Forman Brown(1901-1996)

Songwriter, composer and author, educated at the University of Michigan (BA, MA). He wrote the score for the college variety show, then taught English at the University of Michigan and was an assistant professor at North Carolina State University between 1923-1926. He co-founded the Yale Puppeteers at the Turnabout Theatre in Hollywood, and wrote songs and sketches. Later he wrote the Broadway stage score for "Music in My Heart",and new lyrics for "The Red Mill", and also composed for Los Angeles and San Francicsxo Civic Light Opera productions including "The Merry Widow", "The Chocolate Soldier", and "The Great Waltz". He wrote the books "The Pie-Eyed Piper" and "Punch's Progress". He wrote special material for Elsa Lanchester, Imogene Coca, Shirley Booth, and Edgar Bergen. Joining ASCAP in 1959, he collaborated musically with Raymond Scott, Franz Steininger, Henry Russell and Rudolf Friml. His popular-song compositions include "Song of the Sleighbells", "While There's a Song to Sing", "Stolen Kisses", and "It Must Be Religion".