Walter Donaldson

born on 15/2/1893 in Brooklyn, NY, United States

died on 15/7/1947 in Santa Monica, CA, United States

Walter Donaldson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is on the American songwriter. For the snooker player, see Walter Donaldson (snooker player).
Walter Donaldson

Walter Donaldson (February 15, 1893 July 15, 1947) was a prolific United States popular songwriter, composing many hit songs of the 1910s and 1920s.

History

Walter Donaldson was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a piano teacher. While still in school he wrote original music for school productions, and had his first professional songs published in 1915. The following year he had a hit with "The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady". After serving in the United States Army in World War I, Donaldson was hired as a songwriter by Irving Berlin Music Company. He stayed with Berlin until 1928, producing many hit songs, then in 1928 established his own publishing company. His company was legally known as "Donaldson, Douglas & Gumble, Inc", but all the publications had Walter Donaldson's name in large letters, and the legal name of the company in fine print.

Donaldson is primarily known as a composer, rather than as a lyricist. He published some 600 original songs. His biggest hits included:

  • "At Sundown"
  • "Carolina in the Morning"
  • "Don't Be Angry"
  • "Georgia"
  • "Kansas City Kitty"
  • "Little White Lies"
  • "Love Me or Leave Me"
  • "Makin' Whoopee"
  • "My Baby Just Cares for Me"
  • "My Blue Heaven" (lyrics: George A. Whiting)
  • "My Buddy"
  • "My Little Bimbo Down on a Bamboo Isle"
  • "My Mammy" (a huge hit for Al Jolson)
  • "That Certain Party",
  • "Yes Sir, That's My Baby"
  • "You're Driving Me Crazy"
  • "Sam, the Old Accordion Man"

Several of these songs were written with lyricist Gus Kahn.

At the end of the 1920s, Donaldson moved to Hollywood and worked composing and arranging music for motion pictures. His film credits include work on such pictures as Glorifying the American Girl, Suzy, The Great Ziegfeld, Panama Hattie, Follow the Boys and Nevada.

Walter Donaldson retired in 1943 and died in Santa Monica, California.

External links

  • Walter Donaldson's Official Website
  • My Blue Heaven: The Life and Music of Composer Walter Donaldson {dead link}
  • Walter Donaldson's entry at the Songwriters' Hall of Fame
  • Sheet music for "How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm? (After They've Seen Paree)", Waterson, Berlin & Snyder Co., 1919.
  • Walter Donaldson at the Internet Movie Database
  • Walter Donaldson at the Internet Broadway Database
This page was last modified 01.02.2014 08:58:21

This article uses material from the article Walter Donaldson from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.