Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagland Howard "Hoagy" Carmichael (
November 22,
1899 â€"
December 27,
1981) was an
American composer,
pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "
Stardust" (1927), which has been called the most-recorded American song ever written.
Carmichael was born in
Bloomington,
Indiana. He attended
Indiana University, where he received his Bachelor's degree in
1925 and a law degree in
1926. He was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. He originally studied law while playing music on the side, but he eventually decided to devote his energies to music. Carmichael maintained a lifelong affiliation with the university; in 1937 he wrote the song "Chimes of Indiana" which was presented to the school as a gift by the class of
1935. It was made
Indiana University's official
alma mater in 1978. Carmichael also holds the distinction of being awarded an
honorary doctorate in
music by the
Indiana University in
1972.
Carmichael joined
ASCAP in
1931. Aside from "Stardust", he wrote "Riverboat Shuffle", "Rockin' Chair", "Washboard Blues", "Heart & Soul", "New Orleans", and "
Georgia on My Mind"; he also collaborated with
Sidney Arodin on the standard "Up a Lazy River". His collaboration with
Johnny Mercer, "In the Cool Cool Cool of the Evening", won the 1952
Oscar for Best Original Song. Carmichael was one of the first ten songwriters inducted into the USA's
Songwriters Hall of Fame in
1969.
Hoagy Carmichael appeared as an
actor in at least 14
motion pictures (most notably the
Humphrey Bogart-
Lauren Bacall classic
To Have and Have Not,
Young Man with a Horn with Bacall and
Kirk Douglas and
The Best Years of Our Lives with
Myrna Loy and
Frederic March), often singing and playing the piano on his own compositions. Carmichael wrote two autobiographies:
The Stardust Road (
1946) and
Sometimes I Wonder (
1965). He also voiced a stone-age parody of himself, "Stoney Carmichael" on an episode of
The Flintstones.
He died of a
heart attack in
Rancho Mirage, California. He is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Bloomington.
Author
Ian Fleming wrote in his novels
Casino Royale and
Moonraker that British secret agent
James Bond resembled Carmichael, looking like Carmichael with a scar down one cheek.
*
Hoagy Carmichael's entry at the Songwriters' Hall of Fame*
Hoagy Carmichael on RedHotJazz.com*
Official site on Hoagy.com*
The Hoagy Carmichael Room, Archives of Traditional Music, Indiana University*
Find A Grave Profile
