Carmichael, Hoagy

Carmichael, Hoagy hō´gē [key] (Hoagland Howard Carmichael), 1899–1981, American songwriter, pianist, and singer, b. Bloomington, Ind. While still a student at Indiana Univ. he was influenced by a number of jazz musicians. Several of his jazz tunes, e.g., Riverboat Shuffle (1924), became popular in the 1920s. He went on to write many songs, of which Stardust (1929) is best known. Others include Georgia on My Mind (1930), The Nearness of You (1938), Skylark (1942), and In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening (1951, Academy Award). Carmichael also played in and recorded with a number of bands. His easygoing charm made him a popular celebrity and was apparent in his film roles, e.g., in To Have and Have Not (1944) and Young Man with a Horn (1950).

See his The Stardust Road (1946) and Sometimes I Wonder (with S. Longstreet, 1965).

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