Jay Livingston

 Jay Livingston, born Jacob Harold Levison (March 28, 1915 – October 17, 2001)

He was a composer best known as half of a songwriting duo with Ray Evans that specialized in songs composed for films. Livingston wrote music and Evans the lyrics. Livingston attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he organized a dance band and met Evans, a fellow student in the band. Their professional collaboration began in 1937. Livingston and Evans won the Academy Award for Best Original Song three times, in 1948 for the song "Buttons and Bows", written for the movie The Paleface; in 1950 for the song "Mona Lisa", written for the movie Captain Carey, U.S.A.; and in 1956 for the song "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)," featured in the movie The Man Who Knew Too Much. They also wrote "Tammy" for the movie Tammy and the Bachelor in 1957. Livingston and Evans wrote popular TV themes for shows including Bonanza and Mister Ed, which Livingston sang. They also wrote the Christmas song "Silver Bells" in 1951, for the film The Lemon Drop Kid. Livingston appeared as himself with Evans in the New Year's Eve party scene of the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard. His brother, longtime Capitol Records executive Alan W. Livingston, is best known for creating "Bozo the Clown" and signing Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys and The Beatles among other legends with Capitol. Jay Livingston was married twice, and had one children from his first marriage. He married actress Shirley Mitchell in 1992, a year after his first wife died, and they were together until his death. Livingston died on October 17, 2001 at age 86, and is interred at Westwood Memorial Park.