John Jefferson Rox (1907-1957) was an American composer and lyricist. He was born in 1907 in Des Moines, Iowa.

He wrote music for Broadway shows and the recording industry. His song It's a Big Wide Wonderful World (1939) was used in the soundtrack of multiple films. His holiday tune I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas (1953) was a popular family entertainment song, originally sung by 10-year old Gayla Peevey. Many other artists also covered it. In 1948, he married actress Alice Pearce. Pearce was Gladys Kravitz in the 1960s television situation comedy Bewitched.^[1]

Career

The first song that he authored and copyrighted was Weep No More, Willow in 1938.^[2] The following year, he wrote and copyrighted It's a Big Wide Wonderful World (1939).^[3] It has been used in the soundtrack of several different films over the span of over 50 years.^[4]

The song premiered in All in Fun (1940) on Broadway, of which he was the lyricist for the show. Walter Cassel and Wynn Murray introduced the song.^[5] The show had opened at the Majestic Theater on Broadway and featured Imogene Coco as a cast member.^[6]

Major Motion Picture Films with

It's a Big Wide Wonderful World

in the soundtrack:^[4]

In 1946, he wrote the song Ridin' Double for the soundtrack of the 1946 film Sioux City Sue starring Gene Autry.^[7][8]

He later wrote I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas (1953) with Gayla Peevey singing the original version. It was a popular song with 39 artists singing the cover for it.^[9] That same year, he was one of several songwriters and lyricists for the Broadway show John Murray Anderson's Almanac (1953).^[10] The following year, he and fellow songwriter and lyricist from the show, Michael Grace, wrote the song Let a Little Time Go By (1954).^[11]

In 1956, he and Dean Fuller wrote the music for New Faces of 1956, which premiered at the Ethel Barrymore Theater on Broadway with Maggie Smith and Jane Connell as a cast members.^[12][13]

References