Neil Sedaka

Acting

Neil Sedaka

Born 1939-03-13 · Brooklyn, New York, USA

Neil Sedaka (March 13, 1939 — February 27, 2026) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Beginning his music career in 1957, he sold millions of records worldwide and wrote or co-wrote over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard Greenfield and Phil Cody. After a short-lived tenure as a founding member of the doo-wop group the Tokens, Sedaka achieved a string of hit singles over the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Oh! Carol" (1959), "Calendar Girl" (1960), "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" (1961), and "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (1962). His popularity declined by the mid-1960s, but revived in the mid-1970s, solidified by the 1975 US Billboard Hot 100 number ones "Laughter in the Rain" and "Bad Blood". Sedaka maintained a successful career as a songwriter, penning hits for other artists, including "Stupid Cupid" (Connie Francis), "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" (Tony Christie), and "Love Will Keep Us Together" (Captain & Tennille). As a performer, he had ten No. 1 hits and four as a songwriter. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983 and continued to perform, mounting mini-concerts on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sedaka was hospitalized in Los Angeles after experiencing an undisclosed medical emergency and later died on February 27, 2026, aged 86.

Acting credits

Instant Love poster
7.0

Rhonda Fleming shines as Pamela, an American film star who falls in love with coffee grower Claudio (Rossano Brazzi) while in Brazil. When the two are hastily married, Pamela finds herself entwined in a clash of cultures in this rarely seen romantic comedy.

Instant Love

1964

ABBA: In Their Own Words poster
NR

Original interviews, rare archive footage and a lot of music, retelling the story of one of the most successful pop groups of all time.

ABBA: In Their Own Words

2020

No artwork available
NR

An attraction at Epcot's The Land pavilion at Walt Disney World that ran from 1994-2004, presented as a benefit concert for good nutrition.

Food Rocks

1994

Playgirl Killer poster
5.6

A rich, lonely woman hires a drifter as a live-in handyman. The drifter turns out to be a psycho artist who has beautiful women model for him.

Playgirl Killer

1967

The Midnight Special Legendary Performances 1974 poster
NR

The Midnight Special is an American late-night musical variety series that aired on NBC during the 1970s and early 1980s, created and produced by Burt Sugarman. It premiered as a special on August 19, 1972, then began its run as a regular series on February 2, 1973; its last episode was on May 1, 1981. The ninety-minute program followed the Friday night edition of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The show typically featured guest hosts, except for a period from July 1975 through March 1976 when singer Helen Reddy served as the regular host. Wolfman Jack served as the announcer and frequent guest host. The program's theme song, a traditional folk song called "Midnight Special", was performed by Johnny Rivers.

The Midnight Special Legendary Performances 1974

1974

Festival in Rhythm poster
NR

After a series of successful concerts at the Araneta Coliseum in May 1960, American pop singer Neil Sedaka was contracted by LVN Pictures to appear in a musical featurette called “Festival in Rhythm.” The film was shown as an added attraction to “Dahlia” which was released in July. “Festival in Rhythm,” originally shot in color, was a compilation of musical numbers featuring LVN stars and singing and dancing talents leading up to Neil Sedaka. The only surviving print is a black and white workprint from the color original. Since black-and-white positive film stock was not full-color sensitive, warm colors (like skin tones) print dark, hence the dark complexion of the actors in the film.

Festival in Rhythm

1960

Neil Sedaka: King of Song poster
NR

Documentary portrait of US singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka, who recorded and sang a number of instantly recognisable tunes as well as writing a string of hits for other artists.

Neil Sedaka: King of Song

2014

ABBA Silver, ABBA Gold poster
7.7

ABBA Silver, ABBA Gold takes Abba from the Swedish heats of the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, where their song 'Waterloo' swept all before it, right up to today's new CGI performances.

ABBA Silver, ABBA Gold

2023

ABBA Forever: A Celebration poster
8.0

This definitive music documentary, featuring a greatest hits soundtrack and bounty of classic performance clips, provides an inside look into how Swedish pop group ABBA's music was made, as the former members and various colleagues tell their story from pre-ABBA days onward.

ABBA Forever: A Celebration

2019

Kylie Minogue V The Bee Gees poster
NR

Kylie and The Bee Gees are compared to see who had the better music, comebacks, dancing, legacy and more.

Kylie Minogue V The Bee Gees

2022

No artwork available
7.0

A concert by American singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka. First broadcast in 1975. Songs include Love Will Keep Us Together, Laughter in the Rain and When You Were Lovin' Me.

In Concert: Neil Sedaka

1975

Bob Hope's Comedy Christmas Special poster
NR

Bob Hope and friends celebrate Christmas with skits and interviews.

Bob Hope's Comedy Christmas Special

1976

Neil Sedaka: The Show Goes On poster
6.5

One of pop music's most successful singer-songwriters, Neil Sedaka wows a sold-out crowd at London's Royal Albert Hall, performing such classics as "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" and "Calendar Girl." In a concert that reflects each phase of his storied career, Sedaka offers up best-loved songs and introduces new tunes, all delivered with characteristic warmth and humor. The set list includes "Laughter in the Rain," "Never Again" and many more.

Neil Sedaka: The Show Goes On

2006

Neil Sedaka - Legends in Concert poster
NR

Recorded live at Jubilee Hall in Canada, the Brooklyn born entertainer and composer plays his best songs, including “Standing On The Inside.”

Neil Sedaka - Legends in Concert

2015

No artwork available
NR

Documentary telling the story of songwriter and performer Neil Sedaka, the man behind some of the biggest smash hits in history, including Oh Carol, Is This the Way to Amarillo, Solitaire, Breaking up Is Hard to Do, and Love Will Keep Us Together.

Neil Sedaka: That's When the Music Takes Me

2010

No artwork available
8.0

Hugely successful singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka plays hits from his early rock 'n' roll days and his later, more lyrical age in this special one-man show from the 1980s.

Neil Sedaka Says: All You Need Is the Music

1983

Neil Sedaka: Live in Concert at the Jubilee Hall poster
NR

Performing for a packed house at Canada's Jubilee Hall, Neil Sedaka charms the sold-out crowd with delightful renditions of classics such as "Oh Carol," "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" and "Laughter in the Rain." The set list also includes "Love Will Keep Us Together," "Solitaire," "Bad Blood," "The Immigrant," "That's When the Music Takes Me," "Standing on the Inside," "New York City Blues" and more.

Neil Sedaka: Live in Concert at the Jubilee Hall

1981