Bob Merrill (May 17, 1921 – February 17, 1998) was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter. He was the second most successful songwriter of the 1950s on the UK Singles Chart.

Life and career

Merrill was born Henry Robert Merrill Levan in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in a Jewish family and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following a stint with the Army during World War II, he moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a dialogue director for Columbia Pictures. He began his songwriting career writing tunes for Dorothy Shay. One of his first major hits was a country song co-written by Moon Mullican in 1950 entitled "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry", and the 1950 novelty song "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake", co-written with Al Hoffman and Clem Watts, and initially recorded by Eileen Barton.

The other eight songs which round out the Top Ten for which he is most well-known include