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George Gard " Buddy" DeSylva (January 27, 1895 – July 11, 1950) (1992). 9780851129396, Guinness Publishing. ISBN 9780851129396 was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs, and, along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs, he co-founded Capitol Records.
His father, Aloysius J. De Sylva, was better known to American audiences as actor Hal De Forrest. Aloysius was of multiracial ancestry, with his father being born in the West Indies and his mother being born in either England or Scotland.Year: 1870; Census Place: New York Ward 8 District 8, New York, New York; Roll: M593_981; Page: 206B His father was Dr. James M. Fenwick, a Black physician who emigrated to the United States in 1865.Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 database. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. In 1889, Aloysius legally changed his surname from Fenwick to De Sylva to pass as for white, more specifically, someone from Portugal.Massachusetts State Government. List of Persons Whose Names Have Been Changed in Massachusetts, 1780-1892. Boston, MA, USA: 1893.
Buddy's father was also a lawyer as well as an actor. His mother, Georgetta Miles Gard, was the daughter of Los Angeles police chief George E. Gard.
DeSylva's first successful songs were those used by Al Jolson on Broadway theatre in the 1918 production of Sinbad, which included "I'll Say She Does". Soon thereafter, he met Jolson and in 1918 the pair went to New York and DeSylva began working as a songwriter in Tin Pan Alley.
In the early 1920s, DeSylva frequently worked with composer George Gershwin. (1990). 9780195064087, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195064087 Together, they created the experimental One-act play jazz opera Blue Monday set in Harlem, which is widely regarded as a forerunner to Porgy and Bess ten years later.
In April 1924, DeSylva married Marie Wallace, a Ziegfeld Follies dancer.
In 1925, DeSylva became one third of the songwriting team with lyricist Lew Brown and composer Ray Henderson, one of the top Tin Pan Alley of the era. (1990). 9780195064087, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195064087 The team was responsible for the song "Magnolia" (1927) which was popularized by Lou Gold's orchestra. (2026). 9780415938778, Routledge. ISBN 9780415938778 The writing and publishing partnership continued until 1930, producing a string of Hit song and the perennial Broadway theatre favorite Good News. (1990). 9780195064087, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195064087
DeSylva joined ASCAP in 1920 and served on the ASCAP board of directors between 1922 and 1930. He became a producer of Musical theatre and Musical film. DeSylva relocated to Hollywood and was contracted to Fox Studios.
During this tenure, he produced movies such as The Little Colonel, The Littlest Rebel, Captain January, Poor Little Rich Girl and Stowaway. In 1941, he became the Executive Producer at Paramount Pictures, a position he would hold until 1944. At Paramount, he was also an uncredited executive producer for Double Indemnity, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Story of Dr. Wassell and The Glass Key. Betty Hutton always credited DeSylva for bringing her to Hollywood and launching her film career.
The Paramount all-star extravaganza Star Spangled Rhythm, which takes place at the Paramount film studio in Hollywood, features a fictional Studio executive named "B.G. DeSoto" (played by Walter Abel) who is a parody of DeSylva.
In 1942, Johnny Mercer, Glenn Wallichs and DeSylva together founded Capitol Records. He also founded the Cowboy Records.
He is sometimes credited as: Buddy De Sylva, Buddy DeSylva, Bud De Sylva, Buddy G. DeSylva and B.G. DeSylva.
Buddy DeSylva died of a heart ailment in Hollywood, aged 55, and is buried at Glendale'
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