Hoagy Carmichael | Biography, Songs, & Facts
Hoagy Carmichael, byname of Hoagland Howard Carmichael, (born November 22, 1899, Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.—died December 27, 1981, Rancho Mirage, California), American composer, singer, self-taught pianist, and actor who wrote several of the most highly regarded popular standards in American music. Carmichael’s father was an itinerant electrician, and his mother earned extra money for the family as a pianist for dances and silent movies; from her, Carmichael absorbed the basics of playing the piano. He was strongly influenced by ragtime music and by the music he heard from Black families...