Hoagy Carmichael

Hoagy Carmichael
Carmichael in 1947
Background information
Birth name	Howard Hoagland Carmichael
Born	(1899-11-22)November 22, 1899 Bloomington, Indiana, United States
Died	December 27, 1981(1981-12-27) (aged 82) Rancho Mirage, California, United States
Genres	Musical films, popular songs
Occupation(s)	Songwriter, musician, actor, attorney
Instruments	Piano, vocals
Years active	1918–1981
Associated acts	Sidney Arodin, Louis Armstrong, Fred Astaire, Bix Beiderbecke, Ray Charles, Bing Crosby, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Helen Forrest, Harry James, Spike Jones, Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer, Glenn Miller, Dinah Shore, Paul Whiteman
Website	Hoagy Carmichael

Howard Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader from Indiana. American composer and author, Alec Wilder, described Carmichael as the "most talented, inventive, sophisticated and jazz-oriented of all the great craftsmen" of pop songs in the first half of the twentieth century. Carmichael is one of the most successful of the Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and is among the first singer-songwriters in the age of mass media to exploit new communication technologies, such as television and the use of electronic microphones and sound recordings.

Carmichael composed several hundred songs, including fifty that achieved hit record status. He is best known for composing the music for "Stardust", "Georgia on My Mind" (lyrics by Stuart Gorrell), "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul" (in collaboration with lyricist Frank Loesser), four of the most-recorded American songs of all time. He also collaborated with lyricist Johnny Mercer on "Skylark." Carmichael's "Ole Buttermilk Sky" was an Academy Award-nominee in 1946; "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," with lyrics by Mercer, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1951. Carmichael also appeared as a character actor and musical performer in fourteen motion pictures, hosted three musical-variety radio programs, performed on television, and wrote two autobiographies.

Born in Bloomington, Indiana, on November 22, 1899, Hoaglund Howard "Hoagie" Carmichael was the first child and only son of Howard Clyde and Lida Mary (Robison) Carmichael. His parents named him after a circus troupe called the "Hoaglands" that had stayed at the Carmichael house during his mother's pregnancy. Howard worked as a horse-drawn taxi driver and later as an electrician, while Lida, a versatile pianist, played accompaniment at movie theaters for silent movies and at private parties to earn extra income. Hoagy had two younger sisters, Georgia and Joanne. Because of Howard's unstable job history, the family moved frequently. Hoagy spent most of his early years in Bloomington and in Indianapolis, Indiana.