Harold Arlen: Biography

One of the best and most prolific of Broadway and motion picture composers, Harold Arlen could boast a true "Jazz Singer" background. His father was a cantor in a synagogue, and Arlen made his performing debut singing with his dad during the High Holy Days. Any plans to follow in father's footsteps were forgotten when Arlen went into professional show business at 15, playing the piano for a vaudeville musical trio. The years of barnstorming paid off in 1928 when Arlen's song "Get Happy," first performed in The 9:15 Revue, scored a hit. Among Arlen's best-known collaborators during his busiest movie years were Johnny Mercer (Star-Spangled Rhythm), Ira Gershwin (the 1954 version of A Star is Born) and E. Y. Harburg (The Wizard of Oz). Harold Arlen's string of hits for both Broadway and Hollywood include "Stormy Weather," "It's Only a Paper Moon," "Blues in the Night," "That Old Black Magic," "One for My Baby," "Accen-tu-ate the Positive," and of course the Academy Award-winning "Over the Rainbow." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide