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IMDbPro

Lew Brown(1893-1958)

  • Writer
  • Music Department
  • Producer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Songwriter ("Beer Barrel Polka", "Sonny Boy", "The Thrill is Gone"), composer, author, publisher and producer, he came to the USA in 1898 and was educated at DeWitt Clinton High School in New York. In 1925, he joined Buddy DeSylva and Ray Henderson as a songwriting team and music publishers. He wrote the Broadway stage scores for "George White's Scandals" (1925, 1926, 1928 and 1931), "Manhattan Mary", "Good News", "Hold Everything", "Three Cheers" and "Follow Through", and was also co-librettist for "Flying High", "Hot-Cha", "Strike Me Pink" and "Yokel Boy" (also producer-director). In 1929 he sold the publishing firm and went to Hollywood under contract to Fox. Joining ASCAP in 1921, his other musical collaborators included Albert Von Tilzer, Con Conrad, Moe Jaffe, Sidney Clare, Harry Warren, Cliff Friend, Harry Akst, Jay Gorney, Louis Alter, Harold Arlen, Sammy Fain, Sammy Stept, and Charles Tobias. His other song compositions include "Give Me the Moonlight, Give Me the Girl", "Oh, by Jingo!", "I Used to Love You but It's All Over Now", "Dapper Dan", "Wait Until You See My Madeline", "I'd Climb the Highest Mountain", "Last Night on the Back Porch", "Shine", "Don't Bring Lulu", "Then I'll Be Happy", "Collegiate", "Lucky Day", "Birth of the Blues", "Black Bottom", "It All Depends on You", "Manhattan Mary", "The Best Things in Life Are Free", "Good News", "The Varsity Drag", "Just Imagine", "Lucky in Love", "Broken Hearted", "Just a Memory", "So Blue", "I'm on the Crest of a Wave", "You're the Cream in My Coffee", "Button Up Your Overcoat", "You Wouldn't Fool Me", "My Lucky Star", "Together", "My Sin", "I'm a Dreamer, Aren't We All?", "Sunny Side Up", If I Had a Talking Picture of You", "Little Pal", "Without Love", "Thank Your Father", "Red Hot Chicago", "You Try Somebody Else", "My Song", "The Thrill is Gone", "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries", "This Is the Missus", "Strike Me Pink", "I've Got to Pass Your House", "Baby, Take a Bow", "If Love Makes Me Give Up Steak and Potatoes", "The Lady Dances", "Love Is Never Out of Season", "That Old Feeling", "Down Home Rag", "Comes Love", "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree With Anyone Else but Me", I Came Here to Talk for Joe", "I Dug a Ditch in Wichita", "The Beer that I Left on the Bar", "Oh, Ma-Ma", and Madam, I Love Your Crepe Suzette".
BornDecember 10, 1893
DiedFebruary 5, 1958(64)
BornDecember 10, 1893
DiedFebruary 5, 1958(64)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Add photos, demo reels
  • Nominated for 1 Oscar
    • 1 nomination total

Known for

James Stewart and Donna Reed in It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
It's a Wonderful Life
8.6
  • Soundtrack(as Brown)
  • 1946
Jeremy Irons and Dominique Swain in Lolita (1997)
Lolita
6.8
  • Soundtrack
  • 1997
Richard Gere and Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman (1990)
Pretty Woman
7.1
  • Soundtrack
  • 1990
Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz, Robert Pattinson, and Tai in Water for Elephants (2011)
Water for Elephants
6.9
  • Soundtrack
  • 2011

Credits

IMDbPro

Writer



  • Musical Comedy Time (1950)
    Musical Comedy Time
    6.6
    TV Series
    • book and lyrics by
    • 1951
  • June Allyson and Peter Lawford in Good News (1947)
    Good News
    6.7
    • play
    • 1947
  • Eddie Foy Jr. in Yokel Boy (1942)
    Yokel Boy
    5.8
    • musical play: "Yokel Boy" written by
    • 1942
  • Richard Arlen, Phyllis Brooks, Ethel Merman, Al Ritz, Harry Ritz, Jimmy Ritz, and The Ritz Brothers in Straight Place and Show (1938)
    Straight Place and Show
    5.6
    • additional dialogue
    • 1938
  • Sylvia Froos in Stand Up and Cheer! (1934)
    Stand Up and Cheer!
    5.4
    • story and dialogue: collaborator
    • 1934
  • Pat O'Brien, Kathryn Crawford, Charlotte Greenwood, Bert Lahr, Charles Reisner, and George White in Flying High (1931)
    Flying High
    5.6
    • book and lyrics by
    • 1931
  • Gloria Swanson in Indiscreet (1931)
    Indiscreet
    6.2
    • story "Obey That Impulse"
    • scenario (as Brown)
    • 1931
  • Just Imagine (1930)
    Just Imagine
    5.3
    • story & dialogue (as Brown)
    • 1930
  • Nancy Carroll and Charles 'Buddy' Rogers in Follow Thru (1930)
    Follow Thru
    6.6
    • play (as Brown)
    • 1930
  • Ann Dvorak, Cliff Edwards, Lola Lane, Mary Lawlor, Bessie Love, Gus Shy, Penny Singleton, and Stanley Smith in Good News (1930)
    Good News
    6.3
    • based on a musical comedy by
    • 1930
  • Ginger Rogers, Stanley Smith, and Ed Wynn in Follow the Leader (1930)
    Follow the Leader
    4.5
    • play "Manhattan Mary" (as Brown)
    • 1930
  • Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor in Sunny Side Up (1929)
    Sunny Side Up
    6.5
    • story and dialogue (as Brown)
    • 1929

Music Department



  • Gene Kelly, Lucille Ball, Arthur Freed, Roy Del Ruth, Tommy Dorsey, Zero Mostel, Virginia O'Brien, Rags Ragland, Red Skelton, and Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra in Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)
    Du Barry Was a Lady
    6.1
    • additional songs
    • 1943
  • Eddie Foy Jr. in Yokel Boy (1942)
    Yokel Boy
    5.8
    • score: "Yokel Boy"
    • 1942
  • Eddie Cantor, Dona Drake, Sally Eilers, William Frawley, Ethel Merman, Harry Einstein, and Norman Taurog in Strike Me Pink (1936)
    Strike Me Pink
    6.4
    • lyrics by
    • 1936
  • Sylvia Froos in Stand Up and Cheer! (1934)
    Stand Up and Cheer!
    5.4
    • lyrics
    • music
    • 1934
  • Just Imagine (1930)
    Just Imagine
    5.3
    • songs by (as Brown)
    • 1930
  • Ann Dvorak, Cliff Edwards, Lola Lane, Mary Lawlor, Bessie Love, Gus Shy, Penny Singleton, and Stanley Smith in Good News (1930)
    Good News
    6.3
    • words and music by (as Brown)
    • 1930

Producer



  • Sylvia Froos in Stand Up and Cheer! (1934)
    Stand Up and Cheer!
    5.4
    • associate producer
    • 1934
  • Gloria Swanson in Indiscreet (1931)
    Indiscreet
    6.2
    • producer (as Brown)
    • 1931
  • Just Imagine (1930)
    Just Imagine
    5.3
    • producer (uncredited)
    • 1930

Personal details

  • Alternative name
    • Brown
  • Height
    • 5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
  • Born
    • December 10, 1893
    • Odessa, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire [now Ukraine]
  • Died
    • February 5, 1958
    • New York City, New York, USA(heart attack)
  • Spouses
      Catherine Juniewicz1938 - February 5, 1958 (his death)
  • Other works
    Active on Broadway in the following productions:
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Biographical Movie
    • 1 Print Biography
    • 3 Articles

Did you know

  • Trivia
    One-third of the songwriting team of Henderson-DeSylva-Brown (with Ray Henderson and Buddy G. DeSylva).

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