OLDWICK, N.J. George David Weiss, who helped write chart-topping pop hits including Cant Help Falling in Love and What a Wonderful World, has died. He was 89.
He died Monday of natural causes at his home in Oldwick, N.J., his wife, Claire, said.
Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and many other big-name artists recorded compositions written or co-written by Weiss, whose career choice greatly disappointed his mother. She wanted him to become a lawyer.
A Juilliard School of Music graduate who played the violin, piano, saxophone and clarinet, Weiss was a military bandleader in World War II. He soon gained wide recognition as a songsmith with success over the next few decades.
Among the notable compositions he wrote or co-wrote were Cant Help Falling in Love, recorded by Elvis Presley; The Lion Sleeps Tonight, recorded by the Tokens; What a Wonderful World, recorded by Louis Armstrong; Surrender, recorded by Perry Como, and Oh What It Seemed to Be by Frank Sinatra.
He also collaborated on several Broadway musicals, including Mr. Wonderful, which starred Sammy Davis Jr., and Maggie Flynn, featuring Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy.
He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984. He also was president of the Songwriters Guild of America from 1982 to 2000 and often testified before government agencies, mostly on copyright issues.
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