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Churchill Kohlman

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Name
  
Churchill Kohlman


Role
  
Songwriter

Died
  
May 25, 1983, Point Breeze, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Cry a cover of a churchill kohlman song as recorded by crystal gayle


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.

Contents

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.

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. His grave is at Homewood Cemetery in Point Breeze.

Cry a song from 1951 piano written by churchill kohlman


  • The Johnnie 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

    Churchill Kohlman Wikipedia