Gorney was born
Abraham Jacob Gornetzsky on December 12, 1896, His family was Jewish. In 1906, he witnessed the
Bialystok pogrom, which forced his family into hiding for nearly two weeks; they soon fled to the United States, arriving on 14 September 1906. Gorney's second marriage was to Sondra Karyl (Kattlove), a public relations consultant. Their daughter,
Karen Lynn Gorney, is an actress and dancer who was in the original cast of
All My Children, and starred opposite
John Travolta in
Saturday Night Fever. Gorney has two sons, Dr. Roderic Gorney (with first wife Edelaine Roden) and Dan Gorney (with Sondra Karyl). Gorney's 2005 biography,
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? The Life of Composer Jay Gorney was written by his widow Sondra. ==References==