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Van Heusen (Jimmy) papers
PASC-M.0127
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Jimmy Van Heusen papers
Creator:
Van Heusen, Jimmy 1913-1990
Identifier/Call Number: PASC-M.0127
Physical Description:
83 Linear Feet
(166 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1853-1994
Date (bulk): 1939-1972
Abstract: Collection consists of American song
composer Jimmy Van Heusen's papers and materials, both business and personal. Items include
an extensive collection of unpublished music manuscripts and song lyrics, published sheet
music, correspondence, personal papers, and business documents. Many materials relate to his
interactions with Johnny Burke, Sammy Cahn, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and others, and to
his publishing companies Burke & Van Heusen, Inc. and Van Heusen Music Corporation. Also
includes sound and audiovisual materials, including his personal LP collection, unpublished
home recordings, and home movies. Photographic material includes both press and personal
prints, some negatives, and color slides. Other items include performance scripts, altered
lyrics, biographic materials, professionally assembled scrapbooks, and other published
materials from his personal collection. In addition to his musical career, the collection
highlights his interests in horses and flying, and his domestic life with wife Josephine Van
Heusen.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access
special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on
this page.
Language of Material:
English .
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in
advance using the request button located on this page.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
CONTAINS AUDIO AND AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: This collection contains both processed and
unprocessed audio and audiovisual materials. Audio and audiovisual materials are not
currently available for access, unless otherwise noted in a Physical Characteristics and
Technical Requirements note at the series and file levels. All requests to access processed
audio and audiovisual materials must be made in advance using the request button located on
this page.
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All
other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not
hold the copyright.
[Identification of item], Jimmy Van Heusen papers (Collection PASC 127-M). UCLA Library
Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Josephine Van Heusen, 1994.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make
them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and
resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level
of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts
more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to
national and local standards and best practices.
Processed by Kevin C. Miller of the Center for Primary Research and Training Plus and UCLA
Special Collections staff, 2009.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
4233921
Jimmy Van Heusen (1913 – 1990) was an American song composer for radio, films, television,
and the stage best known for several enduring standards made popular by Bing Crosby and
Frank Sinatra. Van Heusen was born in Syracuse, NY on January 26, 1913 as Edward Chester
Babcock; his parents were Arthur and Ida May Babcock, and his brother, Wilbur. He acquired
his professional name "Jimmy Van Heusen" (borrowed from the Phillips-Van Heusen shirt
company) at the age of 16 when he became a radio pianist, singer, and announcer. Jimmy Van
Heusen became his primary identity, often more formally as "James Van Heusen," although he
was still known to a few intimates as "Chester." He would also compose a small number of
songs under the pseudonym "Arthur Williams."
Van Heusen studied piano from the age of eight. After his early dismissal from Cazenovia
Seminary, he studied music with Howard Lyman at Syracuse University between 1930 and 1932.
The following year, he replaced Harold Arlen as composer at the Cotton Club in Harlem and
subsequently found work as a pianist and song plugger for Tin Pan Alley. In 1938, Van Heusen
had his first hit ("It's the Dreamer in Me") with Jimmy Dorsey, and followed this with other
successful collaborations with Johnny Mercer and Eddie DeLange. In 1939, he partnered with
lyricist Johnny Burke and moved to Hollywood, CA, where the pair wrote songs for many of
Bing Crosby's best-known films. During World War II, Van Heusen put his budding aviation
skills to use as a test pilot for Lockheed warplanes. His second great songwriting
partnership was with lyricist Sammy Cahn. Between 1955 and 1969 the pair collaborated on
songs for movies and television, many of them for Frank Sinatra who was Van Heusen's close
friend. Van Heusen continued to compose into the 1970s, building on a career that included
four Academy Awards—"Swinging on a Star" (1944, with Burke), "All the Way" (1957, with
Cahn), "High Hopes" (1959, with Cahn), and "Call Me Irresponsible" (1963, with Cahn)—and one
Emmy Award—"Love and Marriage" (1955, with Cahn).
Van Heusen also became involved with the business end of his music career, founding music
publishing companies such as Burke & Van Heusen, Inc. and Van Heusen Music Corporation.
Associates in this context included Edward Traubner (business manager), Peggy Price
(personal secretary), and Miriam Stern (personal secretary). Van Heusen maintained
residences in North Hollywood, CA, New York City, and Brant Lake in upstate New York, but
after 1940 spent most of his time in the southern California desert communities of Palm
Springs and Yucca Valley, where he built his ranch. Here he pursued his interests in
aviation (small planes and helicopters) and horses. Van Heusen also continued to perform for
special occasions and private parties, often altering the verses of his own music to fit the
event. His accolades include nomination as Honorary Mayor of Yucca Valley (1967), an
honorary doctorate from Gonzaga University (1975), and achievement awards from Syracuse
University (1982) and Cazenovia College (1961), where he also served on the Board of
Trustees. A bachelor until the age of 56, Van Heusen married Josephine "Bobbe" Perlberg
(1901 – 1999) in 1969. Bobbe's maiden name was Dagmar Brock, and she had performed with her
sisters in a vaudeville trio called the Brox Sisters. Jimmy Van Heusen died following a
stroke on February 7, 1990 in Rancho Mirage, CA.
Collection consists of American song composer Jimmy Van Heusen's papers and materials, both
business and personal. Items include an extensive collection of unpublished music
manuscripts and song lyrics, published sheet music, correspondence, personal papers, and
business documents. Many materials relate to his interactions with Johnny Burke, Sammy Cahn,
Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and others, and to his publishing companies Burke & Van
Heusen, Inc. and Van Heusen Music Corporation. Also includes sound and audiovisual
materials, including his personal LP collection, unpublished home recordings, and home
movies. Photographic material includes both press and personal prints, some negatives, and
color slides. Other items include performance scripts, altered lyrics, biographic materials,
professionally assembled scrapbooks, and other published materials from his personal
collection. In addition to his musical career, the collection highlights his interests in
horses and flying, and his domestic life with wife Josephine Van Heusen.
The collection is organized into the following series:
- Series 1. Printed and Manuscript Music, 1892-1979. 74 boxes
- Series 2. Sound and Audiovisual Recordings, 1932-1988. 29 boxes
- Series 3. Written Material, 1942-1970. 11 boxes
- Series 4. Photographic Material, 1932-1984. 20 boxes
- Series 5. Correspondence, 1924-1983. 17 boxes
- Series 6. Biographic Material, 1853-1991. 24 boxes
- Series 7. Ephemera
- Series 7. Personal Papers, 1942-1993. 26 boxes
- Series 7. Personal Papers
- Series 8. Published Material, 1906-1988. 19 boxes
- Series 9. Legal and Financial Documents, 1933-1994. 55 boxes
- Series 10. Scrapbooks, 1953-1966. 4 boxes
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Music -- Manuscripts.
Television music.
Popular music -- United States.
Motion picture music.
Composers -- United States -- Archives.
Burke, Johnny, 1908-1964--Correspondence
Cahn, Sammy--Correspondence
Crosby, Bing, 1903-1977--Correspondence
Sinatra, Frank, 1915-1998--Correspondence
Van Heusen, Jimmy, 1913-1990--Archives
Van Heusen, Josephine, 1901-1999--Archives
Crosby, Bing