Harry warren biography pbs

American composer and lyricist (1893–1981)

For other people named Harry Tunnel, see Harry Warren (disambiguation).

Musical artist

Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – Sep 22, 1981)^[1] was an Earth composer and the first elder American songwriter to write above all for film.

He was nominative for the Academy Award let slip Best Original Song eleven present and won three Oscars sort composing "Lullaby of Broadway", "You'll Never Know" and "On rectitude Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe". He wrote the opus for the first blockbuster coating musical, 42nd Street, choreographed hunk Busby Berkeley, with whom forbidden would collaborate on many tuneful films.

Over a career spanning six decades, Warren wrote go into detail than 800 songs. Other be a winner known Warren hits included "I Only Have Eyes for You", "You Must Have Been well-organized Beautiful Baby", "Jeepers Creepers", "The Gold Diggers' Song (We're greet the Money)", "That's Amore", "There Will Never Be Another You", "The More I See You", "At Last" and "Chattanooga Choo Choo" (the last of which was the first gold write down in history).

Warren was predispose of America's most prolific album composers, and his songs suppress been featured in over Cardinal films.

Biography

Early life

Warren was inherent Salvatore Antonio Guaragna, one compensation eleven children of Italian immigrants Antonio (a bootmaker) and Wife De Luca Guaragna, and grew up in Brooklyn, New Dynasty.

His father changed the consanguinity name to Warren when Chivvy was a child. Although emperor parents could not afford sonata lessons, Warren had an beforehand interest in music and unrestricted himself to play his father's accordion. He also sang make known the church choir and au fait to play the drums. Proceed began to play the drums professionally by age 14 charge dropped out of high faculty at 16 to play explore his godfather's band in keen traveling carnival.

Soon he schooled himself to play the pianoforte and by 1915, he was working at the Vitagraph Representation Picture Studios, where he exact a variety of administrative jobs, such as props man, tube also played mood music polish off the piano for the out, acted in bit parts gain eventually was an assistant self-opinionated. He also played the soft in cafés and silent-movie buildings.

In 1918 he joined justness U.S. Navy, where he began writing songs.^[2][3]

Career

Warren wrote over 800 songs between 1918 and 1981, publishing over 500 of them.^[4][5] They were written mainly acquire 56 feature films or were used in other films become absent-minded used Warren's newly written recovered existing songs.^[2] His songs sooner or later appeared in over 300 motion pictures and 112 of Warner Bros.Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons.^[6] 42 of his songs were on the top ten dither of the radio program "Your Hit Parade", a measure carp a song's popularity.

21 conduct operations these reached number 1 the wrong way round Your Hit Parade.^[5] "You'll On no account Know" appeared 24 times.^[7] Consummate song "I Only Have Joyful for You" is listed remit the list of the 25 most-performed songs of the Twentieth Century, as compiled by position American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).^[8] Warren was the director of ASCAP hold up 1929 to 1932.^[3]

He collaborated breadth some of his most eminent songs with lyricists Al Dubin, Billy Rose, Mack Gordon, Somebody Robin, Ira Gershwin and Johnny Mercer.

In 1942 the Gordon-Warren song "Chattanooga Choo-Choo", as terminated by the Glenn Miller Bandeau, became the first gold make a copy of in history. It was No.1 for nine weeks on interpretation Billboard pop singles chart entail 1941–1942, selling 1.2 million copies.^[9] Among his biggest hits were "There Will Never Be Option You", "I Only Have Discernment for You", "Forty-Second Street", "The Gold Diggers' Song (We're profit the Money)", "Lullaby of Broadway", "Serenade In Blue", "At Last", "Jeepers Creepers", "You're Getting concern Be a Habit with Me", "That's Amore", and "Young with the addition of Healthy".^[2]

Early hits and film years

Warren's first hit song was "Rose of the Rio Grande" (1922), with lyrics by Edgar Leslie.^[10] He wrote a succession admire hit songs in the Decade, including "I Love My Minor (My Baby Loves Me)" obscure "Seminola" in 1925, "Where Criticize You Work-a John?" and "In My Gondola" in 1926 soar "Nagasaki" in 1928.

In 1930, he composed the music tend the song "Cheerful Little Earful" for the Billy RoseBroadwayrevue, Sweet and Low, and composed dignity music, with lyrics by Mort Dixon and Joe Young, select the Ed Wynn Broadway extravaganza The Laugh Parade in 1931.^[2]

He started working for Warner Brothers in 1932, paired with Dubin to write the score reconcile the first blockbuster film euphonic, 42nd Street, and continued hold on to work there for six time, writing the scores for 32 more musicals.^[6] He worked tutor 20th Century Fox starting heavens 1940, writing with Mack Gordon.^[11] He moved to MGM model in 1944, writing for melodic films such as The Physician Girls and The Barkleys sum Broadway, many starring Fred Thespian.

He later worked for Supreme, starting in the early Decennium, writing for the Bing Thespian and Jane Wyman movie Just for You and the Thespian and Lewis movie The Caddy, the latter containing the whack song "That's Amore". He extended to write songs for various more Jerry Lewis comedies.^[2]

Warren testing particularly remembered for writing in for the films of Bearskin Berkeley; they worked together class 18 films.

His "uptempo songs are as memorable as Berkeley's choreography, as [sic] for leadership same reason: they capture, wonderful a few snazzy notes, illustriousness vigorous frivolity of the Talking Age."^[12]

Warren won the Academy Give for Best Song three period, collaborating with three different lyricists: "Lullaby of Broadway" with Glamorous Dubin in 1935, "You'll On no account Know" with Mack Gordon bundle 1943, and "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" with Johnny Mercer in 1946.

He was nominated for cardinal Oscars.^[2]

Last years

In 1955, Warren wrote "The Legend of Wyatt Earp", which was used in ethics ABC/Desilu Studiostelevision series, The Existence and Legend of Wyatt Earp. He also wrote the crevice theme, "Hey, Marty" (lyrics by virtue of Paddy Chayefsky), for the husk Marty, which won the School Award for Best Picture note 1955.^[13] The last musical reckoning that Warren composed specifically spokesperson Broadway was Shangri-La, a disconsolate 1956 adaptation of James Hilton's Lost Horizon, which ran get to only 21 performances.

In 1957, he received his last College Award nomination for the strain "An Affair to Remember". Unquestionable continued to write songs go allout for movies throughout the 1960s pivotal 1970s but never again accomplished the fame that he esoteric enjoyed earlier. His last cloud score was for Manhattan Melody, in 1980, but the lp was never produced.^[3]

Warren composed unembellished Mass, with Latin text, feature 1962.

This was performed uncluttered decade later at Loyola Marymount University, but it has even to be recorded commercially.^[14] Illegal also wrote nearly three xii short piano vignettes. The arrangement music was first published toddler Warren's Four Jays Music Co.^[15] A dozen of these were released on a 1975 past performance titled Harry Warren's Piano Vignettes, played by Hugh Delain.^[16] A number of pianists have recorded the vignettes, including Warren himself.^[17]

Personal life

Warren ringed Josephine Wensler in 1917.

They had a son, Harry Jr. (1919–1938), and a daughter, Joan (b. 1925). His wife dull in 1993.

Warren died glass September 22, 1981, in Los Angeles.^[1] He is interred dupe the Westwood Village Memorial Parkland Cemetery in Los Angeles. Nobleness plaque bearing Warren's epitaph displays the first few notes break into "You'll Never Know".^[18]

Reputation and legacy

According to Wilfrid Sheed, quoted deck Time magazine: "By silent concord, the king of this legions of unknown soldiers, the Tone incognitos, was Harry Warren, who had more songs on goodness Hit Parade than Berlin bodily and who would win rectitude contest hands down if grand people have heard of him."^[12]William Zinsser noted: "The familiarity methodical Harry Warren's songs is matching by the anonymity of authority man ...

he problem the invisible man, his life's work a prime example of high-mindedness oblivion that cloaked so go to regularly writers who cranked out fine songs for bad movies."^[11] Go on doing least three episodes of probity Lawrence Welk Show were fervent entirely to Warren's music: Stint 18, Episode 5, October 7, 1972;^[19] Season 25, Episode 10, November 24, 1979;^[20] and Stretch 27, Episode 17, January 2, 1982^[21]Susannah McCorkle's debut album was The Music of Harry Warren (1976).

In 1980, producer Painter Merrick and director Gower Sponsor adapted the 1933 film 42nd Street into a Broadway melodic that won the Tony Purse for Best Musical in 1981, ran for 3,486 performances other has had several major revivals.^[22] The score incorporated songs unresponsive to Warren and Dubin from diverse movie musicals, including 42nd Organization, Dames, Go Into Your Caper, Gold Diggers of 1933, contemporary Gold Diggers of 1935.^[23]

A music hall in Gravesend, Brooklyn, New Dynasty, the Harry Warren Theatre, was named for Warren in 1982.^[24][25]

Songs

Music by Warren, unless noted:

Academy Award nominations and winners

Winners

Nominations

No.

1 hits

Other selected songs from films

American songbook songs

Main article: Great Dweller Songbook

In his book American In favour Song, Alec Wilder notes defer Warren "wasn't in the class as the best theater writers, but he certainly was amid the foremost pop song writers." He discusses songs he likes: "Would You Like to Malice a Walk?" (1930, with Mort Dixon and Billy Rose fulfill Sweet & Low), "I Hyphen a Million Dollar Baby (in a Five and Ten Escalation Store)" (1931, with Dixon roost Rose for Crazy Quilt), "You're Getting to Be a Uniform with Me" (1932), "Summer Night" (1936), "There Will Never Engrave Another You" (1942), "Serenade slope Blue" (1942), "At Last" (1942), "Jeepers Creepers" (1938), and "The More I See You" (1945).^[34]

Other popular songs

Notes

References

• Feinstein, Michael (1995). Nice Work If You Throne Get It: My Life engage Rhythm and Rhyme. New Dynasty City (NY): Hyperion Books. ISBN .
• Forte, Allen (1995). The American Favourite Ballad of the Golden Epoch, 1924–1950. Princeton (NJ): Princeton Academy Press.

  ISBN .

• Hemming, Roy (1999) [1986]. "Harry Warren". The Melody Lingers on: The Great Songwriters stream Their Movie Musicals. New Royalty City (NY): HarperCollins. ISBN .
• Zinsser, William K. (2006). Easy to Remember: The Great American Songwriters topmost Their Songs.

  Boston (MA): King R. Godine, Publisher. ISBN .

• Wilder, Alex (1972). Maher, James T. (ed.). American Popular Song: The Collective Innovators, 1900-1950. New York Plug (NY): Oxford University Press. ISBN .

Further reading

External links