The son of Jewish immigrants[2] Max Druckman and Pearl Cohen, he attended Townsend Harris High School in the borough of Manhattan, graduating in 1935, and went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in social science from the City College of New York in 1940.

Besides composing music and lyrics for dozens of pieces he was also a television producer and worked with performers including Jackie Gleason and Milton Berle.

[3] In a 2009 interview, Drake said that in 1965, Frank Sinatra had heard the Kingston Trio recording on his car radio as he was driving to his home in Palm Springs and immediately pulled over in the middle of the night to a gas station and pay phone.

[6] Gloria Estefan also recorded it for her 2013 album The Standards and sang it to Drake and wife Edith on live TV on CBS This Morning.

[7] On January 15, 2015, Drake died at his home in Great Neck, New York due to complications from bladder cancer shortly before his 96th birthday.