Billy Rose (born William Samuel Rosenberg; September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966)[1] was an American impresario, theatrical showman, lyricist and columnist.

He won a dictation contest using Gregg notation, taking over 150 words per minute, and writing forward or backward with either hand.

In this role, he is best known as the credited writer or co-writer of the lyrics to "Me and My Shadow," "Great Day" (with Edward Eliscu), "Does the Spearmint Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight" (with Marty Bloom),[1] "I Found a Million Dollar Baby" (with Mort Dixon) and "It's Only a Paper Moon" (with E. Y. Harburg).

In June 1934, he opened Billy Rose's Music Hall at 52nd Street and Broadway in New York City with the first Benny Goodman Orchestra.

For the Fort Worth Frontier Centennial (1936–37),[1] he constructed the huge elaborate dinner theatre Casa Mañana which featured celebrated fan-dancer Sally Rand and the world's largest revolving stage.

In 1938, he opened Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe, a nightclub in New York City's Times Square in the basement of the Paramount Hotel.

Following the 1939 World's Fair, Rose asked John Murray Anderson, who had staged the Aquacade, to recommend a choreographer for a new show at the Horseshoe.

Rose objected that he wanted someone who could choreograph "tits and asses," not "soft-soap from a crazy Armenian" (Yudkoff, 2001).

The New York Herald Tribune said that Oscar Hammerstein II "must be considered one of the greatest librettists of our day" and that Carmen Jones was "a masterly tour de force."

The book was illustrated, including the cover of the numbered and signed first edition of 1,500 copies, by Salvador Dalí whom Rose met while producing events at the 1939 World's Fair.

Following the publication of Wine, Women and Words Rose appeared on the cover of Time magazine on June 2, 1947.

[6] His legendary pragmatism is illustrated by a seeming minor event at the sculpture garden opening ceremony, which Rose attended personally.

During that time the theater housed four plays, one musical, one revue, three ballets, and twenty-nine concert performances.

Rose was a wealthy man when he died of lobar pneumonia at his vacation home in Montego Bay, Jamaica, at the age of 66.

Saul Bellow's novella, The Bellarosa Connection, depicts Billy Rose as a benevolent figure helping Jewish people to escape the Nazis in Europe.