orig.
Hoagland Howard Carmichael
Hoagy Carmichael.
(born Nov. 22, 1899, Bloomington, Ind., U.S.—died Dec. 27, 1981, Rancho Mirage, Calif.) U.S. songwriter. While studying law in Indiana, he met many jazz musicians, including
Bix Beiderbecke, who recorded Carmichael's first composition, “Riverboat Shuffle” (1924). The relaxed tunefulness of later songs such as “Georgia (Georgia on My Mind),” “Rockin' Chair,” and “Lazy River” gave them a universal appeal. For Hollywood films he wrote “Thanks for the Memory,” “Two Sleepy People,” “Heart and Soul,” and “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening” (1951, Academy Award). His “Stardust” is reputedly the most recorded popular song of all time. He acted in several films, including
To Have and Have Not (1944) and
Young Man with a Horn (1950), and wrote the memoirs
The Stardust Road (1946) and
Sometimes I Wonder (1965).
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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.