Noted award-winning songwriter, composer, pianist, actor, and singer, with a law degree from Indiana University, embarked on a remarkable career in songwriting, leaving behind a law practice. He joined the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1931, collaborating with notable musicians such as Mitchell Parish, Stuart Gorrell, Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer, Sammy Lerner, Stanley Adams, Edward Heyman, Paul Francis Webster, Jack Brooks, Ned Washington, and Jo Trent.
This accomplished artist published two autobiographies, "The Stardust Road" and "Sometimes I Wonder", and penned numerous popular songs, including Academy Award-winning "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" in 1951. His impressive repertoire also features "Washboard Blues", "Riverboat Shuffle", "Little Old Lady", "Lazybones", "Rockin' Chair", "One Morning in May", "Snowball", "Lazy River", "Thanksgivin'", "Judy", "Moonburn", "Small Fry", "Ooh, What You Said", "The Rhumba Jumps", "Two Sleepy People", "Heart and Soul", "Skylark", "The Nearness of You", "When Love Walks By", "Daybreak", "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief", "Ivy", "Memphis in June", "Hong Kong Blues", "I Get Along Without You Very Well", "Blue Orchids", "The Old Music Master", "How Little We Know", "The Lamplighter's Serenade", "I Walk With Music", "Come Easy Go Easy Love", "Can't Get Indiana Off My Mind", "I Should Have Known You Years Ago", "Baltimore Oriole", "Rogue River Valley", "Who Killed 'Er (Who Killed the Black Widder?)", "Moon Country", "When Love Goes Wrong", "Mediterranean Love", "Music, Always Music", "There Goes Another Pal of Mine", and "Just For Tonight", as well as "My Resistance is Low".
