Who Was Irving Berlin And What Was His Real Birth Name?

Irving Berlin was a Russian-American songwriter and composer. He was born on May 11, 1888 and his real birth name was Isreal Baline. However, he decided to change his name to Irving Berlin because when he published his first sheet music called "Marie from Sunny Italy", it was credited by mistake to I. Berlin. So, instead of going back and changing all of the music, he simply decided to change his name to Irving Berlin.

He is best known to be one of the greatest and best-loved songwriters in history. In total, he composed more than 3,000 songs. Some of his songs became part of American culture such as "White Christmas", "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "Alexander's Ragtime Band".  

In addition to sheet music, Irving Berlin also composed more than 17 film scores and more than 20 Broadway musical pieces. He is truly one of the world's greatest composers.