Kay Swift facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kay Swift
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Katharine Faulkner Swift |
| Born | April 19, 1897 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | January 28, 1993 (aged 95) Southington, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Composer |
| Years active | 1930–91 |
Katharine Faulkner "Kay" Swift (born April 19, 1897 – died January 28, 1993) was an amazing American composer. She wrote both popular and classical music. Kay Swift was the first woman to write all the music for a hit Broadway musical.
Her 1930 Broadway show, Fine and Dandy, featured some of her most famous songs. The song "Fine and Dandy" is still a popular jazz tune today. Her biggest hit song was "Can't We Be Friends?", released in 1929. After his death, Swift also helped arrange some of George Gershwin's music, like the song "Sleepless Night" (1946).
Contents
Early Life and Musical Training
Katharine Faulkner Swift was born in New York City. Her father, Samuel Shippen Swift, was a music critic. Her mother was Ellen Faulkner. Kay's father passed away when she was young.
Swift went to the Veltin School for Girls. She then studied to become a classical musician and composer. She attended the Institute of Musical Art, which is now called the Juilliard School. There, she learned piano from Bertha Tapper. She also studied composition with Charles Martin Loeffler and Percy Goetschius.
Kay Swift played music professionally with a group called the Edith Rubel Trio. At a social event, she met the sister of her future husband. This meeting led her to meet James Paul "Jimmy" Warburg. He was a banker from a well-known family.
Collaborations and Broadway Success
Jimmy Warburg, using the pen name Paul James, wrote lyrics for Kay Swift's songs. This was a family tradition, as he also wrote poetry. Kay and Jimmy had three children between 1919 and 1924. Her granddaughter, Katharine Weber, later became a novelist.
In 1925, Kay Swift met the famous composer George Gershwin. Before this, she mostly focused on classical music. However, she was a big fan of songs by Irving Berlin. Gershwin gave her the nickname "Kay." He encouraged her to write popular music. He often asked for her advice on his musicals and other works. She became a trusted musical helper to him.
Kay Swift and George Gershwin became very close friends and collaborators. Her marriage to Jimmy Warburg ended in 1934. Swift and Gershwin continued their close friendship and musical partnership until his death in 1937. Ira Gershwin, George's brother, later worked with Kay Swift to finish some of George's unreleased music. Ira said that Kay knew almost all of George's music. She had even written down his ideas as he composed.
Before their big hit show Fine and Dandy in 1930, Kay Swift and Paul James wrote songs for other shows. These included The First Little Show and The Garrick Gaieties. In 1934, Swift wrote a ballet called Alma Mater for George Balanchine. This was Balanchine's first original work set in America.
Later Career and Legacy
Kay Swift worked as a staff composer at Radio City Music Hall. There, she wrote music for The Rockettes. She was also the Director of Light Music for the 1939 World's Fair.
In 1939, Swift met a cowboy named Faye Hubbard at a rodeo. They got married two weeks later. In 1943, she wrote a book about her life on his ranch in Oregon. The book was called "Who Could Ask For Anything More?". It was later made into a movie in 1950, Never a Dull Moment. The movie starred Fred MacMurray as the cowboy and Irene Dunne as Kay.
In 1952, Kay Swift wrote the music for Cornelia Otis Skinner's one-woman Broadway show, Paris '90. In her later years, Kay Swift spent her time working with Gershwin's music. She copied, performed, and added notes to his pieces. She continued this work until she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1991. Kay Swift passed away on January 28, 1993, at the age of 95.
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Kay Swift
