Jimmy Van Heusen
Jimmy Van Heusen, actually Edward Chester Babcock ( born January 26, 1913 in Syracuse, New York; † 7 February 1990 in Rancho Mirage, California ) was an American composer. He wrote songs for revues and musicals, as well as films and television.
Life and work
Even in high school he began writing songs. At 15, he lay down as a pseudonym for a show on local radio, the name Jimmy Van Heusen to. He studied at the Cazenovia Seminary and Syracuse University, where he became friends with Jerry Arlen, the younger brother of Harold Arlen, with whom he. Songs for the revues at the Cotton Club such as " Harlem Hospitality " wrote. Subsequently, he was pianist for one of the publishers of Tin Pan Alley. In 1938, he wrote "It's the Dreamer in Me" to a text by Tommy Dorsey. In collaboration with lyricist Eddie DeLange created songs like " Heaven Can Wait ", " So Help Me" or " Darn That Dream"; In 1940 he already wrote more than 60 songs. In the same year, his collaboration with Johnny Burke began. Together they went to Hollywood and wrote in the 1940s and 1950s musicals and films. During the Second World War, Van Hay was also active as a test pilot for Lockheed Corporation.
Later he worked in Hollywood successfully with lyricist Sammy Cahn; among other things, she wrote songs for Rear Window (1954) and the albums by Frank Sinatra. 1965 Van Heusen wrote the musical Skyscraper, 1966 the musical Walking Happy. In 1971 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, but was active until the late 1970s. Songs like " Here's That Rainy Day ," " Polka Dots and Moonbeams " or " Darn That Dream" have also become jazz standards.
Awards
Van Heusen was nominated for four Academy Awards for Best Song and won an Emmy in 1956. Overall, he was nominated 14 times in twelve years for an Oscar (1946 and 1964 respectively for two songs ); 1944, 1957, 1959 and 1963, he received the Oscar. In 1965 he was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Songs ( selection)
- All the Way (T: Sammy Cahn )
- Are not You Glad You're You? (T: Johnny Burke)
- But Beautiful (T: Johnny Burke)
- Come Blow Your Horn (T: Sammy Cahn )
- Come Dance with Me ( T: Sammy Cahn )
- Come Fly with Me ( T: Sammy Cahn )
- Darn That Dream (T: Eddie De Lange)
- Here's That Rainy Day (T: Johnny Burke)
- I Could Have Told You (T: Carl Sigman )
- I Thought About You
- Imagination (T: Johnny Burke)
- It Could Happen to You (T: Johnny Burke)
- Like Someone in Love (T: Johnny Burke)
- Love and Marriage (T: Sammy Cahn )
- Oh! You Crazy Moon
- Personality
- Polka Dots and Moonbeams "T: Johnny Burke
- The Second Time Around
- To Love and Be Loved (T: Sammy Cahn )
Oscar-winning songs
- Swinging on a Star (1944 ) (T: Johnny Burke, from The Road to Happiness )
- All the Way (1957 ) (T: Sammy Cahn, from Schicksalsmelodie )
- High Hopes (1959 ) (T: Sammy Cahn )
- Call Me Irresponsible (1963 ) T: Sammy Cahn