The Resume

(February 15, 1905-April 23, 1986)
Born in Buffalo, New York
Birth name was Hyman Arluck
Sang with the bands of Joe Venuti, Red Nichols, Leo Reisman and Eddy Duchin
Member of the Ken Darby Singers
With lyricist Ted Koehler wrote ‘Get Happy,’ ‘I Got a Right to Sing the Blues,’ ‘I’ve Got the World on a String,’ ‘Let’s Fall in Love’ and ‘Stormy Weather’
With lyricist E.Y. Harburg wrote ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow,’ ‘Down with Love,’ ‘Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe’ and ‘Lydia the Tattooed Lady’
With lyricist Johnny Mercer wrote ‘That Old Black Magic,’ ‘Blues in the Night,’ ‘Ac-Cent-Chu-Ate the Positive,’ ‘Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home,’ ‘Come Rain or Come Shine’ and ‘One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)’
With lyricist Ira Gershwin wrote ‘The Man Who Got Away’
Recorded the album ‘Harold Sings Arlen (with Friend)’ (1966)
Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1971)

Why he might be annoying:

He dropped out of school at age fifteen.
He largely retried as a singer after deciding that performing, with its auditions and competition, ‘had become something my temperament couldn’t take.’
He proposed to Anya Taranda by handing her note reading, ‘We’re getting married tomorrow.’
A year before his death, he adopted his 22-year-old nephew so his estate would have an heir in order to extend the copyrights on his songs.

Why he might not be annoying:

He was a former roommate of actor/dancer/singer Ray Bolger.
He and Harburg wrote the songs and score for ‘The Wizard of Oz’ in only two months.
'Over the Rainbow' topped both the RIAA's 'Songs of the Century' list and the American Film Institute's '100 Years, 100 Songs.'
Irving Berlin said, ‘He wasn't as well-known as some of us, but he was a better songwriter than most of us.’

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 78]
• Ed Sullivan Show Guests
• I Adopted a Child
• I am on a U.S. Postage Stamp [A-C]
• I Am Vaudeville [A-L]
• I Covered 'One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)'
• I Covered 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'
• I Did Not Graduate High School [A-B]
• I Died in 1986 (Ranked: 81)
• I Have Parkinson Disease
• I Sing About Rainbows
• I'm Buried at Ferncliff Cemetery [Hartsdale, NY]
• Look at Me, I'm with Judy Garland
• Oscar for Best Original Song (Ranked: 1939)
• Profiles 47251-47500 (Ranked: 47361)
• Twins
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 19860423)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying