Arthur Schwartz


Arthur Schwartz was an American composer and film producer.

Biography

Early life

Schwartz was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on November 25, 1900. He taught himself to play the harmonica and piano as a child, and began playing for silent films at age 14. He earned a B.A. in English at New York University and an M.A. in that subject at Columbia. Forced by his father, an attorney, to study law, Schwartz graduated from NYU Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1924.

Career

While studying law, he supported himself by teaching English in the New York school system. He also worked on songwriting concurrently with his studies and published his first song by 1923. Acquaintances such as Lorenz Hart and George Gershwin encouraged him to stick with composing. He attempted to convince Howard Dietz, an MGM publicist who had collaborated with Jerome Kern, to work with him, but Dietz initially declined.
As Artist Direct documents: Schwartz placed his first songs in a Broadway show, The New Yorkers. By 1928, he had closed his law office and convinced Dietz to write with him. Their first songs together were used in the Broadway revue The Little Show and included "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan", which belatedly became a hit three years later when it was recorded by Rudy Vallée. Schwartz's career was launched, and in 1930 he contributed songs to six shows, three in London and three in New York, the most successful of which was Three's a Crowd, which featured the same cast as The Little Show and featured the hit "Something to Remember You By". Schwartz also started contributing songs to motion pictures, beginning with "I'm Afraid of You" in Queen High.
Among other Broadway musicals for which Schwartz wrote the music are: The Band Wagon, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, By the Beautiful Sea, The Gay Life, and Jennie. His films include the MGM musical The Band Wagon with lyrics by Dietz.
Schwartz also worked as a producer, for Columbia Pictures. His work includes the musical Cover Girl and the Cole Porter biographical film Night and Day.

Family

Schwartz was married to 1930s Broadway ingénue Kay Carrington, until her death when their first son, Jonathan Schwartz, was 14. Jonathan is now a radio personality and sometime musician. Schwartz's younger son, Paul Schwartz, with actress/dancer Mary Schwartz, is a composer, conductor, pianist, and producer.
Schwartz had a half sister, named Imogene R. Beyer. She lived in Seattle Washington since moving with her family from Brooklyn in 1956. Mrs. Beyer had 11 children. Her husband, Phillip Beyer died in 1958.

Death

Arthur Schwartz died September 3, 1984, in Kintnersville, Pennsylvania.

Awards

Schwartz received two Academy Award nominations for Best Song: the first in 1944 for "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" in the film Thank Your Lucky Stars; the second in 1948 for "A Gal in Calico" from the film The Time, the Place and the Girl.
In 1972, Schwartz was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 1981, he was inducted in 1981 into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
In 1990, Schwartz's hit, "That's Entertainment" from the film The Band Wagon, was awarded the ASCAP Award for Most Performed Feature Film Standard.

Collaborators

Schwartz collaborated with some of the best lyricists of his day, including Dietz, Dorothy Fields, Ira Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein II, Edward Heyman, Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer, Leo Robin, and Al Stillman.

Musicals

See the section Arthur Schwartz in.

Songs

The following is a selection of songs composed by Arthur Schwartz.

With Howard Dietz