Imogen Carpenter

Imogen Carpenter (1912–1993) was an American actress, musician, composer, and music lecturer whose career spanned performance, songwriting, and education in the mid-twentieth century.

Born in Arkansas, Carpenter relocated to Chicago at age fourteen in 1926 to pursue formal musical training, first at the Chicago Musical College and subsequently at the Boguslawski School of Music. Her professional life began as a concert pianist before expanding to encompass singing and piano work in nightclubs, theaters, and radio broadcasts.

Her Broadway career ran from 1940 to 1944 and included three productions. She appeared in the musical Keep Off the Grass, followed by the Ziegfeld Follies of 1943, and Cole Porter's Mexican Hayride.

Beyond the stage, Carpenter worked as a songwriter in collaboration with lyricists including Lenny Adelson and Kim Gannon. Her composition "Anytime, Anywhere," written with Adelson, was recorded by Frank Sinatra on his Look to Your Heart album and later by Seth MacFarlane on Music Is Better Than Words. "She Always Knows," also co-written with Adelson, appeared on Sammy Davis Jr.'s Here's Lookin' at You, and "Born to Sing the Blues," again a collaboration with Adelson, was recorded by Shirley Bassey on her album of the same name.

In her personal life, Carpenter married movie producer Milton Feldman, who was born on July 19, 1911, in New York City and died on October 8, 1976, in Woodland Hills, California; the couple had two children. During World War II, Carpenter dated U.S. Naval Commander Frederick J. Becton, who served as captain of the destroyer USS Laffey (DD-724), a vessel that survived a Japanese kamikaze attack during the Battle of Okinawa.