Biography
Leo Robin, a prolific American lyricist of pop songs and Broadway show tunes, maintained a career spanning the middle 1920s into the early 1950s and achieved his greatest recognition through his partnership with composer Ralph Rainger. Pittsburgh native Robin entered the world in 1895, pursued legal studies at the University of Pittsburgh, attended Carnegie Tech’s drama school, and subsequently earned income as both a newspaper reporter and a publicist. His initial successes arrived on Broadway in 1926 with By the Way, after which he supplied material for additional stage productions including Bubbling Over the same year, Hit the Deck, Judy in 1927, and Hello Yourself in 1928. Robin relocated to Hollywood in 1932 to join Paramount Pictures, where he and Rainger quickly established themselves as the foremost film-songwriting team of the 1930s and early 1940s, generating more than fifty hits. While under contract at Paramount until 1928, the pair created numbers for Bing Crosby, Jeanette MacDonald, Shirley Temple, and numerous other performers. The duo later moved to 20th Century Fox, supplying songs for Rita Hayworth, Betty Grable, Alice Faye, and additional stars. Robin and Rainger continued their collaboration until Rainger perished in a plane crash in October 1942. Over the ensuing years Robin also teamed with composers Vincent Youmans, Sam Coslow, Richard Whiting, and Nacio Herb Brown. Among the most familiar songs bearing his lyrics are “Hallelujah” from 1927, “Louise” from 1929, “Beyond the Blue Horizon” from 1930, “Prisoner of Love” from 1931, “Please” from 1932, “Love in Bloom” from 1934, “With Every Breath I Take,” “If I Should Lose You” from 1935, “Blue Hawaii” from 1937, the Academy Award winner “Thanks for the Memory” from 1938, and “In Love in Vain” from 1946. Before concluding his career Robin contributed to productions at Universal, Warner Brothers, and MGM studios, wrote for the Broadway successes Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1949 and The Girl in Pink Tights in 1954, and withdrew from motion-picture work in 1955. He holds membership in the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame.
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