Charles Newman

American songwriter and lyricist.

Born: February 22, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, USA
Died: January 9, 1978 (age 76) in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA

The son of a butcher working in the Chicago stockyards, Newman grew up in Chicago, where he graduated from John Marshall High School. He started working life at age 18 as the correspondent for a bank. At some point, he attended Columbia University in New York City. By the later half of the 1920s, he had become a professional songwriter, living in Chicago. In June 1930, he married Lessie Jane Greenwald in Chicago. In 1935, he collaborated on the music for the 1935 "Earl Carroll's Sketch Book" revue on Broadway, which featured the song "Let's Swing It."

Between 1935 and 1940, he moved to Beverly Hills, California, and became involved with writing music for Hollywood movies like "Jitterbugs", "Tahiti Honey", "What's Buzzin' Cousin" (all 1943) and "Lady, Let's Dance" (1944). A song written for that last movie, "Silver Shadows and Golden Dreams" (with Lew Pollack), was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1943, Pollack and Newman also collaborated on a variety revue, "Born Happy", that featured Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and premiered in Los Angeles, but the show flopped.

Newman's greatest hits were "Our Bungalow Of Dreams" (1927, with Tommie Malie and Joe Verges) and "Sweethearts On Parade" (1928, with Carmen Lombardo).

Other successful songs were "That's What Puts The "Sweet" In Home Sweet Home" (1928, with Mack Gordon and Ed Lowry), "Dream Train" (1929, with Billy Baskette), "The Moonlight March" (1929, with Carmen Lombardo), "What's The Use" (1930, with Isham Jones), "(Was I To Blame For) Falling In Love With You" (1930, as M. Neuman with Gus Kahn and Victor Young), "I'll Never Have To Dream Again" (1933, with Isham Jones), "You've Got Me Crying Again" (1933, with Isham Jones), "Flowers For Madame" (1933, with Charles Tobias and Murray Mencher), "Let's Swing It" (1935, with Charles Tobias and Murray Mencher), "Tiny Little Fingerprints" (1935, with Charles Tobias and Sam H. Stept), "West Wind" (1936, with Milton Ager and Murray Mencher), "It's No Fun" (1936, with Milton Ager and Murray Mencher), "You Can't Pull The Wool Over My Eyes" (1936, with Milton Ager and Murray Mencher), "The Meanest Thing You Ever Did Was Kiss Me" (1937, with Al Lewis and Murray Mencher), "Summer Souvenirs" (1938, with J. Fred Coots), "The Answer Is Love" (1939, with Sam H. Stept), "Little Old Band Of Gold" (1939, with Fred Glickman and Gene Autry), "He's My Uncle" (1940, with Lew Pollack), "Six Lessons From Madame La Zonga" (1940, with James V. Monaco), "Why Don't We Do This More Often" (1941, with Allie Wrubel), "Rancho Pillow" (1941, with Allie Wrubel), "I Met Her On Monday" (1942, with Allie Wrubel), "A Boy In Khaki-A Girl In Lace" (1942, with Allie Wrubel), "It Isn't A Dream Anymore" (1942, with Walter Samuels), "I'm A-Comin' A-Courtin' Corabelle" (1947, with Allie Wrubel), and many others.