Rida Johnson Young

Rida Johnson Young (1910)

Rida Johnson Young (born Rida Louise Johnson;[1] February 28, 1869[2] – May 8, 1926)[3][4] was an American playwright, songwriter and librettist.[5] In her career, Young wrote over 30 plays and musicals and approximately 500 songs.[6] She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. Some of her better-known lyrics include "Mother Machree" from the 1910 show Barry of Ballymore, "Italian Street Song", "I'm Falling in Love with Someone" and "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life" from Naughty Marietta, and "Will You Remember?" from Maytime.

  1. ^ Faxon, Frederick Winthrop, ed. (1915). The Dramatic Index for 1914. Boston: The Boston Book Company
  2. ^ The year of birth is given as 1869 by IMDB and IBDB. Pfeffer's index of composers and lyricists explicitly says "1875 (Not 1869)", but doesn't elaborate, and contains an attribution error for "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," casting doubt on its reliability.
  3. ^ "United States Census, 1900", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3KZ-8XT : 16 February 2022), Rida L Johnson in entry for Eunice S Johnson, 1900.
  4. ^ Partnow, Elaine (1998). The Female Dramatist : Profiles of Women Playwrights From the Middle Ages to Contemporary Times. New York: Facts on File, p. 225. ISBN 0816030154.
  5. ^ IBDB: Rida Johnson Young. Retrieved November 21, 2007
  6. ^ Grattan, Virginia L. (1993). American Women Songwriters: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press, p. 93. ISBN 0313285101.