American songwriter and writer who worked under this pseudonym. Born 10th February 1903; died 30th October 1986, Longmeadow, Mass. Adopted in 1957 the sons of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were executed for passing atomic secrets to Soviet Union. Wrote the anti-lynching poem "Strange Fruit" which was later set to music for and made famous by Billie Holiday, then, in 1980, by UB40. Two other famous songs are "The House That I Live In" and "Apples, Peaches and Cherries". The latter song became famous in France in its translation by Sacha Distel under the title "Scoubidou".
Meeropol wrote the song "Strange Fruit", a powerful anti-lynching song made famous by Billie Holliday, in 1939 after he saw a photograph of a black man who had been lynched by a white mob in Georgia. The song became a big, and controversial, hit. Shortly after WWII, MGM hired Meeropol to write a song for a short film they were making about tolerance, The House I Live In . After the film came out, Meeropol was incensed to discover that the studio had cut out one line in the song, "My neighbors who are black and white", as they thought it would cut into the films ticket sales in the South.
Meeropol and his wife adopted the sons of convicted and executed spies Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg.
