Jimmy Van Heusen

Christened Edward Chester Babcock in Syracuse, New York, he began writing music while at high school, and renamed himself at age 15, to use as his on-air name during a local radio show.

Studying at Cazenovia Seminary and Syracuse University, he became friends with Jerry Arlen, the younger brother of Harold Arlen. With the elder Arlen's help, Van Heusen wrote songs for the Cotton Club revue, including "Harlem Hospitality."

He then became a staff pianist for some of the Tin Pan Alley publishers, and wrote "It's the Dreamer in Me" (1938) with lyrics by Tommy Dorsey.

Collaborating with lyricist Eddie DeLange, on songs such as "Heaven Can Wait", "So Help Me", and "Darn That Dream", his work became more prolific, writing over 60 songs in 1940 alone. It was in 1940 that he teamed up with the lyricist Johnny Burke. Burke and Van Heusen moved to Hollywood writing for stage musicals and films throughout the '40s and early '50s, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Swinging on a Star" (1944). Their songs were also featured in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949).

He also worked as a part time test pilot for Lockheed Corporation in World War II.

Van Heusen then teamed up with lyricist Sammy Cahn. Their three Academy Awards for Best Song were won for "All the Way" (1957) from The Joker Is Wild, "High Hopes" (1959) from A Hole in the Head and "Call Me Irresponsible" (1963) (lyrics by Sammy Cahn) from Papa's Delicate Condition. Their songs were also featured in Rear Window (1954), and Ocean's Eleven (1960).

Cahn and Van Heusen also wrote "Love and Marriage" (1955), "To Love and Be Loved", "Come Fly With Me", "Only the Lonely", and "Come Dance With Me" with many of their compositions being the title songs for Frank Sinatra's albums of the late 50's.

Van Heusen wrote a musical in 1965 entitled Skyscraper, and the 1966 musical Walking Happy. He became an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971.

Van Heusen retired in the late 1970s, and died in Rancho Mirage, California in 1990, at the age of 77.