Harold Arlen

Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, renowned for his innovative melodies that blended jazz, blues, and Tin Pan Alley styles, composing over 400 songs that became enduring standards in the Great American Songbook.

Born in Buffalo, New York, to a Jewish cantor father whose synagogue chants profoundly influenced his early musical exposure, Arlen showed prodigious talent as a pianist and began performing professionally by age 15, forming bands like the Snappy Trio and later moving to New York City to work as an arranger and songwriter.

His breakthrough came in the 1930s through collaborations with lyricists such as Ted Koehler, resulting in hits like "Stormy Weather" (1933) for the revue Cotton Club Parade, and with E.Y. Harburg for the landmark film score of The Wizard of Oz (1939), featuring the Oscar-winning "Over the Rainbow."

Arlen's Hollywood career flourished in the 1940s, partnering with Johnny Mercer on songs including "Blues in the Night" (1941), "That Old Black Magic" (1942), and "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" (1943), many of which earned Academy Award nominations and were popularized by artists like Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald.

Later works included Broadway musicals like Bloomer Girl (1944) and St. Louis Woman (1946), as well as the 1954 film A Star Is Born with "The Man That Got Away," showcasing his rhythmic complexity and emotional depth that influenced generations of musicians.

Among his honors, Arlen received the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1940 for "Over the Rainbow," which was later named the #1 song of the 20th century by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts, and he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971.

Arlen's personal life included marriage to Anya Taranda in 1937, whose death in 1970 contributed to his withdrawal from composing, though his legacy endures through revues and recordings that highlight his unique ability to evoke profound sentiment through unexpected harmonic turns.