Blanche Merrill

Blanche Merrill, born Blanche V. Dreyfoos on July 22 or 23, 1883, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was a songwriter, composer, and book writer whose career centered on crafting material tailored to the individual qualities of specific performers. Her Broadway credits include the 1925 revue Earl Carroll's Vanities, the play Why Worry?, and Dance and Grow Thin. She died on October 5, 1966.

Merrill was the daughter of Sigmund A. Dreyfoos, a bookkeeper born in 1855 who died in Brooklyn on January 21, 1899, at age 43, and his wife, Catherine Elizabeth Murphy, known as Lizzie, who was born on January 6, 1860, and died on January 17, 1921. Her siblings included Nellie, Clara, Theresa, and W. Wallace. Though the children were largely born in Philadelphia, the family had relocated to Queens by the time of the 1892 New York State census. Following Sigmund's death, the family lived with relatives at 147 5th Street in College Point, Queens.

The year of Merrill's birth is disputed across multiple sources. The 1892 New York State census places her birth in 1883, while the 1920 federal census lists her age as 25, suggesting 1895, the same year recorded on her ASCAP membership form completed in 1936 and subsequently adopted by the Library of Congress. The 1940 census points to 1900. The Social Security Death Index and Philadelphia hospital records, however, support 1883, as does the trajectory of her documented educational and professional activity.

Details of her education are similarly uncertain. In a 1917 interview, Merrill stated she had earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University and had obtained a teaching license approximately five years prior. A separate profile published the same year described her as having attended Barnard College. Regardless of the precise institution, records indicate she passed teacher training in 1906 and was assigned to Public School 84 in Queens, a position she appears to have held until 1915, when she requested a sabbatical and did not return.

Her interest in theater preceded her professional career. In the same 1917 interview, she recalled attending Saturday matinees with her mother during her high school years. A 1906 review in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted a performance by Blanche V. Dreyfoos in a production of The Jolly Bachelors staged by St. Mary's Catholic Club in Brooklyn, marking one of the earliest documented mentions of her in print. Her sister Clara appeared in the same production in a small role.

Merrill's professional songwriting career began around 1910, when she attended a vaudeville performance by Eva Tanguay and was moved to write her first song, "Give an Imitation of Me." At a friend's urging, she submitted it to Tanguay, who accepted it, prompting Merrill to write four additional songs for the performer. Songwriter and music publisher Charles K. Harris subsequently signed her to a contract and published her work, including "Egotistical Eva," which Tanguay used to open her appearances during the 1910–11 season. From this point forward, professional notices refer to her consistently as Blanche Merrill.

By 1913, multiple music publishing firms were competing for her services, and trade publications noted the attention her lyrics and melodies had attracted within the profession. She eventually signed with Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, Inc., which led to a collaboration with Irving Berlin that produced the song "Jake, the Yiddisher Ball Player." Her song "Broadway Sam" was written for comic Willie Howard, who performed it in The Passing Show of 1915. Two songs she co-wrote with Leo Edwards also gained notice during this period: "Whistle and I'll Come To You," performed by Nora Bayes during Eva Tanguay's first appearance at The Palace in early 1915, and "Here's to You, My Sparkling Wine," which was interpolated into the musical The Blue Paradise, which opened at the Casino Theatre on August 5, 1915, before touring.

Around mid-1915, Merrill expanded her work beyond individual songs to writing full vaudeville acts. Among the early examples was The Burglar, a fifteen-minute skit written for Maurice Burkhardt, and an act titled "The Musical Devil," featuring a performer billed as Yvette, noted in Variety in late October 1915.

The most significant professional relationship of Merrill's career began in July 1915, when Fanny Brice started working with her. Brice's act opened on September 6, 1915, at The Palace, and after touring and refining the material, she returned to The Palace in February 1916 with four songs, the final three carrying Merrill's lyrics: "If We Could Only Take Their Word," "The Yiddish Bride," which Variety founder Sime Silverman described as a gem, and "Becky Is Back in the Ballet." Brice's next major appearance was in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1916, which opened on June 12, 1916, and included two Merrill songs among Brice's numbers: "The Hat" and "The Dying Swan." The Ziegfeld Follies of 1917 featured Brice in two numbers, both written by Merrill.

Why Worry?, Merrill's Broadway play credit, represented Brice's sole attempt at a serious dramatic role on Broadway. The production toured before its Broadway opening, closing temporarily during the tour before eventually reaching New York. Merrill's other Broadway credits, Earl Carroll's Vanities of 1925 and Dance and Grow Thin, further demonstrate her range as both a composer and book writer across different theatrical formats.