The family moved to Indianapolis in 1916, but Carmichael returned to Bloomington in 1919 to complete high school. With the exception of some piano lessons in Indianapolis with Reginald DuValle, a bandleader and pianist known as 'the elder statesman of Indiana jazz' and billed as 'the Rhythm King', Carmichael had no other musical training. Ĭarmichael's mother taught him to sing and play the piano at an early age. In 1910, the Carmichaels were living in Missoula, Montana. Hoagy spent most of his early years in Bloomington and in Indianapolis, Indiana. Because of Howard's unstable job history, the family moved frequently. Hoagy had two younger sisters, Georgia and Joanne. Howard worked as a horse-drawn taxi driver and later as an electrician, while Lida, a versatile pianist, played accompaniment at movie theaters for silent movies and at private parties to earn extra income.

His parents named him after a circus troupe called the 'Hoaglands' that had stayed at the Carmichael house during his mother's pregnancy. Hoagland Howard 'Hoagy' Carmichael was born in Bloomington, Indiana, on November 22, 1899, the first child and only son of Howard Clyde and Lida Mary (Robison) Carmichael. Carmichael also appeared as a character actor and musical performer in 14 films, hosted three musical-variety radio programs, performed on television, and wrote two autobiographies.Ĭarmichael's house in Bloomington, Indiana (2011) ' In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening', with lyrics by Mercer, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1951. Carmichael's ' Ole Buttermilk Sky' was an Academy Award nominee in 1946, from Canyon Passage, in which he co-starred as a musician riding a mule. He also collaborated with lyricist Johnny Mercer on ' Lazybones' and ' Skylark'. He is best known for composing the music for ' Stardust', ' Georgia on My Mind' (lyrics by Stuart Gorrell), ' The Nearness of You', and ' Heart and Soul' (in collaboration with lyricist Frank Loesser), four of the most-recorded American songs of all time. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the first singer-songwriters in the age of mass media to utilize new communication technologies such as television, electronic microphones, and sound recordings.Ĭarmichael composed several hundred songs, including 50 that achieved hit record status. American composer and author Alec Wilder described Carmichael as the 'most talented, inventive, sophisticated and jazz-oriented of all the great craftsmen' of pop songs in the first half of the 20th century. Hoagland Howard Carmichael (Novem– December 27, 1981) was an American songwriter, musician, actor, singer, and attorney.

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