Charles Newman (2)

American songwriter and lyricist.

Born: February 22, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, USA

Died: January 9, 1978 (age 76) in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA

The son of a butcher working in the Chicago stockyards, Newman grew up in Chicago, where he graduated from John Marshall High School. He started working life at age 18 as the correspondent for a bank. At some point, he attended Columbia University in New York City. By the later half of the 1920s, he had become a professional songwriter, living in Chicago. In June 1930, he married Lessie Jane Greenwald in Chicago. In 1935, he collaborated on the music for the 1935 "Earl Carroll's Sketch Book" revue on Broadway, which featured the song "Let's Swing It."

Between 1935 and 1940, he moved to Beverly Hills, California, and became involved with writing music for Hollywood movies like "Jitterbugs", "Tahiti Honey", "What's Buzzin' Cousin" (all 1943) and "Lady, Let's Dance" (1944). A song written for that last movie, "Silver Shadows and Golden Dreams" (with [a=Lew Pollack]), was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1943, Pollack and Newman also collaborated on a variety revue, "Born Happy", that featured Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and premiered in Los Angeles, but the show flopped.

Newman's greatest hits were "Our Bungalow Of Dreams" (1927, with [a=Tommie Malie] and [a=Joe Verges]) and "Sweethearts On Parade" (1928, with [a=Carmen Lombardo]).

Other successful songs were "That's What Puts The "Sweet" In Home Sweet Home" (1928, with [a=Mack Gordon] and [a=Ed Lowry]), "Dream Train" (1929, with [a=Billy Baskette]), "The Moonlight March" (1929, with [a=Carmen Lombardo]), "What's The Use" (1930, with [a=Isham Jones]), "(Was I To Blame For) Falling In Love With You" (1930, as M. Neuman with [a=Gus Kahn] and [a=Victor Young]), "I'll Never Have To Dream Again" (1933, with [a=Isham Jones]), "You've Got Me Crying Again" (1933, with [a=Isham Jones]), "Flowers For Madame" (1933, with [a=Charles Tobias] and [a=Murray Mencher]), "Let's Swing It" (1935, with [a=Charles Tobias] and [a=Murray Mencher]), "Tiny Little Fingerprints" (1935, with [a=Charles Tobias] and [a=Sam H. Stept]), "West Wind" (1936, with [a=Milton Ager] and [a=Murray Mencher]), "It's No Fun" (1936, with [a=Milton Ager] and [a=Murray Mencher]), "You Can't Pull The Wool Over My Eyes" (1936, with [a=Milton Ager] and [a=Murray Mencher]), "The Meanest Thing You Ever Did Was Kiss Me" (1937, with [a=Al Lewis] and [a=Murray Mencher]), "Summer Souvenirs" (1938, with [a=J. Fred Coots]), "The Answer Is Love" (1939, with [a=Sam H. Stept]), "Little Old Band Of Gold" (1939, with [a=Fred Glickman] and [a=Gene Autry]), "He's My Uncle" (1940, with [a=Lew Pollack]), "Six Lessons From Madame La Zonga" (1940, with [a=James V. Monaco]), "Why Don't We Do This More Often" (1941, with [a=Allie Wrubel]), "Rancho Pillow" (1941, with [a=Allie Wrubel]), "I Met Her On Monday" (1942, with [a=Allie Wrubel]), "A Boy In Khaki-A Girl In Lace" (1942, with [a=Allie Wrubel]), "It Isn't A Dream Anymore" (1942, with [a=Walter Samuels]), "I'm A-Comin' A-Courtin' Corabelle" (1947, with [a=Allie Wrubel]), and many others.