Irving Berlin got 37¢ for writing his first song, Marie from Sunny Italy. Today, at 77, he is the most successful songwriter in the world, rich enough to own Italy if he wanted it. But he can't, won't, and doesn't want to retire.
This summer, Manhattan's Lincoln Center will stage a revival of Annie Get Your Gun with Ethel Merman, the original (1946) Annie. The idea so delights Berlin that he has written two new songs for it and added new lyrics to the anthem of the trade, There's No Business Like Show Business.
"When I'm feeling good," says Berlin,...
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