Arthur James Johnston (January 10, 1898 – May 1, 1954) was an American composer, conductor, pianist and arranger.

Life and career

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, he began playing piano in movie houses, and went to work for

Fred Fisher Fred Fisher (born Alfred Breitenbach, September 30, 1875 – January 14, 1942) was a German-born American songwriter and Tin Pan Alley music publisher. Biography Fisher was born in Cologne, Germany. His parents were Max and Theodora Breitenb ...

's music publishing company at the age of 16. He met, and was soon hired by,

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...

, becoming Berlin's personal

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchest ...

, and director of early ''

Music Box Revue ''Music Box Revue'' was a series of four musical theatre revues by Irving Berlin, presented from 1921 to 1925 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. The first show was staged by Hassard Short with music by Irving Berlin Irving Berlin ( ...

s''. His first hit song was "Mandy Make Up Your Mind", co-written with

George W. Meyer George William Meyer (January 1, 1884– August 28, 1959) was an American Tin Pan Alley songwriter. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1884. He graduated from Roxbury High School, and began working in accountancy for Boston department stor ...

, Roy Turk and Grant Clarke for

Florence Mills Florence Mills (born Florence Winfrey; January 25, 1896 – November 1, 1927), billed as the "Queen of Happiness", was an American cabaret singer, dancer, and comedian. Life and career Florence Mills (Florence Winfrey) was born a daughter of for ...

to sing in the show ''Dixie to Broadway''. Biography by Jason Ankeny, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 12 January 2021 In 1929, he moved to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

, where he orchestrated and arranged the music for films including '' Puttin' On the Ritz'' and

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is conside ...

's ''

City Lights ''City Lights'' is a 1931 American silent romantic comedy film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. The story follows the misadventures of Chaplin's Tramp as he falls in love with a blind girl (Virginia Cherrill) and ...

''. He worked with Sam Coslow on such songs as ""Just One More Chance" (1932) and " Cocktails for Two" (1934). He became closely associated with

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

, writing songs for the films '' College Humor'' (1933), '' Too Much Harmony'' (1933), and '' Pennies From Heaven'' (1936), the first film on which he worked with lyricist Johnny Burke. Johnston and Burke were nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed ...

in 1936 for the song " Pennies From Heaven".TheOscarSite.com
/ref> He visited Britain in 1938, writing the music for the

Jessie Matthews Jessie Margaret Matthews (11 March 1907 – 19 August 1981) was an English actress, dancer and singer of the 1920s and 1930s, whose career continued into the post-war period. After a string of hit stage musicals and films in the mid-1930s, Ma ...

film '' Sailing Along'', and served in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After returning to Hollywood, he wrote for movies including ''

Song of the South ''Song of the South'' is a 1946 American live-action/animated musical drama film directed by Harve Foster and Wilfred Jackson; produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It is based on the Uncle Remus stories as adapted b ...

'' (1947). He was a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He died in

Corona del Mar, California Corona del Mar ( Spanish for "Crown of the Sea") is a seaside neighborhood in the city of Newport Beach, California. It generally consists of all the land on the seaward face of the San Joaquin Hills south of Avocado Avenue to the city limits, ...

, in 1954, aged 56.

Major songs

*"Moon Song (That Wasn't Meant For Me)"—lyrics by Sam Coslow *"Black Moonlight"—lyrics by Sam Coslow *" Cocktails for Two"—lyrics by Sam Coslow *"Sweet Lotus Blossom"—lyrics by Sam Coslow *"My Old Flame"—lyrics by Sam Coslow *" Pennies From Heaven"—lyrics by Johnny Burke *"One, Two, Button Your Shoe"—lyrics by Johnny Burke

References

External links

Arthur Johnston at TheOscarSite.comSong Writers' Hall of Fame
*
Arthur Johnston recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Arthur American male songwriters American male classical composers American classical composers American musical theatre composers American film score composers 1898 births 1954 deaths 20th-century American composers Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) American male film score composers 20th-century American male musicians