Herman Hupfeld

Herman Hupfeld (born February 1, 1894 in Montclair , New Jersey , † June 8, 1951 there ) was an American songwriter . His best known song (composition and lyrics) is As Time Goes By from the film Casablanca , which he originally wrote in 1931 for the Broadway show Everybody's Welcome .

Live and act

According to Roger D. Kinkle's The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz 1900-1950 (Arlington House, 1974), Hupfeld learned to play the violin in Germany at the age of nine; he then returned to America to complete his education. He served as a soldier in World War I and then worked as a singer and pianist. Although he rarely appeared in public after his breakthrough as a composer, he played in hospitals and camps to entertain the soldiers during World War II.

Especially in the 1920s and 1930s, Hupfeld achieved success with numerous compositions. Although he never set an entire Broadway show to music, he was known for being able to compose songs to match precisely certain scenes. Among his best known songs are Sing Something Simple , Let's Put Out The Lights (And Go To Sleep) , Are You Making Any Money? , Savage Serenade , Down the Old Back Road , A Hut in Hoboken , Night Owl , Honey Ma Love , Baby's Blue , Untitled , When Yuba Plays the Rhumba on the Tuba and The Calinda .

Hupfeld was never married and, with a few exceptions, spent his entire life in his hometown of Montclair. He died in 1951 at the age of 57 and was buried in his hometown Mount Hebron Cemetery.

literature

• David A. Jasen Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song 2003, p. 208