Harold Arlen

Not to be confused with Harold Arlin.
Harold Arlen

Arlen in 1960 by Carl Van Vechten.
Born Hyman Arluck
(1905-02-15)February 15, 1905
Buffalo, New York, United States
Died April 23, 1986(1986-04-23) (aged 81)
New York City, New York, United States
Spouse(s) Anya Taranda
(m. 1937–1970; her death)
Children none, adopted his brother Jerry´s son Samuel in 1985 shortly before his death[1]

Harold Arlen (February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz (lyrics by E.Y. Harburg), including the classic "Over the Rainbow", Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the Great American Songbook. "Over the Rainbow" was voted the twentieth century's No. 1 song by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).[2][3]

Life and career

Arlen was born Hyman Arluck, in Buffalo, New York, United States, the child of a Jewish cantor. His twin brother died the next day. He learned the piano as a youth and formed a band as a young man. He achieved some local success as a pianist and singer and moved to New York City in his early 20s. He worked as an accompanist in vaudeville.[4] At this point, he changed his name to Harold Arlen. Between 1926 and about 1934, Arlen appeared occasionally as a band vocalist on records by The Buffalodians, Red Nichols, Joe Venuti, Leo Reisman and Eddie Duchin, usually singing his own compositions.

In 1929, Arlen composed his first well-known song: "Get Happy" (with lyrics by Ted Koehler). Throughout the early and mid-1930s, Arlen and Koehler wrote shows for the Cotton Club, a popular Harlem night club, as well as for Broadway musicals and Hollywood films. Arlen and Koehler's partnership resulted in a number of hit songs, including the familiar standards "Let's Fall in Love" and "Stormy Weather". Arlen continued to perform as a pianist and vocalist with some success, most notably on records with Leo Reisman's society dance orchestra.

Arlen's compositions have always been popular with jazz musicians because of his facility at incorporating a blues feeling into the idiom of the conventional American popular song.

In the mid-1930s, Arlen married, and spent increasing time in California, writing for movie musicals. It was at this time that he began working with lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg. In 1938, the team was hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to compose songs for The Wizard of Oz. The most famous of these is the song "Over the Rainbow" for which they won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song. They also wrote "Down with Love" (featured in the 1937 Broadway show Hooray for What!), "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" for Groucho Marx in At the Circus in 1939, and "Happiness is a Thing Called Joe" for Ethel Waters in the 1943 movie Cabin in the Sky.

Arlen was a longtime friend and former roommate of actor Ray Bolger, who starred in The Wizard of Oz.

In the 1940s, he teamed up with lyricist Johnny Mercer, and continued to write hit songs like "Blues in the Night", "Out of this World", "That Old Black Magic", "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive", "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home", "Come Rain or Come Shine" and "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)".

Arlen composed two defining tunes which bookend Judy Garland's musical persona: as a yearning, innocent girl in "Over the Rainbow" and a world-weary, "chic chanteuse" with "The Man That Got Away", the latter written for the 1954 version of the film A Star Is Born.

Timeline

Arlen performs with Peggy Lee and Vic Damone in 1961.

Works for Broadway

Major songs

Films

Biographies

References

  1. 1 2 Jablonski, Edward (1996). Harold Arlen: Rhythm, Rainbows, and Blues. Northeastern University Press. ISBN 1-55553-263-2, p.360
  2. ↑ "Honors & Awards". Haroldarlen.com. Retrieved 2012-06-07.
  3. ↑ "New song list puts 'Rainbow' way up high – CNN". Archives.cnn.com. 2001-03-07. Retrieved 2012-06-07.
  4. ↑ Laurie, Joe, Jr. Vaudeville: From the Honky-tonks to the Palace. New York: Henry Holt, 1953. p. 328.
  5. ↑ Williams, Iain Cameron (2002). Underneath a Harlem Moon ... The Harlem to Paris Years of Adelaide Hall. Continuum Publishing, ISBN 0826458939.
  6. ↑ Johnston, Laurie (November 19, 1979). "Theater Hall of Fame Enshrines 51 Artists". The New York Times. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  • Jablonski, Edward (1996). Harold Arlen: Rhythm, Rainbows, and Blues. Northeastern University Press. ISBN 1-55553-263-2. 
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