Edward "Eddie" Eliscu was born in New York City, New York in 1902. He began performing in vaudeville and on Broadway after completing college; in 1929 he co-produced his first Broadway score and moved to Hollywood the following year to work as a lyricist. In 1935 he earned an Academy Award nomination for "Carioca" from the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers hit, Flying Down to Rio. Eliscu continued to work as a lyricist and screenwriter in Hollywood until 1950. He died in 1998.