# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/paul-dresser
# Generated: 2026-08-14T20:30:07.535Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/paul-dresser"
name: "Paul Dresser"
slug: "paul-dresser"
description: "Paul Dresser was an American singer, songwriter, and comedic actor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Dresser performed in traveling minstrel and medicine-wagon shows and as a vaudeville entertainer for decades, before transitioning to music publishing later in life. His biggest hit, \"On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away\" (1897), was the best selling song of its time. Although Dresser had no formal training in music composition, he wrote ballads that had wide appeal, including some of the most popular songs of the era. During a career that spanned nearly two decades, from 1886 to 1906, Dresser composed and published more than 150 songs. Following the success of \"Wabash\", many newspapers compared Dresser to popular composer Stephen Foster. \"On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away\" became the official song of Indiana in 1913. The Paul Dresser Birthplace in Terre Haute is designated as a state shrine and memorial. Dresser was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970."
tagline: "American musician (1858–1906)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Paul_Dresser%2C_1897.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Musicians"
  slug: "musicians"
profileType:
  name: "Singer / Musician"
  slug: "singer"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q177220"
birthDate: "1858-04-22"
deathDate: "1906-01-31"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           46.36
  momentum:             2.519083969465649
  historical:           9.691902666666667
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  75
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0237573/"
    handle:    "nm0237573"
sources:
  - url: "https://www.discogs.com/artist/706385"
    title: "Discogs"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%BE%D9%88%D9%84_%D8%AF%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%B1"
    title: "پول دريسير"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%BE%D8%A7%D9%84_%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%B1"
    title: "پال درسر"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dresser"
    title: "Paul Dresser"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dresser"
    title: "Paul Dresser"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%BE%D8%A7%D9%84_%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%B1"
    title: "پال درسر"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dresser"
    title: "Paul Dresser"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dresser"
    title: "Paul Dresser"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dresser"
    title: "Paul Dresser"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dresser"
    title: "Paul Dresser"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://musicbrainz.org/artist/7250f76a-e96c-44ad-8800-f6a3a568449c"
    title: "MusicBrainz"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1255425"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://www.themoviedb.org/person/4009248"
    title: "Paul Dresser"
    type:  "DATABASE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump