Nacio Herb Brown

Ignacio Herbert Brown, known professionally as Nacio Herb Brown, was an American composer of popular songs, film scores, and Broadway theatre music. Born on February 22, 1896, in Deming, New Mexico, to Ignacio and Cora Brown, he had an older sister, Charlotte. His mother, Cora Alice (Hopkins) Brown, provided his earliest musical instruction. In 1901, the family relocated to Los Angeles, where Brown attended Manual Arts High School.

Before establishing himself as a composer, Brown pursued two other vocations. He operated a tailoring business in 1916 and subsequently built a successful career in real estate, though he continued writing and performing music throughout. His first hit, "Coral Sea," arrived in 1920, followed by "When Buddha Smiles" in 1921. These early successes set him on a path toward full-time composition. He joined the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 1926, the same year he wrote the piano instrumental "The Doll Dance." Two related compositions followed: "Rag Doll" in 1928 and "The Wedding of the Painted Doll" in 1929.

In 1928, MGM hired Brown to compose for the emerging medium of sound film. His most frequent collaborator in Hollywood was lyricist Arthur Freed, and their partnership produced many of the songs later assembled for the 1952 musical film Singin' in the Rain, which stands among his most enduring contributions to American music. Brown also appeared on screen in the MGM variety production The Hollywood Revue of 1929. His published songs from this period include "Broadway Melody," "Broadway Rhythm," "Good Morning," "Pagan Love Song," "You Were Meant for Me," "All I Do Is Dream of You," "Temptation," and "Make 'Em Laugh," among many others.

On Broadway, Brown collaborated with Richard A. Whiting and Buddy De Sylva on the musical Take a Chance. His work in the theatre, alongside his film output, established him as a significant figure across multiple entertainment mediums during the 1920s through the early 1950s. Beyond film and stage, Brown composed the music for the children's television western Hopalong Cassidy, which first aired in 1949, writing that score in collaboration with L. Wolfe Gilbert.

Brown married four times. His first marriage, to Ruby Porter, produced one child, Nacio Herb Brown, Jr., who also became a composer. That marriage ended in divorce in 1931. He subsequently married Jeanne Borlini Lockhart in 1932, though that union also ended in divorce. In 1934 he married actress Anita Page, but the marriage was annulled within a year after Page learned that his divorce from Lockhart had not yet been finalized. His fourth marriage, to Georgeann Morris in 1942, lasted until his death. He had three children across his marriages, including Nacio Jan Brown and Candace Nacio Brown.

Brown died of cancer on September 28, 1964, in San Francisco, California, at the home of two of his children, following an eighteen-month illness and a brief hospitalization at UCSF Medical Center. He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and into the New Mexico Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2012.