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11 Facts About Jimmy Kennedy

1.

Jimmy Kennedy was predominantly a lyricist, putting words to existing music such as "Teddy Bears' Picnic" and "My Prayer" or co-writing with composers like Michael Carr, Wilhelm Grosz and Nat Simon.

2.

Jimmy Kennedy's father, Joseph Hamilton Kennedy, was a policeman in the Royal Irish Constabulary.

3.

Jimmy Kennedy later moved to Portstewart, a seaside resort in County Londonderry.

4.

Jimmy Kennedy graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, before teaching in England.

5.

Jimmy Kennedy was accepted into the Colonial Service, as a civil servant, in 1927.

6.

Fellow lyricist Harry Castling introduced him to Bert Feldman, a music publisher based in London's "Tin Pan Alley", for whom Jimmy Kennedy started to work.

7.

Jimmy Kennedy's hits included "Cokey Cokey", and the English lyrics to "Lili Marlene".

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8.

Jimmy Kennedy was a patron of the Castlebar International Song Contest from 1973 until his death in 1984, and his association with the event added great prestige to the contest.

9.

Jimmy Kennedy won two Ivor Novello Awards for his contribution to music and received an honorary degree from the New University of Ulster.

10.

Jimmy Kennedy died in Cheltenham on 6 April 1984, aged 81, and was interred in Taunton, Somerset.

11.

Jimmy Kennedy was survived by two sons and a daughter.