Benny Davis

A vaudeville performer barely into his teens, lyricist Benny Davis composed hundreds of songs during the heyday of Tin Pan Alley. Though only "Baby Face" became a worldwide standard, hits like "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You," "There Goes My Heart," and "With These Hands" were covered many times by important vocalists up to the mid-'60s. Born in New York City in 1895, Davis was on the vaudeville circuit before 1910 and later toured as Blossom Seeley's accompanist. He began composing songs along the way and wrote several successful songs during the early '20s before his biggest success, "Baby Face," in 1926. He scored the Broadway show Sons o' Guns in 1929, and continued composing moderate period hits until the mid-'30s. Voted to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Davis lived in Miami until his death in 1979.