Churchill Kohlman

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Churchill Kohlman (January 28, 1906 – May 25, 1983) was an African-American songwriter who wrote Johnnie Ray's 1951 hit, "Cry" while working in a Pittsburgh dry cleaning factory as the night watchman.^[1]^[2]

Royalties from "Cry" were the subject of a bitter legal dispute between Kohlman and Perry Alexander, owner of music publisher Mellow Music. Alexander was ordered by arbitrators to pay Kohlman $15,331.24 to settle the dispute in 1953.^[3]

Kohlman wrote hundreds of other songs, but none achieved the success of "Cry".

Churchill had the following siblings: Homer Kohlman (1907–1985); and Alyse Kohlman Klaytor. After his success with "Cry", he was a correspondent for Prevue, a Chicago-based show-business magazine. He married Viola (1915–1995) and had the following children: Phyllis Kohlman O'Leary and Eleanor Kohlman Smith; and Carl Kohlman. He died under the name Charles Kohlman of a heart attack in 1983, at 77 years old, in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

Popular culture

The Johnny Ray version of "Cry" was used in the 1987 Ridley Scott film, Someone to Watch Over Me.

Other versions

Kevin Coyne recorded a version of the song for his 1978 album Dynamite Daze.

References

↑ http://www.americanprofile.com/article/30853.html American Profile article
↑ Jet, February 14, 1952, p. 56-7
↑ Billboard, March 7, 1953, p. 16

External links

New York Times obit

Authority control	VIAF: 159847363

Persondata
Name	Kohlman, Churchill
Alternative names
Short description	American songwriter
Date of birth	January 28, 1906
Place of birth
Date of death	May 25, 1983
Place of death

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