Churchill Kohlman

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.

References

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

External links

• New York Times obit

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