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Walter Donaldson (February 15, 1893 – July 15, 1947) was an American prolific popular songwriter and publishing company founder, composing many hit songs of the 1910s to 1940s, that have become standards and form part of the Great American Songbook.
One of eleven children in a music-loving family, the songwriting talents of Brooklyn-born Walter Donaldson bloomed under the watch of his classically trained mother, an organist at the local parish.
Walter Donaldson (born Feb. 15, 1893, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.—died July 15, 1947, Santa Monica, Calif., U.S.) was a U.S. lyricist, arranger, pianist, and prolific composer of popular songs for stage productions and films. Donaldson began his career as a pianist for a music publisher.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Walter Donaldson was born on February 15, 1893 in Brooklyn, New York. One of eleven children in a music-loving family, his early musical talent bloomed under the tutelage of his mother, a classically trained pianist and teacher.
He never looked back. In 1915, Donaldson wrote his first big hit songs: “You’ll Never Know That Old Home Town Of Mine,” “We’ll Have A Jubilee In My Old Kentucky Home,” and “Just Try To Picture Me Back Home In Tennessee,” which was introduced by Al Jolson.
Walter Donaldson, a sleepless, quixotic songwriter, is remembered with great affection and praise as a perhaps lesser known but no less important figure than the friends and fellow songwriters he came up with on Tin Pan Alley like Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Harry Warren, and Cole Porter.
Aug 31, 2010 · Walter Donaldson is most famous for composing “My Blue Heaven,” “Makin’ Whoopee,” “My Mammy” (Al Jolson’s theme song), and “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby.”
