James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television, and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Many of his compositions later went on to become jazz standards.

Life and career

Born in Syracuse, New York, Edward Chester Babcock began writing music while in high school. He renamed himself to Jimmy Van Heusen at age 16, after the shirt makers Phillips-Van Heusen, to use as his on-air name during local shows. Van Heusen was raised Methodist.

Studying at Cazenovia Seminary and Syracuse University, he became friends with Jerry Arlen, the younger brother of Harold Arlen.

Van Heusen composed over 1,000 songs, of which 50 became standards. His songs are featured in over 580 films.

Personal life

Van Heusen was known to be quite popular among women. He said, "I took song writing seriously when I discovered girls". James Kaplan in his book Frank: The Voice (2010) wrote, "He played piano beautifully, wrote gorgeously poignant songs about romance... he had a fat wallet, he flew his own plane; he never went home alone". Van Heusen was once described by Angie Dickinson, "You would not pick him over Clark Gable any day, but his magnetism was irresistible". Referring to the composer's virility, lyricist Sammy Cahn said, “Sinatra thought he was Van Heusen, but he couldn’t pass the physical".

In his 20s he began to shave his head when he started losing his hair, a practice ahead of its time. He once said "I would rather write songs than do anything else – even fly". Kaplan also reported that he was a "hypochondriac of the first order" who kept a Merck manual at his bedside, injected himself with vitamins and painkillers, and had surgical procedures for ailments real and imagined. However, this event was never mentioned by Van Heusen in any radio or print interviews given by him. Van Heusen himself married for the first time in 1969, at age 56, to Bobbe Brock, originally one of the Brox Sisters and widow of the producer Bill Perlberg.

Death

Van Heusen retired in the late 1970s and died in 1990 in Rancho Mirage, California, from complications following a stroke at the age of 77. Van Heusen is buried near the Sinatra family in Desert Memorial Park, in Cathedral City, California.

Academy Awards

Van Heusen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song 14 times in 12 different years (in both 1945 and 1964 he was nominated for two songs), and won four times: in 1944, 1957, 1959, and 1963.

Other awards

He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1965 for Best Musical Score Written for a Motion Picture or TV show for Robin and the Seven Hoods.

He was also nominated for three Tony awards:

  • Best Musical in 1966 for Skyscraper
  • Best Musical in 1967 for Walking Happy
  • Best Composer and Lyricist in 1967 Walking Happy

He was nominated three times for a Golden Globe Award.

  • 1965 – "Where Love Has Gone" (lyrics by Sammy Cahn) for the film Where Love Has Gone
  • 1968 – "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (lyrics by Sammy Cahn) for the film Thoroughly Modern Millie.
  • 1969 – "Star" (lyrics by Sammy Cahn) for the film Star!.

He won a Christopher Award in 1955 for the song "Love and Marriage".

Namesakes

  • Bob Hope's character in The Road to Hong Kong (1962) is named Chester Babcock, in reference to Van Heusen's birth name.

Songs

With lyricist Sammy Cahn

  • "Ain't That a Kick in the Head"
  • "All For One and One For All"
  • "All My Tomorrows"
  • "All the Way"
  • "The Auction"
  • "Bang! Bang!"
  • "B-R-A-N-E"
  • "California"
  • "Call Me Irresponsible"
  • "Cha Cha Choo Choo"
  • "Charlotte Couldn't Charleston"
  • "Clog and Grog"
  • "Come Blow Your Horn"
  • "Come Dance with Me"
  • "Come Fly with Me"
  • "Come on Strong"
  • "Come Waltz with Me"
  • "Don't Worry"
  • "Eee-O Eleven"
  • "An Elephant Never Forgets"
  • "Everybody Has the Right to Be Wrong!"
  • "A Faraway Land"
  • "The Gaiety"
  • "The Girl Most Likely to Succeed"
  • "Haute Couture"
  • "H-E-A-R-T"
  • "High Hopes"
  • "The Horse on the Carousel"
  • "How Are Ya' Fixed For Love?"
  • "How D'ya Talk to a Girl"
  • "I Couldn't Care Less"
  • "I Don't Think I'm In Love"
  • "I Like to Lead When I Dance"
  • "I Wouldn't Trade Christmas"
  • "I'll Make a Man of the Man"
  • "I'll Only Miss Her When I Think of Her"
  • "If I Be Your Best Chance"
  • "If You're Gonna be A Witch, Be A Witch"
  • "The Impatient Years"
  • "Incurably Romantic"
  • "Indiscreet"
  • "It Gets Lonely Early"
  • "It Might As Well Be Her"
  • "It's Nice to Go Trav'ling"
  • "A Joyful Thing"
  • "Keep a Happy Thought"
  • "The Last Dance"
  • "Let's Make Love"
  • "Local 403"
  • "The Look of Love"
  • "Look to Your Heart"
  • "Love and Marriage"
  • "(Love Is) The Tender Trap"
  • "The Man with the Golden Arm"
  • "More Than One Way"
  • "Mr. Booze"
  • "My Kind of Town"
  • "N-E-R-V-E"
  • "The Night That Rock and Roll Died"
  • "Nobody's Perfect"
  • "Nothing in Common" (with Keely Smith)
  • "Occasional Flight of Fancy"
  • "An Old-Fashioned Christmas"
  • "Only the Lonely"
  • "Opposites"
  • "Our Town"
  • "People Who Are Nice"
  • "Pocketful Of Miracles"
  • "Return to the Land of Oz"
  • "Ring-a-Ding Ding!"
  • "Run For Your Life!"
  • "The Same Old Song and Dance" (with Bobby Worth)
  • "Say One for Me"
  • "The Second Best Secret Agent in the Whole Wide World"
  • "The Second Time Around"
  • "The Secret of Christmas"
  • "The September of My Years"
  • "Sleigh Ride in July"
  • "Spare That Building"
  • "Specialization"
  • "Star!"
  • "Style"
  • "Such a Sociable Sort"
  • "That Feeling for Home"
  • "The Tapioca"
  • "There's Love and There's Love and There's Love"
  • "They Came to Cordura"
  • "Think of Something Else"
  • "Thoroughly Modern Millie"
  • "To Love and Be Loved"
  • "Use Your Noggin"
  • "Walking Happy"
  • "What Makes It Happen"
  • "When Somebody Loves You"
  • "When No One Cares"
  • "Where Love Has Gone"
  • "Where Was I"
  • "Who Was That Lady?"
  • "Wrong!"
  • "You Can't Love Them All"
  • "You Have Only You"
  • "You Never Had It So Good"
  • "You're Right, You're Right"

With lyricist Johnny Burke

  • "Aren't You Glad You're You?"
  • "But Beautiful"
  • "Busy Doing Nothing"
  • "Going My Way"
  • "Here's That Rainy Day" (from Carnival in Flanders)
  • "Imagination"
  • "It Could Happen to You"
  • "It's Always You"
  • "It's Anybody’s Spring"
  • "Like Someone in Love"
  • "Life Is So Peculiar"
  • "Moonlight Becomes You"
  • "Shake Down the Stars"
  • "So Help Me"

With others

  • "Blue Rain" (lyrics by Johnny Mercer)
  • "Far Away" (lyrics by David Kapp)
  • "I Could Have Told You" (lyrics by Carl Sigman)
  • "I Thought About You" (lyrics by Johnny Mercer)
  • "It's the Dreamer in Me" (lyrics by Jimmy Van Heusen; music by Jimmy Dorsey)
  • "Nancy (With the Laughing Face)" (lyrics by Phil Silvers)
  • "Not as a Stranger" (lyrics by Buddy Kaye)
  • "Sha-Sha" King / Kutz (minor hit for The Andrews Sisters and Jimmy Dorsey 1938)

Independent

  • "It's 1200 miles from Palm Springs to Texas"

Notes

References

  • James Kaplan (2010). Frank: The Voice, pp. 49, 666–669.
  • Wilfred Sheed (2007). The House That George Built, "Jimmy Van Heusen: On The Radio With Bing and Frank" pp. 225–251.
  • Alec Wilder (1990). American Popular Song, "The Great Craftsmen: Jimmy Van Heusen" pp. 442–451.
  • William Ruhlmann (2001). "Van Heusen, James "Jimmy" (originally, Babcock, Edward Chester)" Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. Gale.
  • Songwriters Hall Of Fame Website
  • New York Times Obituary, February 8, 1990