Maurie Hartmann

b.: July 7, 1910 in Brody, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now Brody, L'vivs'ka, Ukraine) d. August 22, 1952 in New York, NY, U.S.A. Maurie Hartmann was the pen name of American composer Maurice "Mauricio" Merl, also known as Maurie Hartman, Maurrie Merl or Maurice Meril. Maurice was the oldest of six children of the Merlinsky family. In 1912, he and his parents emigrated from Galicia to Argentina, where they became naturalized citizens and where his siblings were born. In January 1921, the family moved from Buenos Aires to the United States and settled in Philadelphia. In 1926, his father, Carl "Carlos" Merlinsky, acquired US citizenship and changed the family name to Merl. By 1930, the family was living in Chicago, where Maurice worked as a bookkeeper, but by 1931, he was back in Philadelphia and began writing songs. By 1940 he lived in New York City. Under the name Maurrie Merl, Hartmann published his first song, "Mi Amor," in 1931. It was co-written with Freda Dubin whom he married in 1934. Other songs include "I'll Find You" (1934, as Maurice Merl, with Frank Capano) and "Blue In The Black Of The Night" (1935, as Maurrie Merl with Frank Capano, George Wellein, Ace Pancoast). As Maurice Meril, he copyrighted the song "The Fly Flew" (1950, with Eddie Titko and Hank Kiwacz). In the early 1940s, he adopted the pen name Maurie Hartmann. Under this name, he co-wrote "China Conga" (1941, with Fred C. Mann); "Broken Heart" (1944, with Billy Faber and Gil Mills); "I'm A Lonely Little Petunia In An Onion Patch" (1946, with John Kamano and Billy Faber); "If I Had A Million Dollars" (1948, with John Kamano and Pinky Herman); "Tell Me Why" (1949), "Sing Until The Cows Come Home" (1949), and "Dorothy" (1949, the last three with words by Milt Gabler); "I'm Saving My Kisses For You" (1950, with George C. Brooks and L. Schroeder [a.k.a. Leonard Rosen]); "Harvest Moon Polka" (1950), "The Flying Red Horse Polka" (1950), and "The Wishing Polka" (1951, all three with Eddie Gronet); and "I Just Can't Control It" (1952, with Andrew Ippolito, Frank V. Malfa, Michael Cassone).