Harry Akst

Harry Akst (August 15, 1894 – March 31, 1963) was an American songwriter and composer born in New York City. He began his professional life as a vaudeville pianist, accompanying performers including Nora Bayes, Frank Fay, and Al Jolson. He spent four years working alongside Bayes before enlisting in the army in 1916. While stationed at Camp Upton, he met Irving Berlin, a connection that would later yield the 1921 song "Home Again Blues," credited to both men.

Akst's most enduring compositional achievement came in 1925, when he co-wrote "Dinah" with lyricists Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. The song attracted recordings from a wide range of prominent artists, among them Bing Crosby, The Boswell Sisters, Ethel Waters, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, The Mills Brothers, Sam Donahue, and Ted Lewis. Among his other well-known songs are "Baby Face" (1926, with Benny Davis), "Am I Blue?" (1929, with Grant Clarke, from the film On with the Show!), and "Guilty" (1931, with Gus Kahn and Richard A. Whiting). In 1983, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

His Broadway work as a composer began with Artists and Models of 1927, a revue he co-composed with Maurie Rubens, with lyrics contributed by J. Keirn Brennan, Benny Davis, Ted Lewis, and Jack Osterman. He returned to Broadway as a composer with Calling All Stars (1934), a revue with lyrics by Lew Brown. His broader Broadway involvement extended across several additional productions in various capacities. These included Ladies First (1918), the Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic (1920), Music Box Revue (1921), Swingin' The Dream (1939), At Home With Ethel Waters (1953), John Murray Anderson's Almanac (1953), and Mr. Wonderful (1956). The song "Dinah" appeared in both Swingin' The Dream and At Home With Ethel Waters, while "Am I Blue?" was also featured in the latter production.

Following his early Broadway work, Akst relocated to Hollywood to pursue film songwriting. His movie scores encompass a substantial body of work, including Bulldog Drummond, On with the Show!, No, No, Nanette, Palmy Days, The Kid from Spain, Stand Up and Cheer!, and This Time for Keeps, among many others. He also appeared on screen, playing the rehearsal pianist, pit orchestra conductor, and concertmaster character "Jerry" in the 1933 film 42nd Street. Footage from that production was later incorporated into Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936), in which Akst can be seen conducting the pit orchestra during the overture preceding the final production number, "All's Fair in Love and War."

Akst died in Hollywood, California, on March 31, 1963, at the age of 68. He was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills.