Milton Ager

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Milton Ager
Background information
Born(1893-10-06)October 6, 1893
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedMay 6, 1979(1979-05-06) (aged 85)
Inglewood, California
GenresPopular music
Occupation(s)Composer, lyricist
Instrument(s)Piano

Milton Ager (October 6, 1893 – May 6, 1979) was an American composer, regarded as one of the top songwriters of the 1920s and 1930s.[1] His most lasting compositions include "Ain't She Sweet” and “Happy Days Are Here Again”.

Biography

Ager was born to Jewish couple Fannie Nathan and Simon Ager, who worked as a livestock dealer.[2][3] in Chicago, Illinois, the sixth of nine children. He taught himself to play the piano, and attended McKinley High School, but left after only three years and embarked on a career in music.[4][1][5]

He worked as a

silent movies. He moved to New York City in 1914, as an arranger for the publishing firm, and began composing music in association with Pete Wendling. After some time in the US Army's Morale Division in Fort Greenleaf, Georgia, he returned to work in 1918 and wrote his first hit song, "Everything is Peaches Down in Georgia" with lyricist Grant Clarke, for Al Jolson. He then started working with lyricist Jack Yellen, and they wrote together for the 1920 Broadway show What's in a Name, featuring the song "A Young Man's Fancy". He continued to have success over the next few years with the songs "I'm Nobody's Baby" (1921, written with Benny Davis and Lester Santly), and "Who Cares?" (1922, written with Yellen).[4][6][5]

In 1922, Ager and Yellen co-founded the publishing company of

Warner Brothers bought the firm of Ager, Yellen and Bornstein, Ager continued to write lyrics successfully in Hollywood for several years, his later successes including "Auf Wiedersehen My Dear" (1932) and "Trust in Me" (1937). He effectively retired in the 1940s.[6]

Ager was inducted into the

Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
in Los Angeles.

In 2007, a revue of Ager's music called Vampin' Lady opened in New Hope, Pennsylvania, performed by singer Joyce Moody under the direction of Earl Wentz and transferred to New York City as part of the American Composer Series.

Family

Ager's wife was columnist Cecelia Ager. He was the father of columnist Shana Alexander. His niece, Joy Eden Harrison, a singer-songwriter with three albums to her credit, claims his work has been influential on her own musical career.[citation needed]

Songs

Among the best known Milton Ager songs are:

Works for Broadway include:

  • What's in a Name? (1920) – musical – composer
  • Rain or Shine (1928) – musical – co-composer
  • Murray Anderson's Almanac (1929) – revue – co-composer

References

  1. ^ a b "Milton Ager", Songwriters Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 8, 2021
  2. ^ Tampa Jewish Federation: "Jews in the News: Carrie Fisher, Norman Lear and Stephen Tobolowsky", jewishtampa.com, retrieved March 18, 2017
  3. ISBN 978-0-19-860669-7
    . Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "The Honor Roll of Popular Songwriters: Milton Ager", Jack Burton, Billboard, November 18, 1950, p. 37. Retrieved January 8, 2021
  5. ^
    AllMusic
    . Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  6. ^
    ISBN 0-7232-3177-X
    .

Further reading

External links

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