Edward Eliscu

Edward Eliscu was primarily known as a songwriter, son of author Edward Eliscu. Educated at City College, New York, he acted in plays. And subsequently became a lyricist of high caliber and authored libretti for shows and later films. His lyric writing credits include Broadway shows Great Day, The Garrick Gaieties (1930 edition), The Third Little Show, the 9:15 Revue. With Gus Kahn he wrote the lyrics for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' first film, Flying Down to Rio, with music by veteran composer Vincent Youmans. As a screenwriter, he also contributed to the script for The Gay Divorcee. In addition to Gus Kahn, his chief song writers collaborators were Ned Lehak, Billy Rose, Vincent Youmans and Jay Gorney. He also wrote television scripts.