Nacio Herb Brown

Ignacio Herbert "Nacio Herb" Brown (February 22, 1896 – September 28, 1964)<ref name="LarkinGE">Template:Cite book</ref> was an American composer of popular songs, movie scores and Broadway theatre music in the 1920s through the early 1950s. Amongst his most enduring work is the score for the 1952 musical film Singin' in the Rain.

Early life

Ignacio Herbert Brown was born in Deming, New Mexico, United States,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> to Ignacio and Cora Brown.<ref name= census>1900 United States Federal Census</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He had an older sister, Charlotte.<ref name=census /> In 1901, his family moved to Los Angeles, where he attended Manual Arts High School.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> His music education started with instruction from his mother, Cora Alice (Hopkins) Brown.

Career

Brown first operated a tailoring business (1916), and then became a financially successful realtor, but he always wrote and played music.<ref name="LarkinGE" /><ref name="Rust">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> After his first hit "Coral Sea" (1920)<ref name="LarkinGE" /> and a first big hit, "When Buddha Smiles" (1921), he eventually became a full-time composer. He joined The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1927, the same year writing the piano instrumental "The Doll Dance".<ref name="Rust" /> This was followed by two more popular Doll-based tunes, "Rag Doll" (1928) and "The Wedding of the Painted Doll", released in 1929.<ref name="Rust" />

In 1928, he was hired to work in Hollywood by MGM and write film scores for the new medium of sound film. For his film work, he often collaborated with lyricist Arthur Freed.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Their music is collected for the most part in Singin' in the Rain. He appeared in the MGM variety film The Hollywood Revue of 1929.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Brown also worked with Richard A. Whiting and Buddy De Sylva on Broadway Musicals such as Take a Chance.<ref name="LarkinGE"/>

Along with L. Wolfe Gilbert, Brown wrote the music for the children's television western, Hopalong Cassidy, which first aired in 1949.

Personal life

File:Photoplay - 1929.10 - 100 - Herb Nacio Brown, Anita Page.png

Brown with third wife Anita Page in 1929

Brown was first married to Ruby Porter, with whom he had one child, Nacio Herb Brown, Jr., who also became a composer. Brown and Porter divorced in 1931 after Brown had an affair with Doris Eaton.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1932 he married Jeanne Borlini Lockhart, but they divorced.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1934 he married actress Anita Page, but they got an annulment less than a year later after Page discovered he was not yet divorced from Lockhart.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1942 he married Georgeann Morris, a union that lasted until his death.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He had three children throughout the marriages.<ref name="obit" /> After an 18-month illness and a brief hospitalization at UCSF Medical Center, Brown died of cancer on September 28, 1964, in San Francisco, California, at the home of two of his children, Nacio Jan Brown and Candace Nacio Brown.<ref name="obit">Template:Cite news</ref>

Legacy

Brown was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970, and into the New Mexico Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2012.

Published songs and music

• "All I Do Is Dream of You"
• "Alone"
• "American Bolero"
• "Avalon Town"
• "Broadway Melody"
• "Broadway Rhythm"
• "Doll Dance"
• "Eadie Was a Lady"
• "Good Morning"
• "The Hoodoo Man"
• "I've Got a Feelin’ You're Foolin"'
• "Love Is Where You Find It"
• "Lucky Star"
• "Make 'Em Laugh"
• "The Moon Is Low" (with Arthur Freed)
• "A New Moon Is Over My Shoulder"
• "Our Big Love Scene"
• "Pagan Love Song" (with Arthur Freed)
• "Paradise" (1931)
• "Should I"
• "Singin' in the Rain"
• "The Sneak"
• "Sweetheart Darlin"'
• "Temptation"
• "Wedding of the Painted Doll"
• "When Buddha Smiles" (1921)
• "Would You"
• "You Are My Lucky Star"
• "You Stepped Out of a Dream"
• "You Were Meant For Me"

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0005978

 | name/{{#if:{{#invoke:ustring|match|1=0005978|2=^nm}}
   | Template:Trim/
   | nm0005978/
   }}
 | {{#if: {{#property:P345}}
   | name/Template:First word/
   | find?q=%7B%7B%23if%3A+%0A++++++%7C+%7B%7B%7Bname%7D%7D%7D%0A++++++%7C+%5B%5B%3ATemplate%3APAGENAMEBASE%5D%5D%0A++++++%7D%7D&s=nm
   }}
 }}{{#if: 0005978  {{#property:P345}} | {{#switch: 
 | award | awards = awards Awards for | biography | bio = bio Biography for
 }}}} {{#if: 
 | {{{name}}}
 | Template:PAGENAMEBASE
 }}] at IMDb{{#if: 0005978{{#property:P345}}
 | Template:EditAtWikidata
 | Template:Main other

}}{{#switch:{{#invoke:string2|matchAny|^nm.........|^nm.......|nm|.........|source=0005978|plain=false}}

 | 1 | 3 =  Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning
 | 4 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning

}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb name with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | id | name | section }}

• {{#if: {{#property:P1220}}

| [https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/{{#if:

 | {{{id}}}
 | Template:First word
 }} {{#if: 
 | {{{name}}}
 | Template:PAGENAMEBASE
 }}] at the Internet Broadway DatabaseTemplate:EditAtWikidataTemplate:WikidataCheck{{#ifeq:0|0|{{#if:||}}}}

| {{#ifeq:0|0|}}

}}

• SHoF page on Nacio Herb Brown
• More complete list of songs on ASCAP site
• Hopalong Cassidy Music
• Template:Find a Grave
• Nacio Herb Brown recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.