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Walter Donaldson(1893-1947)

  • Music Department
  • Composer
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Composer, songwriter ("Yes, Sir, That's My Baby", "My Buddy", "My Mammy", "My Blue Heaven", "Makin' Whoopie"), author, pianist and publisher, educated in public schools and then a worker in a Wall Street brokerage firm, becoming a pianist for a music publishing firm. During World War I, he entertained at Camp Upton in New York, and then joined the staff of Irving Berlin Music Company, later co-founding Donaldson, Douglas & Gumble in 1928. He wrote the Broadway stage scores for "Sweetheart Time" and "Whoopee", then came to Hollywood in 1929. Joining ASCAP in 1921, his chief musical collaborators included Sam Lewis, Edgar Leslie, Joe Young, Gus Kahn, Harold Adamson and Johnny Mercer. His other popular-song compositions include "The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady", "Back Home in Tennessee", "Don't Cry, Frenchy, Don't Cry", "On the Gin Gin Ginny Shore", "How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm?", "You're a Million Miles from Nowhere", "Carolina in the Morning", "Beside a Babbling Brook", "Down by the Winegar Woiks", "That Certain Party", "I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight", "Let's Talk About My Sweetie", "At Sundown", "Sam, the Old Accodion Man", "Just Like a Melody Out of the Sky", "I'm Bringing a Red, Red Rose", "Makin' Whoopie", "My Blackbirds Are Bluebirds Now", "Love Me or Leave Me", "Kansas City Kitty", "Changes", "My Baby Just Cares for Me", "'Taint No Sin", "Little White Lies", "You're Driving Me Crazy", "Lazy Lou'siana Moon", "Hello, Beautiful", "My Mom", "An Earful of Music", "Did I Remember?", "Could Be", "It's Been So Long", "You", "You Never Looked So Beautiful Before", "Cuckoo in the Clock" and "Mister Meadowlark".
BornFebruary 15, 1893
DiedJuly 15, 1947(54)
BornFebruary 15, 1893
DiedJuly 15, 1947(54)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Add photos, demo reels
  • Nominated for 1 Oscar
    • 1 nomination total

Known for:

Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich, and Ving Rhames in Con Air (1997)
Con Air
6.9
  • Soundtrack("Carolina in the Morning")
  • 1997
Kim Basinger, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito, and Guy Pearce in L.A. Confidential (1997)
L.A. Confidential
8.2
  • Soundtrack("Makin' Whoopee")
  • 1997
James Franco in Flyboys (2006)
Flyboys
6.5
  • Soundtrack("How Ya Gunna Keep 'em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree?)")
  • 2006
Michael Douglas in The Game (1997)
The Game
7.7
  • Soundtrack("Hiawatha's Lullaby")
  • 1997

Credits

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IMDbPro

Music Department

  • Kvenske historier
    • melody
    • TV Series
    • 2022
  • Robert Palmer: Love Me or Leave Me
    • Music Department
    • Music Video
    • 1992
  • Robert Palmer: Riptide
    • Music Department
    • Music Video
    • 1985
  • Joan Blondell, Lana Turner, and George Murphy in Two Girls on Broadway (1940)
    Two Girls on Broadway
    • composer: stock music (uncredited)
    • 1940
  • Clark Gable and Jean Harlow in Saratoga (1937)
    Saratoga
    • songs: music by
    • 1937
  • Charley Chase and Elissa Landi in Hollywood Party (1937)
    Hollywood Party
    • original music (uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1937
  • Myrna Loy, William Powell, and Luise Rainer in The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
    The Great Ziegfeld
    • special music and lyrics
    • 1936
  • Frederick Burton, Frances Drake, Edward Ellis, Douglas Fowley, Henry Hull, Gene Raymond, Willard Robertson, and Phillip Trent in Transient Lady (1935)
    Transient Lady
    • composer: stock music (uncredited)
    • 1935
  • Charles Bickford and Helen Vinson in A Notorious Gentleman (1935)
    A Notorious Gentleman
    • composer: stock music (uncredited)
    • 1935
  • Eddie Cantor in Kid Millions (1934)
    Kid Millions
    • music and lyrics by
    • 1934
  • Operator 13 (1934)
    Operator 13
    • songs by
    • 1934
  • Walt Disney, Oliver Hardy, Ruth Channing, Irene Hervey, Stan Laurel, Marion O'Connell, Lupe Velez, and Beatrice Hagen in Hollywood Party (1934)
    Hollywood Party
    • music & lyrics by
    • 1934
  • Billie Burke, John Boles, Jimmy Butler, Edna May Oliver, and Margaret Sullavan in Only Yesterday (1933)
    Only Yesterday
    • composer: stock music (uncredited)
    • 1933
  • Eddie Cantor in Whoopee! (1930)
    Whoopee!
    • music by
    • 1930
  • Mary Eaton in Glorifying the American Girl (1929)
    Glorifying the American Girl
    • music and lyrics by
    • 1929

Composer

  • Best Days Ahead (2015)
    Best Days Ahead
    • Composer
    • Short
    • 2015
  • Robert Montgomery in Piccadilly Jim (1936)
    Piccadilly Jim
    • Composer
    • 1936

Soundtrack

  • Lyvia's House
    • music: "DAUGHTER OF ROSIE O'GRADY"
    • Completed
  • Bill Leff in Toon in with Me (2021)
    Toon in with Me
    • music: "Yes Sir! That's My Baby" (uncredited)
    • TV Series
    • 2023
  • Rod Maxwell, Joel Harlow, Rob Hinderstein, Charles Trent, Matt Devino, Marti Matulis, Gerrit Wunder, and Jonathan Martin in Old Time Radio: Your Move (2022)
    Old Time Radio: Your Move
    • writer: "You're Driving Me Crazy"
    • Short
    • 2022
  • Ricardo Darín and Peter Lanzani in Argentina, 1985 (2022)
    Argentina, 1985
    • writer: "Carolina in the Morning"
    • 2022
  • Gossip Girl (2021)
    Gossip Girl
    • writer: "My Baby Just Cares for Me" (uncredited)
    • TV Series
    • 2021
  • Drive My Car (2021)
    Drive My Car
    • writer: "You're Driving Me Crazy! (What Did I Do?)"
    • 2021
  • Stuck (2020)
    Stuck
    • writer: "My Baby Just Cares For Me"
    • Short
    • 2020
  • Télématin (1985)
    Télématin
    • music: "Did I Remember ?" (uncredited)
    • TV Series
    • 2020
  • Nice Jazz Festival (2020)
    Nice Jazz Festival
    • music: "My Baby Just Cares For Me"
    • TV Special
    • 2020
  • Matthew Rhys in Perry Mason (2020)
    Perry Mason
    • writer: "My Blue Heaven"
    • TV Series
    • 2020
  • The Plot Against America (2020)
    The Plot Against America
    • writer: "Little White Lies", "My Blue Heaven" (uncredited)
    • TV Mini Series
    • 2020
  • Rachel Brosnahan in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017)
    The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
    • writer: "Little White Lies"
    • music: "Carolina in the Morning"
    • writer: "My Baby just Cares For Me " ...
    • TV Series
    • 2018–2019
  • Elias Salonen and Anna Airola in Aikuiset (2019)
    Aikuiset
    • writer: "Love Me or Leave Me"
    • TV Series
    • 2019
  • Olavi Uusivirta, Ellinoora Leikas, and Hassan Maikal in SuomiLOVE (2014)
    SuomiLOVE
    • writer: "My Baby Just Cares for Me"
    • TV Series
    • 2019
  • Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson in Five Feet Apart (2019)
    Five Feet Apart
    • writer: "My Baby Just Cares for Me"
    • 2019
  • Pippa Haywood, Ralph Ineson, Tim McInnerny, Samantha Spiro, Ruth Bradley, Blake Harrison, and Luke Pierre in Agatha and the Truth of Murder (2018)
    Agatha and the Truth of Murder
    • writer: "Little White Lies"
    • TV Movie
    • 2018

Personal details

Edit
  • Born
    • February 15, 1893
    • Brooklyn, New York, USA
  • Died
    • July 15, 1947
    • Santa Monica, California, USA(liver ailment)
  • Spouse
    • Walda MansfieldOctober 6, 1934 - October 12, 1944 (divorced, 2 children)
  • Other works
    "Whoopee!", musical comedy revival (the Ziegfeld musical which Eddie Cantor once starred in); book by William Anthony McGuire; lyrics by Gus Kahn; music by Walter Donaldson; based on "The Nervous Wreck" by Owen Davis; musical direction by Lynn Crigler; music orchestrations and dance arrangements by Russell Warner; directed by Frank Corsaro; choreography by Dan Siretta; on Broadway at the ANTA theatre, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA (212 total performances, including 8 previews beginning February 8, 1979).
  • Publicity listings
    • 4 Articles

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

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