Louis Alter

Louis Alter (June 18, 1902 – November 3, 1980) was an American pianist, composer, and songwriter born in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He began playing piano in theaters screening silent films at the age of thirteen and later studied at the New England Conservatory of Music under Stuart Mason.

Alter's early professional career placed him in vaudeville houses, where he served as accompanist to headliners Irène Bordoni and Nora Bayes. His working relationship with Bayes lasted from 1924 until her death in 1928, during which time the two toured both the United States and abroad. Following her death, Alter shifted his focus toward songwriting. His first song hit, "Hugs and Kisses," arrived in 1926, and in 1928 he composed the music and wrote the lyrics for Paris. His instrumental piece "Manhattan Serenade" became his first major compositional success in 1929, later serving as the theme music for the Easy Aces radio program and receiving renewed attention in 1942 when Harold Adamson added lyrics. The piece was also featured in Nancy Groce's book New York: Songs of the City (Watson-Guptill, 1999). Alter credited a commission from Paul Whiteman as the impetus for the work, describing a six-month period of absorbing the city before completing the composition in two hours.

His Broadway career spanned credits including the revue The Show of Wonders, the musical Come Along, the play The Depths, the musical Hold Your Horses, and the musical Ballyhoo of 1932, with his Broadway activity documented between 1916 and 1919. He also contributed songs to the Broadway productions Sweet and Low (1930) and Ballyhoo (1931).

In 1929, Alter relocated to Hollywood, where he began writing songs for films, starting with The Hollywood Review of 1929. He continued providing piano accompaniment for singers including Beatrice Lillie and Helen Morgan. For the 1936 film The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, he wrote both "A Melody from the Sky" and "Twilight on the Trail," and for the 1947 film New Orleans he composed "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans." Among his other well-known songs are "My Kinda Love," "You Turned the Tables on Me," "Nina Never Knew," "Blue Shadows," and "Rainbow on the River." His collaborators included Oscar Hammerstein II, Charlotte Kent, Raymond Klages, Sidney D. Mitchell, and Jo Trent.

Alter was twice nominated for Academy Awards, for "Dolores" and "A Melody from the Sky." During World War II, he enlisted with the United States Air Force, performing for troops and coordinating entertainment at West Coast air bases. He also performed as a piano soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. His large-scale compositions for piano and orchestra include American Serenade and Metropolitan Nocturne, alongside orchestral works such as Manhattan Masquerade, Manhattan Moonlight, Jewels from Cartier Suite, and Side Street in Gotham. In 1975, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In his later years, Alter lived in New York City and maintained a summer residence on Fire Island. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans" experienced a revival through its use in post-Katrina documentary films and television programs, including Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke (2006) and a dramatic sketch by Billy Crystal on HBO's Comic Relief 2006. Alter died on November 3, 1980, at the age of 78, of pneumonia at Saint Clare's Hospital in Manhattan.