Herb Magidson, the first Academy Award winner for Best Song in a Motion Picture for “The Continental”, was born in Braddock, Pennsylvania on January 7, 1906.
Graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, Magidson moved to New York in 1928 where he began writing material for publishers on Tin Pan Alley. He was quickly commissioned by film studios and moved to Hollywood in 1929 to work on musicals such as The Great Ziegfeld, Life of the Party, Radio City Revels, Music in Manhattan, Sing Your Way Home, The Forward Pass, Tiger Rose, No, No, Nanette, Lillies of the Field, The Gay Divorcee, King Soloman of Broadway, Miss Pacific Fleet, Hers to Hold and Song of the Thin Man.
Collaborating with songwriters like Con Conrad, Allie Wrubel, Ben Oadland, Carl Sigman, Michael Cleary, Jule Styne, Sam Stept and Sammy Fain, Magidson produced a catalog of hits. Other than “The Continental”, he wrote “How Long Has This Been Going On?”, “Music, Maestro, Please”, “Gone With the Wind”, “Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later than You Think)”, “I’ll Buy That Dream”, “The Masquerade Is Over”, “Something I Dreamed Last Night”, “Midnight in Paris”, “I’ll Dance at Your Wedding”, “Roses in December”, “I’m Stepping Out With a Memory Tonight”, “Say a Prayer for the Boys Over There”, “Black-Eyed Susan Brown”, “I Can’t Love You Any More”, “Good Night Angel”, “H’lo, Baby”, “Singin’ in the Bathtub”, “Conchita Lopez”, “Hummin’ to Myself”, “A Pink Cocktail for a Blue Lady”, “Violins from Nowhere”, “Linger in My Arms a Little Longer, Baby” and “My Impression of You”.
