Biography
Allie Wrubel, a composer of pop and film songs, reached peak productivity in the late 1930s and throughout the 1940s, creating successes such as “Fare Thee Well, Annabelle” and “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.” Connecticut was the site of his birth in 1905, after which he studied at Wesleyan and Columbia. Early in his career he played saxophone in dance bands, including performances alongside bandleader Paul Whiteman, then took his own ensemble on a European tour and later managed a theater. His initial chart success arrived in 1931 with “Now You’re in My Arms,” followed by further early-thirties hits that included “Farewell to Arms,” “The Lady in Red,” and “As You Desire Me.” Warner Bros. hired him in 1934, launching his screen-songwriting phase and producing numbers such as “Happiness Ahead” (1934), “Gone With the Wind” (1937), “Music, Maestro, Please” (1938), “The Masquerade Is Over,” and “How Long Has This Been Going On?” (1939). During the 1940s he scored animated features for Disney Studios, among them Make Mine Music (1946) and Melody Time (1948), while also co-writing the hit “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” (1946). His last notable film song, “What Does a Woman Do?,” appeared in 1960. Lyricists Herb Magidson, Mort Dixon, and Ray Gilbert ranked among his chief collaborators. Wrubel is additionally an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.