Tom Adair
Encyclopedia
Thomas "Tom" Montgomery Adair (June 15, 1913 – May 24, 1988) was an American
songwriter
, composer
, and screenwriter
.
, worked at a power company and the Saturday Evening Post, writing numerous poems, while penning the songs in his spare time. In 1941, Adair met Matt Dennis
in a club and the duo began writing songs together. Adair and Dennis wrote numerous songs for Bing Crosby
, Tommy Dorsey
, and Dinah Shore
and penned Frank Sinatra
's hit "Let's Get Away from It All." In 1949, Adair wrote the lyrics for the Broadway
production of Along Fifth Avenue.
Worked with James B. Allardice in the early 60s. They first met while working on "The Ann Sothern Show" (1958) he wrote the music while Allardice was a writer on the show. Adair also wrote the music and Allardine wrote scripts for the sit-com, "Hazel" (1961); however, they also collaborated in the writing on two episodes of "Hazel": "A Replacement For Phoebe" (which aired on 10/2/61) and "Harold's Good Fortune" (which aired on 11/30/61). Later the two collaborated on many other shows, including "My Three Sons", "F Troop,", "I Dream of Jeannie" and "Gomer Pyle". After the death of Allardice in 1966, Adair stopped writing sit-coms.
He wrote many hit songs, including "Let's Get Away From It All", "Everything Happens To Me", "In The Blue of Evening", "Will You Still Be Mine?", "Violets for Your Furs", "The Night We Called It A Day", "The Skyscraper Blues", "A Home-Sweet-Home In The Army", "How Will I Know My Love?", "Sing A Smiling Song", "Paul Bunyan", "There's No You", and "Weep No More".
He was educated at Los Angeles Junior College, and wrote for a number of radio shows, including "Duffy's Tavern", plus music for Bing Crosby, Tommy Dorsey, and Dinah Shore. He did the Broadway stage score for "Along Fifth Avenue". Chief collaborators were Matt Dennis and Gordon Jenkins. He also wrote special music for night clubs and revues.
He married and wrote many of his songs about his eternal love for his adoring wife, Frances Adair. They had four children, Micheal Adair, Richard Adair, Ann Trousdale (Adair), and Robin Brown (Adair). And four grandchildren Tom Adair, Kristi Adair, Jennifer Adair, and Julie Adair.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, 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...
, and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
.
Biography
Born in Newton, KansasNewton, Kansas
Newton is a city in and the county seat of Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 19,132. Newton is located north of Wichita and is included in the Wichita metropolitan statistical area...
, worked at a power company and the Saturday Evening Post, writing numerous poems, while penning the songs in his spare time. In 1941, Adair met Matt Dennis
Matt Dennis
Matt Dennis was a singer, pianist, bandleader, arranger, and writer of music for popular music songs.He was born in Seattle, Washington. His mother was a violinist and his father a singer, and the family was in vaudeville, so he was early exposed to music. In 1933 he joined Horace Heidt's...
in a club and the duo began writing songs together. Adair and Dennis wrote numerous songs for Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
, and Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
and penned 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 hit "Let's Get Away from It All." In 1949, Adair wrote the lyrics for the 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...
production of Along Fifth Avenue.
Worked with James B. Allardice in the early 60s. They first met while working on "The Ann Sothern Show" (1958) he wrote the music while Allardice was a writer on the show. Adair also wrote the music and Allardine wrote scripts for the sit-com, "Hazel" (1961); however, they also collaborated in the writing on two episodes of "Hazel": "A Replacement For Phoebe" (which aired on 10/2/61) and "Harold's Good Fortune" (which aired on 11/30/61). Later the two collaborated on many other shows, including "My Three Sons", "F Troop,", "I Dream of Jeannie" and "Gomer Pyle". After the death of Allardice in 1966, Adair stopped writing sit-coms.
He wrote many hit songs, including "Let's Get Away From It All", "Everything Happens To Me", "In The Blue of Evening", "Will You Still Be Mine?", "Violets for Your Furs", "The Night We Called It A Day", "The Skyscraper Blues", "A Home-Sweet-Home In The Army", "How Will I Know My Love?", "Sing A Smiling Song", "Paul Bunyan", "There's No You", and "Weep No More".
He was educated at Los Angeles Junior College, and wrote for a number of radio shows, including "Duffy's Tavern", plus music for Bing Crosby, Tommy Dorsey, and Dinah Shore. He did the Broadway stage score for "Along Fifth Avenue". Chief collaborators were Matt Dennis and Gordon Jenkins. He also wrote special music for night clubs and revues.
He married and wrote many of his songs about his eternal love for his adoring wife, Frances Adair. They had four children, Micheal Adair, Richard Adair, Ann Trousdale (Adair), and Robin Brown (Adair). And four grandchildren Tom Adair, Kristi Adair, Jennifer Adair, and Julie Adair.
Award nominations
| Year | Award | Result | Category | Film |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Academy Award | Nominated | Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music | Julie (Shared with Leith Stevens Leith Stevens Leith Stevens was an American composer for radio and film scores.Born in Mount Moriah, Missouri, he was a child prodigy who was an accompanist for Madame Schumann-Heink.... ) |
| 1969 | 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... |
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music | The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant (Shared with John Scott Trotter ) | |