Sid Silvers

Sid Silvers (January 16, 1901 in Brooklyn, New York – August 20, 1976 in Brooklyn) was an American actor, comedian, lyricist, and writer.

Silvers began his career in vaudeville in the early 1920s as a comedy partner of Phil Baker. As part of their act, Silvers would heckle Baker from the audience. The Baker/Silvers act was later used as the basis for the 1951 Martin and Lewis film The Stooge. The duo continued to perform together up through 1928.

In 1925 Silvers made his Broadway debut in the review Artists and Models. He also appeared in the review A Night in Spain in 1927 and contributed lyrics to the musicals The Song Writer (1928) and Pleasure Bound (1929). He wrote the book for the 1931 musical You Said It. He returned to the Broadway stage in 1932 to portray Louie Webb in the musical Take a Chance. He later wrote the music and lyrics to the review New Faces of 1936.

Silvers made his film debut in the 1929 feature The Show of Shows and then went on to play supporting roles in such films as Dancing Sweeties (1930), Bottoms Up (1934), Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934), Born to Dance (1936), and Broadway Melody of 1936, notably also serving as a scriptwriter on the latter two films. He often contributed special comedy material to some of the larger MGM productions, including The Wizard of Oz in 1939.

In the 1940s Silvers was mainly active as a performer on the stage and on radio. He made his final film appearance in 1946, playing a featured comic role in Mr. Ace. In the 1950s, he was a writer for The Mickey Rooney Show.

Birth and Death Data: Born January 16, 1901 (Brooklyn), Died August 20, 1976 (New York City)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1925 - 1938

Roles Represented in DAHR: songwriter, lyricist, tenor vocal, speaker, composer

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 26-45 of 45 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Columbia W351024 10-in. 5/28/1931 Let's get friendly Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo lyricist  
Columbia W351085 10-in. 8/18/1931 Alone in a corner Lloyd Keating and his Music [Selvin's Orchestra] ; Robert Wood [Jerry Solow] Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo lyricist  
OKeh W81113 10-in. 6/27/1927 Love and kisses (From baby to you) Ted Wallace and his Orchestra [Ed Kirkeby Orchestra] Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo composer  
OKeh W81547 10-in. 10/14/1927 Did you mean it? Seger Ellis ; Justin Ring Trio Male vocal solo, with instrumental trio songwriter  
OKeh W81576 10-in. 10/26/1927 Did you mean it? Frankie Trumbauer’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo songwriter  
OKeh W81791 10-in. 11/7/1927 Did you mean it? Royal Music Makers Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo songwriter  
OKeh W82084 10-in. 12/16/1927 Did you mean it? Elite Trio Vocal, with piano songwriter  
Brunswick E29761 10-in. May 1929 Little pal Sid Silvers Male vocal solo, with orchestra vocalist, tenor vocal  
Brunswick E29762 10-in. May 1929 Why can’t you? Sid Silvers Male vocal solo, with orchestra vocalist, tenor vocal  
Brunswick E36452 10-in. 4/9/1931 Let’s get friendly Crooning Troubadours ; Nick Lucas Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo lyricist  
Brunswick E6796-E6797 10-in. 11/16/1927 Did you mean it? Jay’s Chelsea Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo songwriter  
Brunswick E23929-E23932 10-in. 7/11/1927 Love and kisses (From baby to you) Colonial Club Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo; without vocal (takes E23931-E23932) songwriter  
Brunswick E24047-E24049 10-in. 7/20/1927 Love and kisses (From baby to you) Colonial Club Orchestra ; Louis Katzman Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo songwriter  
Brunswick E25244-E25246 10-in. 11/18/1927 Did you mean it? Eddy Thomas Male vocal solo, with orchestra songwriter  
Brunswick C1112-C1115 10-in. 9/5/1927 Did you mean it? Californians Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo; without vocal (take C1115) songwriter  
Brunswick C1525-C1526 10-in. 1/16/1928 Rainy day pal Elmo Tanner Male vocal solo, with piano songwriter  
Brunswick 444W-448W 10-in. 2/25/1925 Look at those eyes Golden Pheasant Orchestra ; Austin Wylie Jazz/dance band songwriter  
Edison 18065 10-in. 11/29/1927 Did you mean it? Arthur Fields ; Joe Green Novelty Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo songwriter  
Vocalion 22922 10-in. 5/11/1938 The moon looks down and laughs Billie Holiday Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo lyricist  
Columbia (U.K.) WL2510 10-in. 10/22/1930 Pretty little baby Josephine Baker Female vocal solo, with orchestra lyricist  
(Results 26-45 of 45 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Silvers, Sid," accessed April 19, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105940.

Silvers, Sid. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 19, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105940.

"Silvers, Sid." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 19 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105940

Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license

Feedback

Send the Editors a message about this record.