Johnny Mercer, Song Writer

CHICAGO, IL - Johnny Mercer who wrote the lyrics to "Moon River," "Autumn Leaves," "Days of Wine and Roses" and 1,000 other songs was part Croatian on his mother's side a new biography reveals.

Titled "Skylark" (after one of his songs) "The Life and Times of Johnny Mercer" was written by Philip Furia, professor at the University of North Carolina. In the past he has written books about Irving Berlin and Ira Gershwin.

The author does not use "Croatian" He delves into Mercer's mother's side thusly:" His grandfather:

Giovanni Ciucevich had immigrated from the Austrian- Hungarian Empire in the 1850s and ran theYankee blockade during the Civil War, his sloop slipping under the noses of the Union army to bring supplies to Savannah. After the war, he prospered like Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind."

His daughter, Lillian Ciucevich became the second wife of Johnny's father George Mercer in 1906. His first wife died giving birth. Lillian is described as having a "sensitive, melancholy disposition."

Born, Nov. 18, 1909, John Herndon Mercer amassed a catalog of more than 1,000 songs and during some years had a song in the Top Ten every week of the year, the song writing equivalent of Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak, the author notes.

It is a quote from Mercer that indicates his Croatian heritage. He attributed his dark temperament to his mother's "Dalmatian side" but credited her with his musical talent. When Mercer was asked about the source of his writing genius, he would simply say, "my mother." While the author appeared to dig deep into Johnny's history including irrelevant notes on a sexual encounter between Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra, he was lax in being more specific about the Ciucevich's ethnicity. Austria Hungarian encompassed a lot of ethnic groups.

Putting Croatians into an Austrian-Hungarian listing is one reason Croats were so counted in early census figures. In addition to songs mentioned some of his other hits include "I'm An Old Cowhand" (his first Hollywood hit for the Bing Crosby movie,

"Rhythm On The Range"); "Summer Wind," "That Old Black Magic," "Acdentuate The Positive," and "One For My Baby;" to name a few.

Peter Cakanic/Lodge 32

Cakanic, Peter. “Famed Songwriter Johnny Mercer Part Croatian.” Zajednicar, November 26, 2003. Grandfather was Ciucevich during the Civil War. He was a gun runner to Georgia.