{{Short description|1927 popular song written by Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer}} {{About|the 1927 song|the compilation album of "Whispering" Jack Smith songs|Whispering Jack Smith|the unreleased DreamWorks Animation film|List of unproduced DreamWorks Animation projects}}

thumb|right|Sheet music cover, 1927

"'''Me and My Shadow'''" is a 1927 popular song published by Irving Berlin Inc. Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer are credited as the writers, with Jolson and Dreyer listed on the sheet music as responsible for the music and Rose the lyrics. Jolson was often given credits on sheet music so he could earn more by popularizing the tunes, but he played no part in writing this song.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Mark |title=Not Bad for Delancey Street: The Rise of Billy Rose |date=2018 |publisher=Brandeis University Press |location=Waltham, MA |isbn=978-1611688900 |page=54}}</ref> Jolson never recorded "Shadow", but in 1927, he used it in the touring version of "Big Boy".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goldman |first1=Herbert G. |title=Jolson - The Legend Comes to Life |date=1988 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-19-505505-5 |page=148}}</ref>

Popular recordings in 1927 were by "Whispering" Jack Smith, Nat Shilkret (vocal by Johnny Marvin) and the separate recording by Johnny Marvin for Columbia Records.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Whitburn |first1=Joel |title=Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 |date=1986 |publisher=Record Research Inc. |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |isbn=0-89820-083-0 |page=548}}</ref> The song became especially associated with Ted Lewis, who used it to close his act. "Shadow" has since become a standard, with many artists performing it.

==Some other recorded versions== Source:<ref>{{cite web |title=secondhandsongs.com |url=https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/585592/versions#nav-entity |website=secondhandsongs.com |access-date=January 29, 2021}}</ref> {{div col|colwidth=30em}} *Donald O'Connor (no recorded version available,<br />but featured in the 1948 film ''Feudin', Fussin', and A-Fightin''') *Cliff Adams Singers *Pearl Bailey *Michael Cooney *Michael Ball and Antonio Banderas (2003) *Elkie Brooks *Dave Brubeck Quartet (Instrumental) (1951) *James Caan (from the 1975 film ''Funny Lady'') *Maurice Chevalier (1968) *Holly Cole (from the 1998 album ''Treasure'') *Perry Como (1951) *Bing Crosby (from the 1962 album ''On the Happy Side'') *Vic Damone *Linda Eder *Judy Garland *Jeff Goldblum with Sarah Silverman and Till Brönner<br /> (from the 2018 album ''The Capitol Studios Sessions'') * Michele Hendricks (1990) *Johnny Howard *Ferlin Husky (1957) *Bert Kaempfert *Scrappy Lambert (1927) *Linda Lawson (1960) *Julie London (from the 1968 album ''Easy Does It'') *Peggy Lee (from the 1969 album ''Is That All There Is?'') *Liberace *Mantovani *Billy May and his orchestra (vocal: The Sportsmen) (1950) *The Mills Brothers (1958) *Rose Murphy (1948) *Mandy Patinkin (1989) * Stephanie Pope (2001) *Lou Rawls (1965) *Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. (1962) -<br />added special and timely lyric: "Closer than Bobby is to JFK" *Cyril Stapleton *Lawrence Welk *Robbie Williams and Jonathan Wilkes (2001) *Daniel Ash (1991 in Coming Down) *The Kidsongs Kids on their ''Let's Put on a Show'' video and DVD.<br />Solo sung by Debbie Lytton and Julene Renee. *Sam Lanin and his Orchestra {{div col end}}

==In film and television== [[File:Me and My Shadow - Zelda Santley impersonating Ted Lewis (1929).webm|thumb|Zelda Santley performing a mash-up of the song while impersonating Ted Lewis]] In a 1929 Vitaphone Varieties short, singer Zelda Santley impersonates Lewis while singing a rendition of the song mashed-up with ''When My Baby Smiles at Me''.

In 2010, DreamWorks began development on an animated film called ''Me and My Shadow''. However, due to scheduling and management issues, the film was canceled.<ref>{{Cite web |author=T. H. R. Staff |date=2013-02-05 |title=DreamWorks Animation Pushes Back Release for 'Mr. Peabody & Sherman' |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/dreamworks-animation-pushes-back-release-418673/ |access-date=2023-02-07 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Stelter |first=Brian |date=2016-04-28 |title=Comcast buys DreamWorks Animation in $3.8 billion deal |url=https://money.cnn.com/2016/04/28/media/comcast-dreamworks-nbcuniversal/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430035731/http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/28/media/comcast-dreamworks-nbcuniversal/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 30, 2016 |access-date=2023-02-07 |website=CNNMoney}}</ref>

On October 9, 2015, the song was performed on ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' by host Stephen Colbert and guest James Corden.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/WRj99Gje7MI Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20151011185941/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRj99Gje7MI Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRj99Gje7MI|title = Stephen & James Corden Sing 'Me & My Shadow'|website=YouTube|date = 10 October 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

On the October 21, 2020 episode of ''AEW Dynamite'', the song was performed by All Elite Wrestling's Chris Jericho and MJF during their "Le Dinner Debonair" segment, with modified lyrics.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grzbDJdiwLo |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/grzbDJdiwLo |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=*Tony Award Nominee* Chris Jericho and MJF "Me and My Shadow" {{!}} AEW Dynamite, 10/21/20|publisher=All Elite Wrestling|date=October 21, 2020|access-date=October 21, 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Wesley Morris of ''The New York Times'' recognized the performance as one of the 'Best Performances of 2020'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/arts/best-performances.html|title=Best Performances of 2020|work=The New York Times|first=Wesley|last=Morris|author-link=Wesley Morris|date=December 4, 2020|access-date=December 13, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.f4wonline.com/aew-news/mjf-le-dinner-debonair-performance-named-nyt-best-20-326776|title=MJF 'Le Dinner Debonair' performance named NYT Best of '20|work=Figure Four Online|first=Josh|last=Nason|date=December 4, 2020|access-date=December 13, 2020}}</ref>

==References== <references/> {{Sammy Davis Jr.}} {{authority control}}

Category:1927 songs Category:Songs about loneliness Category:Songs with lyrics by Billy Rose Category:Songs with music by Dave Dreyer Category:Songs written by Al Jolson