Philip Springer

Philip Springer (born May 12, 1926) is an American composer, pianist, and songwriter best known for co-writing the enduring Christmas standard "Santa Baby" in 1953.

Throughout a prolific career spanning over seven decades, Springer has contributed to popular music, film scores, television soundtracks, and classical compositions, collaborating with luminaries such as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Judy Garland, and Aretha Franklin. His early training in classical piano, influenced by his musical family, led him to graduate from Columbia College in 1950, where he co-composed music for varsity shows, followed by an M.A. from New York University studying baroque counterpoint and a Ph.D. in composition from UCLA in 1973, with a dissertation incorporating the ARP 2600 synthesizer. Beginning as a staff composer at the Brill Building in New York City in the late 1940s, Springer penned hits like "How Little it Matters, How Little We Know" for Sinatra, "Moonlight Gambler" for Frankie Laine, and "Teasin'" for Connie Haines, while also forming the publishing company Tamir Music.

Philip Springer was born on May 12, 1926, in New York City to Jewish parents, with his mother Sylvia serving as a concert pianist and his father Mordecai working as a lawyer.

Born to Jewish parents in New York City on May 12, 1926—his middle name is Pesach—Springer maintained a connection to his Jewish heritage that subtly shaped family traditions, such as blending cultural observances without emphasizing religious practice.