Biography

Jerry Ross was born Jerold Rosenberg on March 9, 1926, to Russian immigrant parents, Lena and Jacob Rosenberg, in the East Bronx, New York City. As a child he was a professional singer and actor in the Yiddish theater — billed as the “Boy Star,” he was called the “hottest young property on the Jewish stage.”

In early adolescence, a worsening bronchial condition ended his performing career. Initially treated for bronchitis and sinus problems, he was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis and sent to the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital in Saranac Lake — a facility for people in the performing arts. He was a teenager among older, seriously ill men. His roommate, a relatively young man he’d grown close to, had surgery and died. His wife, Judy, later said it was his first great loss. But the experience also deepened him. Living among people facing serious illness, the patients talked for hours — about philosophy, about life, about what it all meant. He grew up fast. When doctors eventually determined he didn’t have tuberculosis but a different lung disease, bronchiectasis, they tried to reinflate his collapsed lung and couldn’t. He left the sanitarium with a condition that would follow him for the rest of his life.

He had already begun writing songs in high school, with no formal training. He studied at New York University under Rudolph Schramm. A fortuitous introduction to Eddie Fisher led to further connections with music publishers at the Brill Building, the center of songwriting activity in New York. Fisher recorded Ross’s “The Newspaper Song,” which brought early attention to both of them.

After writing several well-received songs, some in collaboration with Buddy Kaye and other Brill Building alumni, Ross met Richard Adler in 1950. They teamed up, writing songs and special material for TV and nightclub acts. They attracted the attention of writer and publisher Frank Loesser and became his protégés. By 1953, their song “Rags to Riches,” recorded by Tony Bennett, rocketed to number one on the charts.

Adler and Ross began their Broadway career with John Murray Anderson’s Almanac, a revue for which they wrote most of the songs. In 1954, after several auditions and Loesser’s recommendation, George Abbott hired the duo to write the score for a new musical about union negotiations at a pajama factory.

The Pajama Game opened to rave reviews, winning the Tony Award for Best Musical, the Donaldson Award, and the Variety Drama Critics Award. “Hernando’s Hideaway” and “Hey There” — a hit for Rosemary Clooney — topped the Hit Parade, capturing the number one and two spots simultaneously, a first in music history. The score also included the Bob Fosse dance number “Steam Heat,” as well as “Small Talk” and “Seven and a Half Cents.”

A year later, in May 1955, Damn Yankees played to equal excitement and success. This baseball tale with a Faustian theme once again won Ross the Tony Award, the Donaldson Award, and the Variety Drama Critics Award. The score produced cross-over hits including “(You Gotta Have) Heart” and “Whatever Lola Wants.” Both shows ran on Broadway for over 1,000 performances. Successful films were made of both musicals, though Ross did not live to see them.

He died on November 11, 1955. He was 29. The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees were the top two shows running on Broadway at the time of his death. He had written more than 250 songs.

Jerry Ross was inducted posthumously into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1982. His wife, Judy, and daughter, Janie, accepted the award in his honor.