Songwriters Hall of Fame

Known universally as “Ukelele Ike,” Cliff Edwards’ friendly, jazz-flavored musical style made him a popular phenomenon of the 1920’s and generated a nationwide craze for the ukelele.

Edwards was born on June 14, 1895 in Hannibal, Missouri. He began playing the ukulele to attract attention as a newspaper boy. In his teens, he moved to St. Louis and became a performer, working his way up to the vaudeville circuit. Moving to Chicago in 1918, he formed an act called "Jazz As Is" with Pierce Keegan, a singer and dancer. In 1920, comedian Joe Frisco took him to New York as part of his troupe and in 1921, Edwards made his Broadway debut in The Mimic World of 1921.

In addition to his enormous recording and Broadway success, Edwards also appeared in over 50 early movie musicals and in 1940 served as the voice of Jiminy Cricket in the Disney animated classic Pinocchio.

Edwards had over 30 chart hits, including the top ten recordings of ‘It Had to be You’ (#6, 1924), “All Alone” (#6, 1925), “Fascinating Rhythm” (#6, 1925), “Who Takes Care of the Caretaker’s Daughter?” (#7, 1925), “If You Knew Susie (Like I Know Susie)” (#5, 1925), “Paddlin’ Madelin’ Home” (#3, 1925), “Remember” (#10, 1926), “Dinah” (#5, 1926), “Sunday” (#3, 1927), “I’m Tellin’ the Bird, I’m Tellin’ the Bees (I Love You)” (#7, 1927), “Together” (#10, 1928), “Mary Ann” (#3, 1928), ‘I Can’t Give You Anything But Love’ (#1, 1928), ‘Singin’ In the Rain’ (#1, 1929) and “When You Wish Upon a Star” (#10, 1940).

Cliff Edwards died on July 18, 1972.