Mercer, Johnny

Johnny Mercer, byname of John Herndon Mercer, (born November 18, 1909, Savannah, Georgia, U.S.—died June 25, 1976, Bel Air, California), American lyricist, vocalist, and composer who contributed to many Broadway musical productions and Hollywood films.

Educated in Virginia, Mercer arrived in New York City in the late 1920s and acted in bit parts until his collaboration with Everett Miller on “Out of Breath and Scared to Death of You” was accepted for the revue Garrick Gaieties (1930). Mercer used his wit and Southern background to produce clever lyrics that could be breezy, romantic, or full of local colour. He worked through music publishers until 1934, when he joined Paul Whiteman’s orchestra as master of ceremonies and featured vocalist, continuing meanwhile to write for motion-picture musicals. In 1939 he joined Benny Goodman’s Camel Caravan radio show.

In 1942 Mercer founded Capitol Records with two partners, serving as talent scout and company president. For the Broadway stage, he collaborated with Harold Arlen on St. Louis Woman (1946) and Saratoga (1959) and wrote lyrics to Gene DePaul’s score for Li’l Abner (1956) and to Robert Emmett Dolan’s music for Texas, Li’l Darlin’ (1949), and Foxy (1964). He also continued to write lyrics for such films as Charade (1963), Barefoot in the Park (1967), and Darling Lili (1970). He was the first president of the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.

Credited with more than 1,000 lyrics, Mercer collaborated with such composers as Hoagy Carmichael, Harry Warren, Henry Mancini, Richard Whiting, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, Jimmy McHugh, and Jimmy Van Heusen to produce many enduring popular songs. They include “Lazy Bones,” “I’m an Old Cowhand,” “Goody Goody,” “Jeepers Creepers,” “Hooray for Hollywood,” “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby,” “Blues in the Night,” “That Old Black Magic,” “Laura,” “Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe,” “Autumn Leaves,” “Moon River,” “Charade,” and “Days of Wine and Roses.”