This page presents sundry observations about Irvings, and notes key contributions by Irvings in history and current events (in addition to Irving Berlin-who wrote a few songs and was born Israel Isidore Baline (see below), Irving Howe-former literary and social critic, Irving Kristol-former journalist, Irving Jacobson-former star of the Yiddish stage, who played Sancho Panza in the Broadway production of Man of La Mancha, and Irving R. Levine-former reporter and journalist, Irving Millman-former microbiologist whose work led to a hepatitis B vaccine,  Irving Oil-the oil company, Irving Stone-former author of biographical novels,  Irving Thalberg-former film producer, and Irving Wallace-former best selling author). Have you ever met an Irving who wasn’t both accomplished and a nice guy?

The list of 100 Irvings at http://www.ranker.com/list/famous-people-named-irving/reference is impressive, but, sadly, it does not include Irving Jacobson. Usage of Irving as a name in the U.S. peaked at #93, in 1911, being used for 0.179% of all male names, and was last in the top 100 in 2005, according to  http://www.behindthename.com/name/irving/top. it was #402 in 1951, a year of particular distinction, when it was used for 0.015% of all U.S. male names.

Why I am an Irving:
Herman Wouk in “Inside, Outside”  (Chapter 17, pages 92-93, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1985) noted that when the state of Israel was established  “Jewish nightclub comedians worked one joke hard: ‘Fine thing, this new Jewish state. Just great. Only it’s a shame they called it Israel. Why didn’t they name it Irving?'”.  Why?   Wouk noted that in the 1920’s, the familiar names of the Jewish patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the name Israel were the standard names used in Jewish jokes, including bawdy ones, so new Jewish immigrants with these names, and called, Abey, Ikey, Jakey or Izzy, became the butts of jokes, so, for protection, their children and grandchildren called themselves (and were called) Irving (or Irwin) instead of Israel.  My maternal grandfather was Isidore (which would become “Izzy” also), but was known by all as Irving, and that became my name.

The Irving song:
Alice Ghostley guest starred as Bonita (Bonnie) Kalsheim on “Car 54, Where Are You?:” Season 1, Episode 15, “Christmas at the 53rd (24 Dec. 1961)”, episode written by by Terrry Ryan and Nat Hiken. She sang about her boy friend “Irving”; it starts near 5:16 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyc_qyF-3XE&list=PL3503B169025B815B&index=82.

The main lyric is:
Irving
Whenever he appears, birds sing
They keep on twittering, Irving
Someone’s in love with you

Irving
Whenever he is near, bells ring
To me I’m only a plaything
But what can I do?

Irving, Irving, Irving
I’m so in love with you

The Irving movie:
With the main male character in the 2013 movie “American Hustle” being Irving Rosenfeld and with “Irving” being said scores of time, why could this not be the Irving movie?

Irving and Sandy Koufax:
Sandy Koufax’s father was Irving Koufax.

Irving and the Nobel Prize:
Columbia University graduate Irving Langmuir won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1932, so far the only one by an Irving.

Irving and the New York Knicks:
Kudos to Irving Azoff, manager of the Eagles, who helped facilitate a meeting between Phil Jackson and the Knicks owner, that led to Jackson being named as team president on March 18, 2014. (If Herman Wouk would write about this, one could call his piece an Irving Phil(ip) Herman story.)

Is Irving the real McCoy?:
Yes. Irving Pincus created the 1957-1963 sitcom “The Real McCoys,” which, by the way, has an excellent theme song.

Irving on Perry Mason:
Irving Pringle was head of Makeup for 190 episodes of the classic TV Perry Mason series, and in the last episode, in 1966, he played the Makeup person named Irving on a TV set where a murder was committed. (Spoiler Alert: He did not commit it.) (added 5/21/17)

Irving and Challah
Irving Greisman of San Francisco bakes what is considered to be the best challah in the Bay Area (in 2017). It’s name? Irving’s Premium Challah. (added 5/21/17)

Irving and Fission
Irving Kaplan was a chemist, professor at M.I.T., and cofounder of the M.I.T. Nuclear Engineering department, who worked on isotope separation in the Manhattan Project.  (added 6/29/17)

Irving and the Movies
Irving Radovich, played by Eddie Albert, was a major character-a news photographer-in the classic 1953 movie Roman Holiday. I have never heard the name Irving uttered so many times in any other movie! (added 6/29/17)

Irving Pitterman and Irving Potterman
These were my aliases. As an undergraduate my handwriting was poor, as it is now, and my writing my name as Irving P. Herman elicited replies to Irving Pitterman or Irving Potterman (added 8/30/20)

Irv Noren (Irving Arnold Noren)
He was a member of the Yankees in the early 1950’s. often platooning for an injured Mickey Mantle.  (added 8/30/20)

Irving Kahal 
He was song lyricist for classic songs, including You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me (which became the signature song of Maurice Chevalier, and which was a perfectly sung Frank Sinatra/Peggy Lee duo song-though the recording quality was terrible) and I’ll Be Seeing You (in all the familiar places) a haunting, nostalgic song that hit home during WWII.  (added 2/7/21)

Not Just One But Two Irvings on Perry Mason
Most TV shows and movies do not have a single Irving contributing to their production. A few have one, but do any have more than one Irving? Irving Pringle was the makeup director in most of the episodes of the 1957-1966 Perry Mason TV series (as noted earlier) and Irving J. Moore was the director in 6 of them (as well as the director of the famous Dallas episode often called Who Shot JR?).  They overlapped in at least one episode, Season 7, Episode 13, The Case of the Wednesday Woman.  (added 2/1/21)

Irving, the King
Irving Caesar was a famous popular song lyricist a century ago who collaborated with George Gershwin and others and who wrote many famous songs, such as Tea for Two. See the Passover Seder Song Parodies on this site for the work of a less accomplished  and less celebrated Irving lyricist. (added 7/16/21)

Irving and Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks noted in the excellent documentary The Automat that his oldest brother (and sibling ) was named Irving, and he used to give him nickels to use in the Automat. (added 1/2/23)