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Biography
Born in Leo Schmelowsky in Posen, Germany, Leo Edwards was the brother of composer and vaudeville musician Gus Edwards, music publisher and talent agent Ben Edwards, and vaudeville songstress Dorothea Edwards. His brother Ben had a famous daughter, the singer and song writer Joan Edwards. In 1891 he traveled to the United States with his family on the steamship Spaarndam; arriving at the Port of New York on 29 July 1891. The family settled in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Leo Edwards worked for music publishing firms as a staff composer; writing music for T. B. Harms, M. Witmark & Sons, the Gus Edwards Music Company, Leo Feist Inc., and the DeSylva Publishing Company. In 1914 he was a charter member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. His Broadway credits as a composer include The Wizard of Oz (1902), The Blue Paradise, The Merry Whirl (1911), and the Ziegfeld Follies of 1912, 1913, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1921 and 1923.
Edwards co-wrote the popular song "My Fantasy" with Paul Whiteman and Jack Meskill, which is an adaptation of the Polovtsian Dances theme from the opera Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin. He also wrote "I'm an Indian" for Fanny Brice. His other notable songs include "Isle d' Amour"; "Sweetheart, Let's Grow Old Together"; "My Fantasy"; "That's What the Rose Said to Me"; "Little Seeds of Kindness"; "So Long, Good Bye"; "If They Don't Stop Making Them So Beautiful"; "Waiting for the Dawn and You"; and "Let's Grow Old Together". Some of his other collaborators in song writing included Earl Carroll, Blanche Merrill, and Herbert Reynolds.
Edwards was married to Olga Edwards who was a singer with Paul Whiteman. She died in 1940 at the age of 46. His second wife, Gertrude Edwards, died in 1965.
Edwards lived at the Olcott Hotel in New York City. He died there at the age of 92 in 1978.
There are no productions for this artist in the Season Schedule of Performances which currently only dates back to 1991.
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Artist Information
All information is derived from OPERA America's Season Schedule of Performances and titles databases which date back to 1991. OPERA America is constantly updating this data. If you feel that a work or an artist has been omitted or that information is incorrect, please use the linked forms below. Title Information Form Artist Information Form
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