Matinee Classics - Hoagy Carmichael Biography & Filmography

Hoagy Carmichael ACTOR

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HOAGY CARMICHAEL BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Hoagy Carmichael was born on November 22nd, 1899 in Bloomington, Indiana with the birth name Hoagland Howard Carmichael. His career consisted of being a well known singer, pianist, composer and actor. He became most well known for composing the music for, "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You" and "Heart and Soul".

He was born the only son to Howard Clyde Carmichael and Lida Mary Robison. By the age of six he had taken up an interest in piano and singing and after high school he found various odd jobs to help his family out financially.

He later enrolled at Indiana University followed by going on to study at the Indiana University School of Law earning his degree in 1925 followed by a law degree in 1926. Even though he now had a law degree and found work at a firm in Indiana he still focused all his free time on music and composing songs.

His music career began to take off in 1927 when he recorded one of his most well known songs, "Stardust" followed by his first major song, "Rockin' Chair". He now had his own band and realized he had a passion for music and not law, therefore he left Indiana and relocated to Hollywood to begin a career in musical entertainment.

After some time in Hollywood and with little luck of furthering his career, he made the move to New York City and met Irving Mills who was an agent and publisher. From this point on his career began heading in the right direction with more successful recordings. Soon he was working as a solo artist and then in 1935 he joined Warner Brothers and began composing music for them.

When Paramount offered him a contract he made the move to Hollywood for a second time and began working as a song writer for the studio. By 1937, not only was he writing music for the film industry, they were using him in such films as, "Topper" (1937) and "To Have and Have Not" (1943). Throughout his career as an actor, he appeared in fourteen motion picture films.

During World War II a number of his songs became known as war time songs such as, "My Christmas Song For You", "Don't Forget to Say "No" Baby", "Billy-a-Duck" and "Cranky Old Yank" among many others.

Along with composing music, and acting in a number of films, Carmichael was also given the opportunity to host three different musical variety radio programs. Then in the early 1950's when television began to take off, Carmichael hosted, "Saturday Night Review" (1953) and had guest appearances on, "The Joseph Cotton Show" (1956), "Playhouse 90" (1957) and a regular role on, "Laramie" (1959-1963).

He married twice throughout his lifetime, first to Ruth Meinardi in 1937 and they had two children before the marriage came to an end in 1955. He then married actress Wanda McKay in 1977 and they remained together until he passed away on December 27th, 1981 from a heart attack in Rancho Mirage, California. His remains are interred at Rose Hill Cemetery in Bloomington, Indiana.

Hoagy Carmichael received a number of honors due to his influence in the entertainment industry such as having his picture on a commemorative United States postage stamp in 1996. He was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971 and in 2007 he was inducted into the Gennett Records Walk of Fame in Richmond, Indiana.