{{short description|American songwriter}}
'''Ira Schuster''' (October 13, 1889 – October 10, 1946<ref name="nyt">{{cite news |title=Ira Schuster, 57, Popular Lyricist; Song Writer Who Composed 'I Am an American' Is Dead -- 'Shantytown' His Big Hit |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E04EEDE1039E23ABC4952DFB667838D659EDE |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 11, 1946 |accessdate=2015-08-19 }}</ref>) was an American songwriter, who worked as a pianist at various publishing companies on Tin Pan Alley in the early 20th century.<ref name="SHOF">{{cite web |url=http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/notable_writers/C5035 |title=Notable Writers - Ira Schuster |publisher=Songwriters Hall of Fame |date=1945-10-10 |accessdate=2013-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420162949/http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/notable_writers/C5035 |archive-date=2016-04-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was also known as John Siras.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/people/939307?q=&c=people |title=Schuster, Ira (1889-1945) - People and organisations - Trove |publisher=Trove.nla.gov.au |accessdate=2013-04-02}}</ref>
==Biography== He was born in New York City on October 13, 1889, to Sarah and Morris Schuster. His father was from Germany and his mother from England. He had a brother, John Schuster.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |title= Joseph Schuster, Music Publisher. Song Writer, Ex-Vaudeville and Radio Performer Dies. Teamed With Tucker |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F03E3D8163BEF3BBC4952DFB0668382649EDE |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 11, 1959 |accessdate=2015-02-01 }}</ref> Schuster married Minnie and had two children, Wallace Schuster and Phoebe Schuster.
Schuster collaborated with other notable songwriters of the time, and had a string of hits in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. Schuster was also one of the first songwriters to form his own publishing company.<ref name="SHOF"/> His best known songs include "Hold Me," "In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town,"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.secondhandsongs.com/performance/101006 |title=Recording: In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town - Ted Lewis and His Band |publisher=Second Hand Songs |accessdate=2013-04-02}}</ref> "Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes," "I Am an American," "Go Home and Tell Your Mother," "Any Day Now,"<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GBNhAAAAIAAJ&q=Ira+Schuster&pg=PA703 |title=Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions - Google Books |date=1945-01-23 |accessdate=2013-04-02}}</ref> "I'm Alone Because I Love You"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/song/im-alone-because-i-love-you-mt0033777854 |title=I'm Alone Because I Love You - Nat King Cole : Listen, Appearances, Song Review |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=2013-04-02}}</ref> and "Let’s Grow Old Together."<ref name="SHOF"/>
Schuster died in New York, aged 55, in October 1946.<ref name="nyt" />
==Legacy== He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.<ref name="SHOF"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160420162949/http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/notable_writers/C5035 Songwriters Hall of Fame entry] * [http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ira-schuster-mn0001856333 Allmusic.com] * {{IMDb name|0776844}} * [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/110337 Ira Schuster recordings] at the Discography of American Historical Recordings
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Schuster, Ira}} Category:1889 births Category:1946 deaths Category:Songwriters from New York (state) Category:20th-century American pianists Category:American male songwriters Category:20th-century American songwriters Category:20th-century American male pianists