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IMDbPro

Otto A. Harbach(1873-1963)

  • Writer
  • Music Department
  • Actor
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Otto Harbach was a songwriter ("I Won't Dance", "Yesterdays", "The Touch of Your Hand") and author, educated at Knox College (BA, MA, DHL, and an honorary member of the Board of Trustees) and Columbia University. At Whitman College he was a professor of English between 1895 and 1901, then a newspaper writer in New York between 1902 and 1903 and an advertising-agency employee into 1910. His Broadway stage scores include "Three Twins" and "Madame Sherry" (for which he was also librettist), "The Firefly", "High Jinks", "Katinka", "Going Up", "Tumble In", "The Little Whopper", "The Cat and the Fiddle" and "Roberta". He was also the co-librettist for "You're In Love", "Tickle Me!", "Mary", "The O'Brien Girl", "The Blue Kitten", "Molly Darling", "Wildflower", "Rose-Marie", "No, No, Nanete", "Sunny", "Song of he Flame", "Criss-Cross", "The Desert Song" and "Golden Dawn". He was librettist for "The Crinoline Girl" and "Nina Rosa", and co-librettist for "Kid Boots", "Kitty's Kisses", "Oh, Please!" and "Good Boy". He co-authored the play "Up in Mabel's Room". He was a charter member (and director, 1920-1963) of ASCAP in 1914, and his chief musical collaborators included Herbert Stothart, Rudolf Friml, Vincent Youmans, Karl Hoschna, Jerome Kern, Louis Hirsch, George Gershwin, Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II (co-lyricist). His other popular songs include "Cuddle Up a Little Closer, Lovey Mine", "Every Little Movement Has a Meaning All Its Own", "Giannina Mia", "When a Maid Comes Knocking at Your Heart", "Love Is Like a Firefly", "Sympathy", "Something Seems Tingle-ing-eling", "Katinka", "Not Now But Later", "Allah's Holiday", "Rackety Koo", "The Tickle Toe", "Going Up", "The Love Nest", "Mary", "Cutie", "Wildflower", "Bambalina", "Rose-Marie", "The Mounties", "Indian Love Call", "Totem Tom-Tom", "No, No, Nanette", "I've Confessed to the Breeze", "Sunny", "Who?", "Two Little Bluebirds", "D'Ye Love Me?", "Cossack Love Song", "Song of the Flame", "Riff Song", "Romance", "The Desert Song", "One Alone", "One Flower Grows Alone in Your Garden", "The Night Was Made for Love", "She Didn't Say 'Yes'", "One Moment Alone", "Try to Forget", "A New Love Is Old", "I Watch the Love Parade", "You're Devastating", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and "Your Dream".
BornAugust 18, 1873
DiedJanuary 24, 1963(89)
BornAugust 18, 1873
DiedJanuary 24, 1963(89)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Add photos, demo reels

Known for

Mel Gibson in Payback (1999)
Payback
7.0
  • Soundtrack
  • 1999
Rowan Atkinson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, Simon Callow, John Hannah, and Charlotte Coleman in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Four Weddings and a Funeral
7.1
  • Soundtrack
  • 1994
Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, Paul Le Mat, Mackenzie Phillips, and Cindy Williams in American Graffiti (1973)
American Graffiti
7.4
  • Soundtrack
  • 1973
Pierce Brosnan, Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Danny DeVito, and Annette Bening in Mars Attacks! (1996)
Mars Attacks!
6.4
  • Soundtrack
  • 1996

Credits

IMDbPro

Writer



  • Roberta
    7.2
    TV Movie
    • book (as Otto Harbach)
    • 1969
  • Roberta
    5.9
    TV Movie
    • play
    • 1958
  • The Desert Song (1955)
    The Desert Song
    8.0
    TV Movie
    • play
    • 1955
  • Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin in The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950)
    The Colgate Comedy Hour
    7.7
    TV Series
    • play
    • 1955
  • Ann Blyth, Howard Keel, and Fernando Lamas in Rose Marie (1954)
    Rose Marie
    5.8
    • based on the operetta "Rosie Marie" book and lyrics by
    • 1954
  • The Desert Song (1953)
    The Desert Song
    6.1
    • based upon the play by (as Otto Harbach)
    • 1953
  • Lovely to Look At (1952)
    Lovely to Look At
    6.2
    • musical book "Roberta"
    • 1952
  • Musical Comedy Time (1950)
    Musical Comedy Time
    6.6
    TV Series
    • play
    • 1951
  • Doris Day, Eve Arden, Billy De Wolfe, Gordon MacRae, Gene Nelson, S.Z. Sakall, and Patrice Wymore in Tea for Two (1950)
    Tea for Two
    6.5
    • play "No, No, Nanette"
    • 1950
  • No, No, Nanette
    TV Movie
    • book
    • play (as Otto Harbach, as Otto Harbach)
    • 1948
  • Up in Mabel's Room (1944)
    Up in Mabel's Room
    6.1
    • play (as Otto Harbach)
    • 1944
  • Irene Manning and Dennis Morgan in The Desert Song (1943)
    The Desert Song
    5.8
    • play (as Otto Harbach)
    • 1943
  • Ray Bolger, Edward Everett Horton, John Carroll, and Anna Neagle in Sunny (1941)
    Sunny
    5.4
    • play (as Otto Harbach)
    • 1941
  • Anna Neagle in No, No, Nanette (1940)
    No, No, Nanette
    5.3
    • based on the musical comedy by
    • 1940
  • Allan Jones and Jeanette MacDonald in The Firefly (1937)
    The Firefly
    6.8
    • based upon the book and lyrics by
    • 1937

Music Department



  • John Alford: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
    Music Video
    • Music Department
    • 1996
  • Roberta
    7.2
    TV Movie
    • lyrics by (as Otto Harbach)
    • 1969
  • No, No, Nanette
    TV Movie
    • lyrics by (as Otto Harbach)
    • 1948
  • Allan Jones and Jeanette MacDonald in The Firefly (1937)
    The Firefly
    6.8
    • based upon the lyrics of
    • 1937
  • Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Irene Dunne in Roberta (1935)
    Roberta
    7.0
    • lyricist: stage version (as Otto Harbach)
    • 1935
  • The Flame Song (1934)
    The Flame Song
    4.9
    Short
    • lyrics: Song of the Flame (as Otto Harbach)
    • 1934
  • Marilyn Miller in Sunny (1930)
    Sunny
    5.2
    • lyrics by (as Otto Harbach)
    • 1930

Actor



  • Men of the Sky (1931)
    Men of the Sky
    5.5
    • French Major
    • 1931

Personal details

  • Alternative names
    • Mr. Otto Harbach
  • Born
    • August 18, 1873
    • Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
  • Died
    • January 24, 1963
    • New York City, New York, USA
  • Spouse
    • Ella Smith Dougall1918 - January 24, 1963 (his death, 2 children)
  • Other works
    Broadway play: "Three Twins". Musical. Lyrics by Otto A. Harbach. Directed by Gus Sohlke. Herald Square Theatre (due to fire, moved to The Majestic Theatre from 18 Jan 1909-closing. 289 performances.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Print Biography
    • 4 Articles

Did you know

  • Trivia
    Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

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