Editing Eubie Blake (section)

==Later life==
[[File:Eubie Blake Presidential Medal of Freedom.jpg|left|thumb|Blake receiving the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] from [[Ronald Reagan]] (1981)]]

In July 1910, Blake married Avis Elizabeth Cecelia Lee, proposing to her in a chauffeur-driven car he hired. They met around 1895, when they attended Primary School No.&nbsp;2 at 200 East Street in Baltimore. In 1910, Blake brought his bride to [[Atlantic City, New Jersey]], where he had already found employment at the Boathouse nightclub.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

In 1938, Avis was diagnosed with [[tuberculosis]]. She died later that year, at the age of 58. Of his loss, Blake said, "In my life I never knew what it was to be alone. At first when Avis got sick, I thought she just had a cold, but when time passed and she didn’t get better, I made her go to a doctor and we found out she had TB … I suppose I knew from when we found out she had the TB, I understood that it was just a matter of time."<ref name=koenig/>

While serving as bandleader with the [[United Service Organizations|USO]] during World War II, he met Marion Grant Tyler, the widow of violinist Willy Tyler. They married in 1945. A performer and businesswoman, she became his valued business manager until her death in 1982. In 1946, Blake retired from performing and enrolled in [[New York University]], where he studied the [[Schillinger System]] of music composition, graduating in two and a half years. He spent the next two decades using the Schillinger System to transcribe songs that he had memorized but had never written down.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/13/obituaries/eubie-blake-ragtime-composer-dies-5-days-after-100th-birthday.html|title=Eubie Blake, Ragtime Composer, Dies 5 Days After 100th Birthday|last=Wilson|first=John S.|date=February 13, 1983|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 24, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In the 1970s and 1980s, public interest in Blake's music was revived following the release of his 1969 retrospective album ''[[The Eighty-Six Years of Eubie Blake]].''<ref name=":0" />

Blake was a frequent guest of ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]'' and ''[[The Merv Griffin Show|Merv Griffin]]''. He was featured by leading conductors, such as [[Leonard Bernstein]] and [[Arthur Fiedler]]. In 1977 he played Will Williams in the [[Jeremy Kagan]] biographical film ''[[Scott Joplin (film)|Scott Joplin]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076674/fullcredits|title=Scott Joplin (TV Movie 1977)|website=IMDb.com|access-date=June 1, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_TP3DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA263|title=The Encyclopedia of Musicians and Bands on Film|first1=Melissa U. D.|last1=Goldsmith|first2=Paige A.|last2=Willson|first3=Anthony J.|last3=Fonseca|date=October 7, 2016|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|access-date=February 12, 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9781442269873}}</ref> By 1975, he had been awarded honorary doctorates from Rutgers, the New England Conservatory, the [[University of Maryland]], [[Morgan State University]], [[Pratt Institute]], [[Brooklyn College]], and [[Dartmouth College|Dartmouth]]. On October 9, 1981, he received the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] from President [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref name="reaganlibrary">{{cite web |title=Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1981 |url=https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/remarks-presentation-ceremony-presidential-medal-freedom-1981 |website=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=February 11, 2021 |language=en |date=October 9, 1981}}</ref><ref name="WashPost19811010">{{cite news |last1=Romano |first1=Lois |title=Medals of Freedom For Six Americans |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/10/10/medals-of-freedom-for-six-americans/2eed52c1-42d8-44b7-a2f3-045afb435069/ |access-date=February 11, 2021 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=October 10, 1981}}</ref>

''[[Eubie!]]'', a revue featuring Blake's music, with lyrics by Noble Sissle, [[Andy Razaf]], [[Johnny Brandon]], [[F. E. Miller]] and [[Jim Europe]], opened on Broadway in 1978. It was a hit at the Ambassador Theatre, where it ran for 439 performances. It received three nominations for [[Tony Award]]s, including one for Blake's score. The show was filmed in 1981 with the original cast members, including Lesley Dockery, [[Gregory Hines]] and [[Maurice Hines]].

Blake performed with [[Gregory Hines]] on the television program ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' on March 10, 1979 ([[Saturday Night Live (season 4)|season 4, episode 14]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=Saturday Night Live |url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/saturday-night-live/episodes-season-4/1030140662/ |website=TVGuide.com |access-date=February 11, 2021 |language=en |quote=Episode 14 - Gary Busey; Eubie Blake; Gregory Hines - Sat, Mar 10, 1979 - 90 mins  Gary Busey hosts; Eubie Blake and Gregory Hines perform "I'm Just Wild About Harry." Bill Murray interviews Mr. Ed's widow, Mrs. Ed; a panel of men discusses women's problems.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Musical guests Eubie Blake and Gregory Hines perform on March 10, 1979... |url=https://www.gettyimages.ae/detail/news-photo/episode-14-pictured-musical-guests-eubie-blake-and-gregory-news-photo/461906020 |website=Getty Images |date=January 21, 2015 |access-date=February 11, 2021 |language=en-gb |quote=(Photo by: Fred Bronson / NBCU Photo Bank / NBC Universal via Getty Images)}}</ref>