Biography
Richard Whiting, a key American composer of popular songs and stage musicals, produced successful numbers beginning in the middle of the 1910s and continuing through the 1930s, when his primary focus shifted to motion pictures. Born in Peoria, Illinois, in 1891, he grew up in a household filled with music, as both parents performed on instruments. He studied at a military academy in Los Angeles before taking the stage as a vocalist in vaudeville circuits. Although entirely self-taught at the piano and on the page, Whiting partnered with Marshall Neilan—later a film director—to create a touring vaudeville routine.
In 1913 he secured employment at a music publisher’s Detroit branch and earned extra pay by performing at a local hotel. During this period lyricists Gus Kahn and Ray Egan traveled from Chicago to collaborate with him. Their partnership yielded “Till We Meet Again” in 1918, whose Egan lyrics drove multi-million sales, and “Some Sunday Morning,” which became an Al Jolson success. Whiting’s own initial breakthrough arrived earlier with the 1914 song “I Wonder Where My Lovin’ Man Has Gone.” Throughout the remainder of the decade he contributed numbers to multiple Broadway productions while also releasing several standalone hits.
By the late 1920s Whiting had relocated to New York, after which Paramount Pictures dispatched him to Hollywood. He briefly returned east in 1931 to compose scores for two stage musicals, then moved back to California for assignments at Fox and subsequently at Warner Bros., where he joined forces with lyricist Johnny Mercer. In fewer than ten years of screen work he accounted for more than fifty hits. The Broadway shows he scored include Toot Sweet (1919) and Take a Chance (1932). Among his most widely recognized compositions are “Ain’t We Got Fun?” (1921), “She’s Funny That Way” (1928), “Beyond the Blue Horizon” (1930), “One Hour With You” (1932), “On the Good Ship Lollipop” (1934), “Too Marvelous for Words” (1937), and “Hooray for Hollywood” (1938). Over the years he collaborated with Leo Robin, George Marion, Jr., Arthur Jackson, Haven Gillespie, and Buddy DeSylva. His daughters, singer and actress Barbara Whiting and pop vocalist Margaret Whiting, both pursued careers in entertainment. Whiting was later inducted into the Songwriters National Hall of Fame.
In 1913 he secured employment at a music publisher’s Detroit branch and earned extra pay by performing at a local hotel. During this period lyricists Gus Kahn and Ray Egan traveled from Chicago to collaborate with him. Their partnership yielded “Till We Meet Again” in 1918, whose Egan lyrics drove multi-million sales, and “Some Sunday Morning,” which became an Al Jolson success. Whiting’s own initial breakthrough arrived earlier with the 1914 song “I Wonder Where My Lovin’ Man Has Gone.” Throughout the remainder of the decade he contributed numbers to multiple Broadway productions while also releasing several standalone hits.
By the late 1920s Whiting had relocated to New York, after which Paramount Pictures dispatched him to Hollywood. He briefly returned east in 1931 to compose scores for two stage musicals, then moved back to California for assignments at Fox and subsequently at Warner Bros., where he joined forces with lyricist Johnny Mercer. In fewer than ten years of screen work he accounted for more than fifty hits. The Broadway shows he scored include Toot Sweet (1919) and Take a Chance (1932). Among his most widely recognized compositions are “Ain’t We Got Fun?” (1921), “She’s Funny That Way” (1928), “Beyond the Blue Horizon” (1930), “One Hour With You” (1932), “On the Good Ship Lollipop” (1934), “Too Marvelous for Words” (1937), and “Hooray for Hollywood” (1938). Over the years he collaborated with Leo Robin, George Marion, Jr., Arthur Jackson, Haven Gillespie, and Buddy DeSylva. His daughters, singer and actress Barbara Whiting and pop vocalist Margaret Whiting, both pursued careers in entertainment. Whiting was later inducted into the Songwriters National Hall of Fame.