During that four-decade period, the man born on the Fourth of July produced 80 Broadway shows and wrote more than 1,000 songs. Although Cohan liked to describe himself as “just a song and dance ...

"Doodle" is 18th-century-ese for "nincompoop." "Yankee Doodle came to town, Riding on a pony" was originally a British song, from the point of view of the Europeans. Look at that ridiculous American!

Six years later, in 1942, Jimmy Cagney portrayed Cohan in “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” a role that earned him an Oscar for Best Actor. The same year, surrounded by friends and family at his home ...