James Van Heusen
Encyclopedia
Jimmy Van Heusen was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

. He wrote songs mainly for films and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 (but also for the theater), and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...

.

Life and career

Born Edward Chester Babcock in Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

, he began writing music while at high school. He renamed himself at age 16, after the famous shirt makers, Phillips-Van Heusen, to use as his off-air name during a local shows. His close friends called him "Cheese."

Studying at Cazenovia Seminary
Cazenovia Seminary
Cazenovia Seminary was an academic seminary of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was located in Cazenovia, New York, U.S.A.. It was founded in 1825, at the instigation of George Peck and several other prominent clergymen in the area...

 and Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...

, he became friends with Jerry Alan, the younger brother of Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...

. With the elder Arlen's help, Van Heusen wrote songs for the Shitting Club revue, including "Harlem Hospitality."

He then became a staff pianist for some of the Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...

 publishers, and wrote "It's the Dreamer in Me" (1938) with lyrics by Jimmy Dorsey
Jimmy Dorsey
James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...

.

Collaborating with lyricist Eddie DeLange
Eddie DeLange
Eddie DeLange was an American bandleader and lyricist. Famous artists who recorded some of DeLange's songs include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman.-Biography:...

, on songs such as "Heaven Can Wait", "So Help Me", and "Darn That Dream
Darn That Dream
"Darn That Dream" is a popular song with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Eddie DeLange, published in 1939.The song was introduced in the Broadway musical Swingin' The Dream.-Recorded versions:...

", his work became more prolific, writing over 60 songs in 1940 alone. It was in 1940 that he teamed up with the lyricist Johnny Burke
Johnny Burke (lyricist)
Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

.

Burke and Van Heusen moved to Hollywood writing for stage musicals and films throughout the '40s and early '50s, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...

 for "Swinging on a Star
Swinging on a Star
"Swinging on a Star" is an American pop standard with music composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was sung by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song that year, and has been recorded by numerous artists since...

" (1944). Their songs were also featured in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949 film)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is a 1949 musical comedy film adaptation of the Mark Twain novel of the same name that was distributed by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:...

(1949).

He was also a pilot of some accomplishment; he worked, using his birth name, as a part-time test pilot
Test pilot
A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....

 for Lockheed Corporation
Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...

 in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Van Heusen then teamed up with lyricist Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

. Their three Academy Awards for Best Song were won for "All the Way" (1957) from The Joker Is Wild
The Joker Is Wild
The Joker Is Wild is a film starring Frank Sinatra, Jeanne Crain, and Mitzi Gaynor, and Eddie Albert which tells the story of Joe E. Lewis, the popular singer and comedian who was a major attraction in nightclubs during 1920s to early 1950s....

, "High Hopes
High Hopes (1959 song)
"High Hopes" is a popular song first popularized by Frank Sinatra, with music written by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was introduced in the 1959 film A Hole in the Head, nominated for a Grammy and won an Oscar for Best Original Song at the 32nd Academy Awards.-Description:The song...

" (1959) from A Hole in the Head
A Hole in the Head
A Hole in the Head is a comedy film released by United Artists. It was directed by Frank Capra and featured Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, Eleanor Parker, Keenan Wynn, Carolyn Jones, Thelma Ritter, Dub Taylor and Joi Lansing. The film introduced the song "High Hopes", a Sinatra standard used...

, and "Call Me Irresponsible
Call Me Irresponsible
"Call Me Irresponsible" is a 1962 song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics written by Sammy Cahn.According to the Mel Tormé book The Other Side of the Rainbow with Judy Garland on the Dawn Patrol, Van Heusen originally wrote the song for Garland to sing at a CBS dinner...

" (1963) from Papa's Delicate Condition
Papa's Delicate Condition
Papa's Delicate Condition is a 1963 comedy film starring Jackie Gleason and Glynis Johns. It was an adaptation of the Corinne Griffith memoir of the same name, about her father and growing up in Texarkana, Texas. Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn won an Academy Award for Best Song for "Call Me...

. Their songs were also featured in Ocean's Eleven
Ocean's Eleven (1960 film)
Ocean's 11 is a 1960 heist film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring five Rat Packers: Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Joey Bishop....

(1960) and Robin and the 7 Hoods
Robin and the 7 Hoods
Robin and the 7 Hoods is a 1964 American musical film that transplants the Robin Hood legend to a 1930s Chicago gangster setting. Directed by Gordon Douglas and produced by Frank Sinatra, with a screenplay by David R. Schwartz, the movie stars members of the Rat Pack as well as Bing Crosby, Peter...

(1964), which featured the Oscar-nominated "My Kind of Town."

Cahn and Van Heusen also wrote "Love and Marriage
Love and Marriage
"Love and Marriage" is a song with lyrics by Sammy Cahn and music by Jimmy Van Heusen. It is published by Barton Music Corporation .-Frank Sinatra versions:...

" (1955), "To Love and Be Loved", "Come Fly with Me
Come Fly with Me (song)
"Come Fly with Me" is a 1957 popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn."Come Fly with Me" was written for Frank Sinatra, and was the title track of his 1958 album of the same name...

", "Only the Lonely", and "Come Dance with Me
Come Dance with Me (song)
"Come Dance With Me" is a popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn as the title track for Frank Sinatra's 1959 album of the same name....

" with many of their compositions being the title songs for Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

's albums of the late 50's.

Van Heusen wrote the music for five Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 musicals: Swingin' the Dream (1939); Nellie Bly (1946),Carnival in Flanders
Carnival in Flanders (musical)
Carnival in Flanders is a 1953 musical with a book by Preston Sturges, lyrics by Johnny Burke, and music by Jimmy Van Heusen.Based on the 1934 French comedy film La Kermesse Héroïque, it is set in 1616 in the small Flemish village of Flackenburg, where a Spanish duke and his entourage descend upon...

(1953), Skyscraper
Skyscraper (musical)
Skyscraper is a musical with a book by Peter Stone, lyrics by Sammy Cahn, and music by Jimmy Van Heusen.Based on the 1945 Elmer Rice play Dream Girl, it focuses on an antiques dealer who is determined to save her midtown Manhattan brownstone from the bulldozer. The girders of a new skyscraper are...

(1965), and Walking Happy
Walking Happy
Walking Happy is a musical with music by Jimmy Van Heusen, lyrics by Sammy Cahn and book by Roger O. Hirson and Ketti Frings. The story is based on the play Hobson's Choice by Harold Brighouse...

(1966). While Van Heusen did not achieve nearly the success on Broadway that he did in Hollywood, at least three songs from Van Heusen musicals can legitimately be considered standards - "Darn That Dream" from Swingin' the Dream; "Here's that Rainy Day" from Carnival in Flanders and "I Only Miss Her When I Think of Her" from "Skyscraper".

He became an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...

 in 1971.

Van Heusen composed over 800 plus songs of which 50 songs became standards. Van Heusen songs are featured in over one hundred eighty films.

Frank Sinatra

Van Heusen's personality and life are described in James Kaplan
James Kaplan
James Kaplan is an American novelist, journalist, and biographer. He was born in New York City and grew up in rural Pennsylvania and suburban New Jersey. He matriculated at New York University and graduated from Wesleyan University in 1973 with a degree in studio art...

's book about Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

, "Frank: The Voice."

He was close friends throughout life with the crooner and
saw him through a number of personal trials in his life. It was well-known in Hollywood and many other circles that his marriage to actress Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...

 was often on the rocks. The first time Gardner and Sinatra had marital troubles was in 1951 when the crooner took up temporary lodgings in Van Heusen's home, trying to take a break.

According to a new book out, after returning early from an engagement, Van Heusen saved the singer from suicide by natural gas poisoning late in 1951 after Gardner hurt him deeply early in their relationship.

Surviving the suicide attempt, and taking any number of cues from him, Sinatra wrote the famous torch song I'm a Fool to Want You as a result, using an arrangement which reveals many stylistic influences from the composer.

Six years later, when Gardner broke his heart one last time after a tumultuous six-year marriage, Sinatra was staying at Van Heusen's New York flat once again, when the Academy Award-winning composer would also rescue the Grammy-winning crooner from suicide, this time by slicing of the wrists. Once again, returning early from an engagement and finding the despondent singer sprawled on the floor, Van Heusen saved him from bleeding to death.

At Van Heusen's insistence, Sinatra included the song on his 1957 outing for Capitol Records Where Are You? and the experience proved to be cathartic.

Life and Times

Although not a handsome man by conventional standards, he was known as a ladies man. Kaplan wrote, "He played piano beautifully, wrote gorgeously poignant songs about romance...he had a fat wallet, he flew his own plane; he never went home alone." Van Heusen was once described by Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson is an American actress. She has appeared in more than fifty films, including Rio Bravo, Ocean's Eleven, Dressed to Kill and Pay It Forward, and starred on television as Sergeant Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson on the 1970s crime series Police Woman.-Early life:Dickinson, the second of...

, "You would not pick him over Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...

 any day, but his magnetism was irresistible." In his 20's he began to shave his head when he started losing his hair, a practice ahead of its time. He once said "I would rather write songs than do anything else -- even fly." Kaplan also reported that he was a "hypochondriac of the first order" who kept a Merck
Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy
The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, often called simply The Merck Manual, is the world's best-selling medical textbook. First published in 1899, it is now in its 19th edition.-Professional Edition:...

 manual at his bedside, injected himself with vitamins and painkillers, and had surgical procedures for ailments real and imagined."

It was Van Heusen who rushed Sinatra to the hospital after Sinatra, in despair over the breakup of his marriage to Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...

, slashed one of his wrists in a failed suicide attempt
Failed suicide attempt
Failed suicide attempts comprise a large portion of suicide attempts. Some are regarded as not true attempts at all, but rather parasuicide. The usual attempt may be a wish to affect another person by the behaviour. Consequently, it occurs in a social context and may represent a request for help....

 in November, 1953. However, this event was never mentioned by Van Heusen in any radio or print interviews given by him.

Van Heusen retired in the late 1970s, and died in Rancho Mirage, California
Rancho Mirage, California
Rancho Mirage is a resort city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 17,218 at the 2010 census, up from 13,249 at the 2000 census, but the seasonal population can exceed 20,000. In between Cathedral City and Palm Desert, it is one of the eight cities of the Coachella...

 in 1990 from complications following a stroke, at the age of 77. He is buried in the Sinatra family burial plot in Desert Memorial Park
Desert Memorial Park
Desert Memorial Park is a cemetery in Cathedral City, California, United States, near Palm Springs. It is maintained by the Palm Springs Cemetery District...

, in Cathedral City, California
Cathedral City, California
Cathedral City is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 51,200 at the 2010 census. Sandwiched between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, it is one of the cities in the Coachella Valley of southern California...

. His grave marker reads Swinging On A Star
Swinging on a Star
"Swinging on a Star" is an American pop standard with music composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was sung by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song that year, and has been recorded by numerous artists since...

.

Academy Awards

Van Heusen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song 14 times in 12 different years (in both 1945 and 1964 he was nominated for two songs), and won 4 times: in 1944, 1957, 1959, and 1963.

Academy Award Wins
  • "Swinging on a Star
    Swinging on a Star
    "Swinging on a Star" is an American pop standard with music composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was sung by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song that year, and has been recorded by numerous artists since...

    " (1944) (lyrics by Johnny Burke) for Going My Way
    Going My Way
    Going My Way is a 1944 film directed by Leo McCarey. It is a light-hearted musical comedy-drama about a new young priest taking over a parish from an established old veteran . Crosby sings five songs in the film. It was followed the next year by a sequel, The Bells of St. Mary's. This picture was...

  • "All the Way" (1957) (lyrics by Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

    ) for The Joker Is Wild
    The Joker Is Wild
    The Joker Is Wild is a film starring Frank Sinatra, Jeanne Crain, and Mitzi Gaynor, and Eddie Albert which tells the story of Joe E. Lewis, the popular singer and comedian who was a major attraction in nightclubs during 1920s to early 1950s....

  • "High Hopes
    High Hopes (1959 song)
    "High Hopes" is a popular song first popularized by Frank Sinatra, with music written by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was introduced in the 1959 film A Hole in the Head, nominated for a Grammy and won an Oscar for Best Original Song at the 32nd Academy Awards.-Description:The song...

    " (1959) (lyrics by Sammy Cahn) for A Hole in the Head
    A Hole in the Head
    A Hole in the Head is a comedy film released by United Artists. It was directed by Frank Capra and featured Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, Eleanor Parker, Keenan Wynn, Carolyn Jones, Thelma Ritter, Dub Taylor and Joi Lansing. The film introduced the song "High Hopes", a Sinatra standard used...

  • "Call Me Irresponsible
    Call Me Irresponsible
    "Call Me Irresponsible" is a 1962 song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics written by Sammy Cahn.According to the Mel Tormé book The Other Side of the Rainbow with Judy Garland on the Dawn Patrol, Van Heusen originally wrote the song for Garland to sing at a CBS dinner...

    " (1963) (lyrics by Sammy Cahn) for Papa's Delicate Condition
    Papa's Delicate Condition
    Papa's Delicate Condition is a 1963 comedy film starring Jackie Gleason and Glynis Johns. It was an adaptation of the Corinne Griffith memoir of the same name, about her father and growing up in Texarkana, Texas. Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn won an Academy Award for Best Song for "Call Me...



Academy Award nominees:
  • 1945 – "Sleighride In July" (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke was a Newfoundland songwriter and musician. He was nicknamed the 'Bard of Prescott Street'. He wrote many popular songs that artists in the 1930s and 1940s released.Popular songs by Burke include:* The Night Paddy Murphy Died...

    ) from the film Belle Of The Yukon
    Belle of the Yukon
    Belle of the Yukon is a 1944 film directed by William A. Seiter. It stars Randolph Scott and Gypsy Rose Lee. It was nominated for two Academy Awards in 1946.-Cast:*Randolph Scott as Honest John Calhoun aka Gentleman Jack*Gypsy Rose Lee as Belle De Valle...

    .
  • 1945 – "Aren't You Glad You're You" (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke was a Newfoundland songwriter and musician. He was nicknamed the 'Bard of Prescott Street'. He wrote many popular songs that artists in the 1930s and 1940s released.Popular songs by Burke include:* The Night Paddy Murphy Died...

    ) from the film Bells of St. Mary's.
  • 1955 – "(Love Is) The Tender Trap
    (Love Is) The Tender Trap
    " The Tender Trap" is a popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn.It was written for the 1955 film The Tender Trap, where it was introduced by Debbie Reynolds and Frank Sinatra, who each sing the song separately. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original...

    " (lyrics by Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

    ) introduced by Frank Sinatra
    Frank Sinatra
    Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

     in the film The Tender Trap.
  • 1958 – "To Love and Be Loved" (lyrics by Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

    ) for the film Some Came Running
    Some Came Running
    Some Came Running is a novel by James Jones, published in 1957. It is the story of a war veteran with literary aspirations who returns in 1948 to his hometown of Parkman, Indiana, after a failed writing career...

    .
  • 1960 – "The Second Time Around
    The Second Time Around
    The Second Time Around is the second studio album by American Blues artist, Etta James. The album was released in 1961 on Argo Records and was produced by Phil and Leonard Chess, who also produced her previous album.-Background:...

    " (lyrics by Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

    ) for the film High Time
    High Time (film)
    High Time is a 1960 collegiate comedic film, directed by Blake Edwards and starring Bing Crosby. The film is told from the perspective of a middle-aged man who enters the world of a new generation of postwar youth...

    .
  • 1961 – "Pocketful of Miracles
    Pocketful of Miracles
    Pocketful of Miracles is a 1961 American comedy film that stars Bette Davis and Glenn Ford, directed by Frank Capra. The screenplay by Hal Kanter and Harry Tugend is based on the screenplay Lady for a Day by Robert Riskin, which was adapted from the Damon Runyon short story "Madame La Gimp".The...

    " (lyrics by Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

    ) for the film Pocketful of Miracles
    Pocketful of Miracles
    Pocketful of Miracles is a 1961 American comedy film that stars Bette Davis and Glenn Ford, directed by Frank Capra. The screenplay by Hal Kanter and Harry Tugend is based on the screenplay Lady for a Day by Robert Riskin, which was adapted from the Damon Runyon short story "Madame La Gimp".The...

    .
  • 1964 – "Where Love Has Gone" (lyrics by Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

    ) for the film Where Love Has Gone
    Where Love Has Gone (film)
    Where Love Has Gone is a 1964 drama film made by Embassy Pictures , Joseph E. Levine Productions and Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Joseph E. Levine from a screenplay by John Michael Hayes based on the novel of the same name by Harold Robbins...

    .
  • 1964 – "My Kind of Town
    My Kind of Town
    My Kind of Town is an American television game show that premiered on August 14, 2005 on ABC. Part variety show, part game show, the series brings 200 people from a small town in the United States to New York City to compete for prizes and participate in games and assorted gags...

    " (lyrics by Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

    ) for the film Robin and the 7 Hoods
    Robin and the 7 Hoods
    Robin and the 7 Hoods is a 1964 American musical film that transplants the Robin Hood legend to a 1930s Chicago gangster setting. Directed by Gordon Douglas and produced by Frank Sinatra, with a screenplay by David R. Schwartz, the movie stars members of the Rat Pack as well as Bing Crosby, Peter...

    .
  • 1967 – "Thoroughly Modern Millie
    Thoroughly Modern Millie
    Thoroughly Modern Millie is a 1967 American musical film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay by Richard Morris focuses on a naive young woman who finds herself in the midst of a series of madcap adventures when she sets her sights on marrying her wealthy boss.The...

    " (lyrics by Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

    ) for the film Thoroughly Modern Millie
    Thoroughly Modern Millie
    Thoroughly Modern Millie is a 1967 American musical film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay by Richard Morris focuses on a naive young woman who finds herself in the midst of a series of madcap adventures when she sets her sights on marrying her wealthy boss.The...

    .
  • 1968 – "Star" (lyrics by Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

    ) for the film Star!
    Star! (film)
    Star! is a 1968 American musical film directed by Robert Wise. The screenplay by William Fairchild is based upon the life and career of British performer Gertrude Lawrence.-Plot:...

    .

Emmy Award

He won one Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

 for Best Musical Contribution, for the song "Love and Marriage
Love and Marriage
"Love and Marriage" is a song with lyrics by Sammy Cahn and music by Jimmy Van Heusen. It is published by Barton Music Corporation .-Frank Sinatra versions:...

"(1955) (lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

), written for the 1955 Producers' Showcase
Producers' Showcase
Producers' Showcase is an American anthology television series that was telecast live during the 1950s in compatible color by NBC. With top talent, the 90-minute episodes, covering a wide variety of genres, aired under the title every fourth Monday at 8 p.m. ET for three seasons, beginning October...

production of Our Town.

Other awards

He was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 in 1965 for Best Musical Score Written for a Motion Picture or TV show "Robin and the Seven Hoods"

He was also nominated for 3 Tony awards:
  • Best Musical in 1966 for Skyscraper
    Skyscraper (musical)
    Skyscraper is a musical with a book by Peter Stone, lyrics by Sammy Cahn, and music by Jimmy Van Heusen.Based on the 1945 Elmer Rice play Dream Girl, it focuses on an antiques dealer who is determined to save her midtown Manhattan brownstone from the bulldozer. The girders of a new skyscraper are...

  • Best Musical in 1967 for Walking Happy
    Walking Happy
    Walking Happy is a musical with music by Jimmy Van Heusen, lyrics by Sammy Cahn and book by Roger O. Hirson and Ketti Frings. The story is based on the play Hobson's Choice by Harold Brighouse...

  • Best Composer and Lyricist in 1967 Walking Happy
    Walking Happy
    Walking Happy is a musical with music by Jimmy Van Heusen, lyrics by Sammy Cahn and book by Roger O. Hirson and Ketti Frings. The story is based on the play Hobson's Choice by Harold Brighouse...



He was nominated three times for a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...

.
  • 1965 – "Where Love Has Gone" (lyrics by Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

    ) for the film Where Love Has Gone
    Where Love Has Gone (film)
    Where Love Has Gone is a 1964 drama film made by Embassy Pictures , Joseph E. Levine Productions and Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Joseph E. Levine from a screenplay by John Michael Hayes based on the novel of the same name by Harold Robbins...

  • 1968 – "Thoroughly Modern Millie
    Thoroughly Modern Millie
    Thoroughly Modern Millie is a 1967 American musical film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay by Richard Morris focuses on a naive young woman who finds herself in the midst of a series of madcap adventures when she sets her sights on marrying her wealthy boss.The...

    " (lyrics by Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

    ) for the film Thoroughly Modern Millie
    Thoroughly Modern Millie
    Thoroughly Modern Millie is a 1967 American musical film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay by Richard Morris focuses on a naive young woman who finds herself in the midst of a series of madcap adventures when she sets her sights on marrying her wealthy boss.The...

    .
  • 1969 – "Star" (lyrics by Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn
    Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

    ) for the film Star!
    Star! (film)
    Star! is a 1968 American musical film directed by Robert Wise. The screenplay by William Fairchild is based upon the life and career of British performer Gertrude Lawrence.-Plot:...

    .


He won one Christoper Award in 1955 for the song "Love and Marriage
Love and Marriage
"Love and Marriage" is a song with lyrics by Sammy Cahn and music by Jimmy Van Heusen. It is published by Barton Music Corporation .-Frank Sinatra versions:...

".

Trivia

  • Bob Hope
    Bob Hope
    Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...

    's character in The Road to Hong Kong
    The Road to Hong Kong
    The Road to Hong Kong starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Joan Collins, was the last in the long-running Road to … series and the only episode not produced by Paramount Pictures, though reference to the other films in the series are shown in Maurice Binder's opening title sequence...

    (1962) is named Chester Babcock, in reference to Van Heusen's birth name.

The bridge section of Paul Desmond's iconic jazz anthem, "Take Five" is a direct homage to Van Heusen's "Sunday, Monday or Always".

with lyricist Sammy Cahn

  • "Ain't That a Kick in the Head"
  • "All My Tomorrows"
  • "All the Way"
  • "Call Me Irresponsible
    Call Me Irresponsible
    "Call Me Irresponsible" is a 1962 song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics written by Sammy Cahn.According to the Mel Tormé book The Other Side of the Rainbow with Judy Garland on the Dawn Patrol, Van Heusen originally wrote the song for Garland to sing at a CBS dinner...

    "
  • "Come Dance with Me
    Come Dance with Me (song)
    "Come Dance With Me" is a popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn as the title track for Frank Sinatra's 1959 album of the same name....

    "
  • "Come Fly with Me
    Come Fly with Me (song)
    "Come Fly with Me" is a 1957 popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn."Come Fly with Me" was written for Frank Sinatra, and was the title track of his 1958 album of the same name...

    "
  • "Eee-O Eleven"
  • "Everybody Has The Right To Be Wrong!"
  • "High Hopes
    High Hopes (1959 song)
    "High Hopes" is a popular song first popularized by Frank Sinatra, with music written by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was introduced in the 1959 film A Hole in the Head, nominated for a Grammy and won an Oscar for Best Original Song at the 32nd Academy Awards.-Description:The song...

    "
  • "I'll Only Think Of Her When I Miss Her"
  • "Last Dance"
  • "Let's Make Love"
  • "Love and Marriage
    Love and Marriage
    "Love and Marriage" is a song with lyrics by Sammy Cahn and music by Jimmy Van Heusen. It is published by Barton Music Corporation .-Frank Sinatra versions:...

    "
  • "(Love Is) The Tender Trap
    (Love Is) The Tender Trap
    " The Tender Trap" is a popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn.It was written for the 1955 film The Tender Trap, where it was introduced by Debbie Reynolds and Frank Sinatra, who each sing the song separately. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original...

    "
  • "My Kind of Town
    My Kind of Town
    My Kind of Town is an American television game show that premiered on August 14, 2005 on ABC. Part variety show, part game show, the series brings 200 people from a small town in the United States to New York City to compete for prizes and participate in games and assorted gags...

  • "Only the Lonely"
  • "Ring-A-Ding-Ding
    Ring-A-Ding-Ding
    Ring-a-Ding-Ding! is a 1961 album by Frank Sinatra. It was Sinatra's first for Reprise, and, as the initial concept was "an album without ballads", included only uptempo swing numbers....

    "
  • "The Second Time Around"
  • "The Secret of Christmas"
  • "September of My Years"
  • "Sleigh Ride In July"
  • "There's Love and There's Love and There's Love"
  • "To Love And Be Loved"
  • "Where Love Has Gone"
  • "Who Was That lady?"

with others

  • "All This and Heaven Too" (lyrics by Eddie DeLange
    Eddie DeLange
    Eddie DeLange was an American bandleader and lyricist. Famous artists who recorded some of DeLange's songs include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman.-Biography:...

    )
  • "Aren't You Glad You're You?" (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke (lyricist)
    Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

    )
  • "But Beautiful
    But Beautiful (song)
    "But Beautiful" is a popular song with music written by Jimmy Van Heusen, the lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was published in 1947.One of five songs written by Burke and Van Heusen featured in the Paramount Pictures movie Road to Rio , it was introduced by Bing Crosby and is also associated with...

    " (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke (lyricist)
    Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

    )
  • "Busy Doing Nothing" (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke (lyricist)
    Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

    )
  • "Darn That Dream
    Darn That Dream
    "Darn That Dream" is a popular song with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Eddie DeLange, published in 1939.The song was introduced in the Broadway musical Swingin' The Dream.-Recorded versions:...

    " (lyrics by Eddie DeLange
    Eddie DeLange
    Eddie DeLange was an American bandleader and lyricist. Famous artists who recorded some of DeLange's songs include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman.-Biography:...

    )
  • "Deep In A Dream" (lyrics by Eddie DeLange
    Eddie DeLange
    Eddie DeLange was an American bandleader and lyricist. Famous artists who recorded some of DeLange's songs include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman.-Biography:...

    )
  • "Far Away" (lyrics by David Kapp)
  • "Going My Way
    Going My Way
    Going My Way is a 1944 film directed by Leo McCarey. It is a light-hearted musical comedy-drama about a new young priest taking over a parish from an established old veteran . Crosby sings five songs in the film. It was followed the next year by a sequel, The Bells of St. Mary's. This picture was...

    " (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke (lyricist)
    Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

    )
  • "Heaven Can Wait" (lyrics by Eddie DeLange
    Eddie DeLange
    Eddie DeLange was an American bandleader and lyricist. Famous artists who recorded some of DeLange's songs include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman.-Biography:...

    )
  • "Here's That Rainy Day
    Here's That Rainy Day
    "Here's That Rainy Day" is a popular song with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke, published in 1953. It was introduced by Dolores Gray in the Broadway musical Carnival in Flanders...

    " (from Carnival in Flanders
    Carnival in Flanders (musical)
    Carnival in Flanders is a 1953 musical with a book by Preston Sturges, lyrics by Johnny Burke, and music by Jimmy Van Heusen.Based on the 1934 French comedy film La Kermesse Héroïque, it is set in 1616 in the small Flemish village of Flackenburg, where a Spanish duke and his entourage descend upon...

    , lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke (lyricist)
    Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

    )
  • "I Could Have Told You" (lyrics by Carl Sigman
    Carl Sigman
    Carl Sigman was an American songwriter.-Biography:Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his Bar exams to practice in the state of New York...

    )
  • "I Thought About You
    I Thought About You
    "I Thought About You" is a 1939 popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was one of three collaborations Van Heusen and Mercer wrote for the then recently established Mercer-Morris publishing company, started by Mercer and former Warner Bros. publisher Buddy...

    " (lyrics by Johnny Mercer
    Johnny Mercer
    John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...

    )
  • "Imagination
    Imagination (1940 song)
    "Imagination" is a popular song with music written by Jimmy Van Heusen and the lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was first published in 1940. The two best-selling versions were recorded by the orchestras of Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey in 1940....

    " (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke (lyricist)
    Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

    )
  • "It Could Happen to You
    It Could Happen to You (song)
    "It Could Happen to You" is a popular standard with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was written in 1944 and was introduced by Dorothy Lamour in the Paramount musical comedy film, And the Angels Sing....

    " (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke (lyricist)
    Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

    )
  • "It's Always You" (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke (lyricist)
    Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

    )
  • "It's The Dreamer In Me" (lyrics by Jimmy Dorsey
    Jimmy Dorsey
    James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...

    )
  • "Like Someone in Love
    Like Someone in Love
    Like Someone in Love is an album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with a studio orchestra arranged and conducted by Frank DeVol...

    " (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke (lyricist)
    Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

    )
  • "Moonlight Becomes You
    Moonlight Becomes You (song)
    Moonlight Becomes You is a popular song, composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was written for the Paramount Pictures release Road to Morocco and published in 1942 in connection with the film...

    " (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke (lyricist)
    Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

    )
  • "Nancy (With the Laughing Face)
    Nancy (With the Laughing Face)
    "Nancy " is a song composed in 1942 by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Phil Silvers. It is commonly believed that the song was written for the birthday of Nancy Sinatra...

    " (lyrics by Phil Silvers
    Phil Silvers
    Phil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...

    )
  • "Not As A Stranger" (lyrics by Buddy Kaye
    Buddy Kaye
    Jules Leonard "Buddy" Kaye was an American award-winning songwriter, musician, producer, author and publisher. His songs were recorded by top performers, including Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como, Elvis Presley and Dusty Springfield...

    )
  • "Oh! You Crazy Moon" (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke (lyricist)
    Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

    )
  • "Personality" (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke (lyricist)
    Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

    )
  • "Polka Dots and Moonbeams
    Polka Dots and Moonbeams
    "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" is a popular song with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke, published in 1940. It was Frank Sinatra's first hit recorded with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra...

    " (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke (lyricist)
    Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

    )
  • "Shake Down The Stars" (lyrics by Eddie DeLange
    Eddie DeLange
    Eddie DeLange was an American bandleader and lyricist. Famous artists who recorded some of DeLange's songs include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman.-Biography:...

    )
  • "So Help Me" (lyrics by Eddie DeLange
    Eddie DeLange
    Eddie DeLange was an American bandleader and lyricist. Famous artists who recorded some of DeLange's songs include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman.-Biography:...

    )
  • "Sunday, Monday, Or Always" (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke (lyricist)
    Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

    )
  • "Swinging on a Star
    Swinging on a Star
    "Swinging on a Star" is an American pop standard with music composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was sung by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song that year, and has been recorded by numerous artists since...

    " (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke (lyricist)
    Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...

    )
  • "You May Not Love Me" (lyrics by Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke was a Newfoundland songwriter and musician. He was nicknamed the 'Bard of Prescott Street'. He wrote many popular songs that artists in the 1930s and 1940s released.Popular songs by Burke include:* The Night Paddy Murphy Died...

    )

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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