Andre de Takacs

*Under the Tropical Moon, 1907
*Hicki-Hoy, 1915
*When Old Bill Bailey Plays the Ukalele, 1915
*Beside the Sea at Waikiki, 1916
*Dear Old Dreamy Honolulu Town, 1916
*Hawaii and You, 1916
*Hula Boola Boo, 1916
*My Lonely Lola Lo, 1916
*Oh How She Could Yacki Hacki Wicki Wacki Woo, 1916
*The Honolulu Hicki-Boola-Boo, 1916
*They're Wearing 'em Higher in Hawaii, 1916
*Those Hawaiian Melodies, 1916
*My Hawaiian Maid, 1917
*When Rosie Riccoola Do Da Hoola Ma Boola, 1917

List of 600+ De Takacs sheet music covers (PDF file)

Photo of Andre de Takacs taken in Hackensack, NJ
by photographer E.A. Poe - 1900

Andre de Takacs (left),
his wife Bessie, and her brother (rear)

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Photos and family history
courtesy of Andrea Ellis.

Andre Stephen Chevalier de Takacs, the son of Andrew de Takacs, a Hungarian Count, and Helena Bodnar, was born June 15, 1880 in Budapest, Hungary. He left his homeland at the age of 20, boarding the Steamship Patricia in Hamburg, Germany, and arriving in the port of New York City on June 11, 1901.
     Andre, who sometimes went by his father's name Andrew, spent some time in the Hackensack area, where he met Elizabeth Albertina Schenkel, the daughter of a German violinist who also owned the Schenkel Inn (later to become the Clinton Inn) in Tenafly, New Jersey. It's possible that Leonard introduced Andre to the local music scene, as he was well known for his fiddle playing. Andre and Elizabeth, or "Bessie" as she was commonly known, were married in Manhattan on Nov. 21, 1902. The couple had two daughters over the next few years, Edythe and Elizabeth (Bessie).
     In the book The Story of Tenafly, author Eva Browning Sisson tells the story of the maiden run of the first electric trolly line to Tenafly in 1907, and how an elaborate dinner was held for the passengers at the Schenkel's hotel. Andre de Takacs was present, and he set up an easel, spontaneously sketching the trolley, station, and vicinity. The drawing was auctioned off and sold to the highest bidder for $20, with proceeds given to the local fire department.
     Andre began illustrating sheet music around the turn of the century, working mainly for Jerome H. Remick & Co. in the early years, producing a large amount of "rag" songs. His work was colorful, well drawn and charasmatic. One of his most interesting techniques was the "fade away" effect of using the same color for articles of clothing or items in the foreground as the color of the background, thus creating an optical illusion. His work paid particularly close attention to the clothing fashions of the time.
     De Takacs was quite prolific in the twenty year span he worked in the New York City music publishing business, and he illustrated some of the biggest song hits of the time. He also designed posters, and produced illustrations for books, including Nachette (1909), The Mystery of the Ravenspurs (1911), and The Ashes of My Heart (1916).

De Takacs illustration from the book Nachette.

     Perhaps one of his least-known talents is that of a lyricist and composer. His poem My Sweetest Day was put to music, as was Silent Wooing, which he also wrote the melody for. Another one of his musical creations was When Bessie Met the Bobby of Her Dreams, the cover of which his wife posed for.

Silent Wooing
by Andre de Takacs

          I called a rose from a garden fair
              to speak for my heart one day.
          I thought it would nest 'mid her golden hair
              and whisper what I dare not say.
          Met her 'mid fields of fragrant spring,
              no words to my mind did occur.
          I just laid my rose in her soft white hand,
              that's all that I said to her.
          She took my rose in her soft little hand,
              her eyes were so mild and blue.
          I knew that my rose made her understand
             my love so fond and true.
          Trembling I watched for her answer grave,
              never a word said she.
          She just pressed the rose to her sweet red lips,
              that's all that she said to me.

Silent Wooing, written, composed and illustrated by Andre de Takacs.

De Takacs was hired by the Universal Film Company sometime between 1916 and 1918. He was used as an artist in some capacity in their Manhattan office at 1600 Broadway. Andre signed up for the war draft on September 12, 1918.
     On August 23, 1919 Andre died of a heart attack in a NYC taxicab which was on its way to the Knickerbocker Hospital. He was just 39 years of age. His funeral was attended by fellow members of the American Motion Pictures Association, and there was an automobile cortege. After his death, Bessie had to take on a job as a telephone operator to make ends meet. She ended her life on April 11, 1927 by ingesting some bichloride of mercury (a popular method of suicide at the time) and passed away at the Knickerbocker Hospital. Andre and his wife are buried at Brookside Cemetary in New Jersey.
    Edythe, the eldest daughter, became an artist herself, and married one as well. She just passed away recently at the age of 101. .