[1] Baker was born to a Jewish family[2] in Brookline, Massachusetts, on September 4, 1923, daughter of Attorney Mark Shain and Professor Rose Wies Shain, she grew up next door to Joseph and Rose Kennedy and their children, including John F. Kennedy.
[1] She moved to New York City during the 1940s, where she worked as a pianist performing on demos and in front of live audiences.
[3] Shayne met her first husband, French born Noël Regney, while playing piano at a New York City hotel in 1951.
She composed the lyrics and music for "Goodbye Cruel World", which was recorded by James Darren in 1961.
[1][3] Shayne also worked with Mary Candy and Eddie Dean to write "The Men in My Little Girl's Life", which was performed by Mike Douglas.
[3] It was first recorded by Harry Simeone Chorale and sold more than a quarter-million copies during the 1962 holiday season.
[3] The song has since been recorded and performed by hundreds of artists including Pat Boone, Kenny G, Mahalia Jackson, Glen Campbell, Whitney Houston, Perry Como, Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, Martina McBride, and more recently, A duet of Fifth Harmony and The Tolmachevy Sisters.
[1] Gloria Shayne Baker died at her home in Stamford, Connecticut, of lung cancer on March 6, 2008, at the age of 84.