Harold Adamson

For the Toronto Police Chief see Harold Adamson (police chief)

Harold Adamson (10 December, 1906 – 17 August, 1980) was an American lyricist during the 1930s and 1940s.

Biography

Adamson, the son of Harold Adamson and Marion "Minnie" Campbell Adamson, was born and raised in Greenville, New Jersey. Adamson suffered from polio as a child which limited the use of his right hand. Initially, Adamson was interested in acting but he began writing songs and poetry as a teenager. He went on to studying acting at the University of Kansas and Harvard. Ultimately he entered into a songwriting contract with MGM in 1933. During his stint with MGM he wrote many popular and successful songs, including the theme song for the hit sitcom "I Love Lucy".

He was nominated for five Academy Award Nominations for lyrics to several original movie scores. He was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972.

Harold Adamson died in Beverly Hills, California.

Songs or lyrics by Harold Adamson

• "We're Having A Baby (My Baby and Me)" 1941. Music by Vernon Duke. Sung by Desi Arnaz.
• "Time on My Hands" (with Mack Gordon and Vincent Youmans)
• "An Affair to Remember"
• "Everything I Have Is Yours" (with Burton Lane)
• "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night"
• "It's a Wonderful World"
• "Manhattan Serenade"
• "There's Something in the Air"
• "Comin' In on a Wing and a Prayer"
• "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening" from the 1943 film Higher and Higher, sung by Frank Sinatra
• "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night" nominated for an Oscar for Best Song, also featured in the 1943 film Higher and Higher, sung by Frank Sinatra
• "Around the World"
• "Daybreak"
• "My Resistance is Low"
• "I've Come to California", theme song for the 1957-1959 NBC television series The Californians, set in San Francisco during the gold rush of the 1850s

Notes

Sources

• American National Biography, vol. 1, pp. 135–136.

External links

• Additional information on Harold Adamson
• Bio on Music Theater International site
• Harold Adamson at the Songwriters Hall of Fame

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