Yesterday's Cake, Eddie White's autobiography

As I was saying at the weekend: I have a feeling there is an interesting biography to be told about Eddie White. Maybe someone will email...

Sure enough, John Sprung emailed again to tell me about Yesterday's Cake, Eddie's autobiography that was published by Vantage Press in 1985.

The AbeBooks website lists a number of used copies. One of the booksellers quotes Joseph Heller: Eddie White's book reads like a Bronx Arabian Nights!

The title refers Eddie's time in an orphanage where the kids were given day-old cakes from the bakeries. A synopsis at AbeBooks says Yesterday's Cake is the story of a boy raised in various orphanages who became a songwriter and met the rich and famous even though his father was a small time hood.

Think I'll have to order a copy. More later...

One more thing: John Sprung, my informant on these matters, is a folk singer and music writer with an interesting resumé himself.

Eddie White, songwriter and actor

In September I mentioned Edward R. (Eddie) White, the prolific New York songwriter (1919-1996) who collaborated at some stage with each of the three writers of Acker Bilk's The Harem, particularly with Mack Wolfson.

I wondered whether he was the same Eddie White (aka Edward R. or Eddie R. White) whose filmography at Internet Movie Database includes a role in Robert Duvall's Angelo My Love (1983).

These days it seems I just have to ask, and somebody who was there emails with an answer. (Like this: Question. Answer. Neat, huh?)

John Sprung emailed to confirm that the songwriter and bit-part actor were indeed the same Eddie White. In fact, John was at the premiere of Angelo My Love with Eddie, who knew John's father, a counselor at an orphanage where Eddie was a ward.

I have a feeling there is an interesting biography to be told about Eddie White. Maybe someone will email...

[Somebody did email: see my follow-up post.]