Cast & creator
Neil Sedaka
Best known for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Mike Douglas Show, The Mike Douglas Show
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.
19
film credits
33
television credits
49
1948–2023 · acting roles
6.1
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (52)
Showing 52 of 52 credits
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
The Mike Douglas Show
Self - Guest Co-Host
1961The Mike Douglas Show
Self
1961
Saturday Night Live
Self - Musical Guest
1975
The View
Self
1997
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
1962
The King of Queens
Neil Sedaka
1998
American Idol
Self - Guest Judge
2002
Later... with Jools Holland
1992
The Carol Burnett Show
Self
1967The Tony Danza Show
Self
2004
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
1948Pebble Mill
Self
1991The Alan Titchmarsh Show
Self
2007The Heaven and Earth Show
1998Ein Kessel Buntes
Self
1972
The Dick Clark Show
Self
1958
Donny & Marie
Self
1976
Shindig!
Self - Singer / Pianist
1964Shindig!
Self - Singer
1964
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest
Self
1972
Surprise, Surprise
Self - Performer
1984
Musikladen
Self
1972
Legends
Self
2006Na sowas!
Self
1982
Tony Orlando and Dawn
Self
1974
The Sonny and Cher Show
1976
Good Morning Britain
Self
2014
This Is Pop
Self
2021The Garden Party
1998
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
Theme Song Performance
1979
The Music Biz
Self
1995
Look - Mike Yarwood!
1971Food Rocks
Neil Moussaka (uncredited)
1994Food Rocks
Songs
1994
ABBA Forever: A Celebration
Self
2019
Kylie Minogue V The Bee Gees
Self (archive footage)
2022
ABBA: In Their Own Words
Self
2020
The Midnight Special Legendary Performances 1974
Self
1974
Bob Hope's Comedy Christmas Special
1976
Sting of Death
Songs
1966
Playgirl Killer
Bob
1967
Instant Love
Himself
1964
Neil Sedaka: King of Song
Self
2014
ABBA Silver, ABBA Gold
Himself - singer-songwriter
2023
Festival in Rhythm
Himself
1960
Neil Sedaka: The Show Goes On
2006
Neil Sedaka - Legends in Concert
Self
2015In Concert: Neil Sedaka
1975Neil Sedaka: That's When the Music Takes Me
2010Neil Sedaka Says: All You Need Is the Music
1983
Neil Sedaka: Live in Concert at the Jubilee Hall
Himself
1981