his own, seeking to make it sound even classier by tacking on a “Von.” So impressive seemed the transformation that eventually all his brothers changed their last name to match his.

Career

Harry proved successful playing piano and calliope and writing new tunes and incidental music for shows. He continued doing this for burlesque and vaudeville shows for some years, writing many tunes which were not published or which he sold to entertainers for one or two dollars. In 1898, he sold his song “My Old New Hampshire Home” to a publisher for $15, and watched it become a national hit, selling over two million copies of the sheet music. This prompted him to become a professional songwriter.

He was made a partner of the Shapiro Bernstein Publishing Company. His 1900 number “A Bird in a Gilded Cage” became one of the biggest hits of the time. Von Tilzer became one of the best-known Tin Pan Alley songwriters. In 1902, Von Tilzer formed his own publishing company, where he was soon joined by his younger brother Albert Von Tilzer.

Harry Von Tilzer’s hits included “A Bird in a Gilded Cage,” “The Cubanola Glide,” “Wait ‘Til The Sun Shines Nellie,” “Old King Tut,” “All Alone,” “Mariutch,” “The Ragtime Goblin Man,” “I Love My Wife, But Oh You Kid!” “They Always Pick On Me,” “I Want A Girl (Just Like The Girl That Married Dear Old Dad)” (with lyrics by William Dillon), “And The Green Grass Grew All Around,” “On the Old Fall River Line,” “Under the Anheuser Bush,” and many others.

Death

He died in New York City on January 10, 1946.