'''Edward Laska''' (January 3, 1894 - April 27, 1959) was an American songwriter who worked as both a composer and lyricist in Tin Pan Alley. He wrote the lyrics to the hit songs "How'd You Like to Spoon With Me?" (1905) and "The Alcholic Blue" (1919). Also a playwright, his play ''We've Got to Have Money'' was staged on Broadway in 1923. He was the longtime director of the Dramatists Guild of America.
==Life and career== Edward Laska was born on January 3, 1894 in New York City.{{sfn|American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers|1952|page=294}} He was educated in New York City Public Schools and at the City College of New York.{{sfn|American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers|1952|page=294}} He was a Tin Pan Alley songwriter{{sfn|Muir|2024|page=44}} who sold his first song, "Tulips" in 1903.<ref name="Obit"/> He contributed the lyrics to the hit song "How'd You Like to Spoon With Me?" (music by Jerome Kern)<ref name="Obit"/> which was introduced in the Broadway musical ''The Earl and the Girl'' (1905).{{sfn|Dietz|2022|page=322}} {{sfn|Muir|2024|page=44}} In 1914 he was a founding member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.<ref name="Obit"/> With Albert Von Tilzer he co-wrote the hit song "The Alcoholic Blues" (1919) which by the end of 1920 had been recorded 22 times by a variety of artists.{{sfn|Muir|2024|page=44}}
Laska wrote the play ''We've Got to Have Money'' which was staged on Broadway at the Playhouse Theatre in 1923.{{sfn|Hischak|2009|page=501}} He was the longtime director of the Dramatists Guild of America.{{sfn|American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers|1952|page=294}}<ref name="Obit"/>
Laska died at Trafalgar Hospital in New York City on April 27, 1959 at the age of 75.<ref name="Obit">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/04/29/archives/edward-laska-l-song-writer-751-composer-lyrof-many-works.html|title=Edward Laska, Songwriter, 75|work=The New York Times|date=April 29, 1959|page= 33}}</ref> ==References== ===Citations=== {{reflist}} ===Bibliography=== *{{cite book|title=The ASCAP Biographical Dictionary of Composers, Authors and Publishers|url=https://archive.org/details/ascapbiographica00amer_1/mode/2up?q=%22Laska%2C+Edward%22|chapter=Laska, Edward|author=American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers|editor-first=Daniel I.|editor-last=McNamara|publisher=Thomas Y. Crowell Company|year=1952}} *{{cite book|first1=Dan|last1=Dietz|title=The Complete Book of 1900s Broadway Musicals|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year=2022|isbn=9781538168943}} *{{cite book|last=Hischak|first=Thomas S.|url=https://archive.org/details/broadwayplaysmus0000hisc/mode/2up|title=Broadway Plays and Musicals: Descriptions and Essential Facts of More Than 14,000 Shows through 2007|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2009|isbn=978-0786497546}} *{{cite book|title=Long Lost Blues: Popular Blues in America, 1850-1920|first= Peter C.|last= Muir|year=2024|isbn= 9780252056048|publisher=University of Illinois Press}}
==External links== *{{IBDB name|id=5290}} *{{IMDb name|id=0489588}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laska, Edward}} Category:1894 births Category:1959 deaths Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Category:20th-century American male composers Category:American male lyricists Category:American male songwriters Category:City College of New York alumni Category:Musicians from New York City Category:Writers from New York City