Larry Russell
Larry Russell (October 14, 1913 – February 14, 1954) was an American composer working mostly in the motion picture industry. He is widely remembered as being one of three writers of the song "Vaya Con Dios", which has been recorded over 500 times. Russell was born in Indiana and had early success with the 1941 song "Oh For Heaven's Sake", recorded on Bluebird Records by Alvino Rey. In 1952, he collaborated with Inez James and Buddy Pepper on "Vaya Con Dios". In 1972, eighteen years after his death and twenty years after the film's first release, he won an Oscar for his score for the Charlie Chaplin film Limelight. (The film was released in 1952, but was not shown in Los Angeles until twenty years later. Under the rules in effect at the time, it was eligible for that year's Academy Awards.) Lawrence S. Russell died in Los Angeles on February 14, 1954. |
Birth and Death Data: Born Indiana (state of the United States of America), Died February 14, 1954 (Los Angeles (seat of Los Angeles County, and largest city in California, United States) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1941 - 1953
Roles Represented in DAHR: songwriter
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor | BS-062779 | 10-in. | 3/28/1941 | Oh, for heaven's sake | Alvino Rey Orchestra ; Skeets Herfurt ; Yvonne King | Jazz/dance band, with female-male vocal duet | songwriter | |
| Rama | RR-40 | 10-in. | approximately 1953 | Vaya con dios | Lonnie Johnson ; Lonnie Johnson | songwriter |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Russell, Larry," accessed December 25, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/355940.
Russell, Larry. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 25, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/355940.
"Russell, Larry." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 25 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Larry Russell
Discogs: Larry Russell
Allmusic: Larry Russell
IMDb: Larry Russell
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Russell, Larry, 1913-1954 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2007152184
Wikidata: Larry Russell - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q3827165
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/79758372
MusicBrainz: Larry Russell - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/197bbcaa-f999-4139-9810-a3cd0d03b022
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