Biography
Milton Ager ranked among the leading composers as the Roaring '20s faded and the early Depression years began. He created numerous enduring standards, among them "Ain't She Sweet?," "Happy Days Are Here Again," "Happy Feet," and "I'm Nobody's Baby," the majority written in partnership with lyricist Jack Yellen, along with several period novelty successes such as "Lovin' Sam, The Sheik of Alabam'" and "Mama Goes Where Papa Goes (Or Papa Don't Go Out Tonight)."
Born in Chicago in 1893, Ager taught himself piano as a youngster. He withdrew from high school a year short of his diploma and held a succession of brief positions throughout the 1910s, serving as an intermission pianist at a New York movie theater, a song plugger in Chicago, an accompanist for vaudeville acts touring the Orpheum circuit, an employee at a New York publishing firm, and a member of the U.S. Army's Morale Division stationed at Fort Greenleaf in Georgia.
His initial major success arrived in 1921 with "I'm Nobody's Baby." The following year he and Jack Yellen established their own publishing company, which scored numerous hits across the decade, among them "Lovin' Sam," "Hard-Hearted Hannah," "I Wonder What's Become of Sally," and "Ain't She Sweet?" in 1929. Late in the decade the pair relocated to Hollywood, where they supplied songs for the 1930 film King of Jazz starring Paul Whiteman; the picture premiered "Happy Feet," "Happy Days Are Here Again"—which became a lasting anthem for the Democratic Party—and "A Bench in the Park." Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Ager passed away in 1979.
Born in Chicago in 1893, Ager taught himself piano as a youngster. He withdrew from high school a year short of his diploma and held a succession of brief positions throughout the 1910s, serving as an intermission pianist at a New York movie theater, a song plugger in Chicago, an accompanist for vaudeville acts touring the Orpheum circuit, an employee at a New York publishing firm, and a member of the U.S. Army's Morale Division stationed at Fort Greenleaf in Georgia.
His initial major success arrived in 1921 with "I'm Nobody's Baby." The following year he and Jack Yellen established their own publishing company, which scored numerous hits across the decade, among them "Lovin' Sam," "Hard-Hearted Hannah," "I Wonder What's Become of Sally," and "Ain't She Sweet?" in 1929. Late in the decade the pair relocated to Hollywood, where they supplied songs for the 1930 film King of Jazz starring Paul Whiteman; the picture premiered "Happy Feet," "Happy Days Are Here Again"—which became a lasting anthem for the Democratic Party—and "A Bench in the Park." Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Ager passed away in 1979.