Allan Roberts (March 12, 1905 – January 14, 1966) was an American musician and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

, whose songs, co-written with Doris Fisher and other writers, were successfully recorded by

the Mills Brothers The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed the Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies an ...

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

the Ink Spots The Ink Spots were an American pop vocal group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style presaged the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely a ...

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...

the Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the Swing music, swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andre ...

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...

, and many others.

Biography

He was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, and trained as an accountant before working as a pianist in clubs and shows on and around

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, where he met and worked with theater and film producer

Mike Todd Michael Todd (born Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen; June 22, 1909 – March 22, 1958) was an American theater and film producer, best known for his 1956 production of ''Around the World in 80 Days'', which won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Actr ...

. He wrote "You Opened My Eyes" for the Bill Barry Orchestra in 1935; Allan Roberts at Discogs.com
Retrieved 5 May 2014 and in 1937 co-wrote, with

Irving Gordon Irving Gordon (February 14, 1915 – December 1, 1996) was an American songwriter. Biography Irving Gordon was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family, and later lived on Coney Island. He was named Israel Goldener but later changed his na ...

and Alvin S. Kaufman, the song " Me, Myself, and I", which was recorded by

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

and others. Allan Roberts credits at SecondhandSongs
Retrieved 5 May 2014 He met aspiring songwriter Doris Fisher, the daughter of respected

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

songwriter and music publisher

Fred Fisher Fred Fisher (born Alfred Breitenbach, September 30, 1875 – January 14, 1942) was a German-born American songwriter and Tin Pan Alley music publisher. Biography Fisher was born in Cologne, Germany. His parents were Max and Theodora Breitenba ...

, and in 1944 the two began collaborating on songs. They found immediate success with such popular songs as "

You Always Hurt the One You Love "You Always Hurt the One You Love" is a pop standard with lyrics by Allan Roberts and music by Doris Fisher. First recorded by the Mills Brothers, whose recording reached the top of the '' Billboard'' charts in 1944, it was also a hit for Sammy ...

", "

Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" is a 1944 song performed as a duet by The Ink Spots, featuring Bill Kenny, and Ella Fitzgerald. Their recording was made on August 30, 1944 for Decca Records (catalog No. 23356B). The song was written by Allan ...

", "

That Ole Devil Called Love "That Ole Devil Called Love" is a song written in 1944 by Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher. It was first recorded by Billie Holiday, who released it as the B-side of her hit " Lover Man" in 1945.Arthur Gershwin Arthur Gershwin (March 14, 1900 – November 19, 1981) was one of the four Gershwin family siblings of American musical fame. Although he was a composer, he was not a professional musician, and made his living as a stockbroker. He was born i ...

, the younger brother of

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

and

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...

. Dennis McLellan, "Obituaries: Doris Fisher, 87...", ''Los Angeles Times'', January 25, 2003
Retrieved 4 May 2014 In 1945, he and Fisher were signed by

Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures Corporation. Life and career Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His father, Joseph Cohn, wa ...

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

in Hollywood to a seven-year contract to supply songs for films. They had immediate success with the songs "

Amado Mio "Amado Mio" is a song from the classic 1946 film noir ''Gilda'', written by Doris Fisher and Allan Roberts. The piece was lip-synched by Rita Hayworth and sung by Anita Kert Ellis. Grace Jones's rendition of the song on her 1989 album ''Bull ...

" and "

Put the Blame on Mame "Put the Blame on Mame" is a song by Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher, originally written for the classic film noir ''Gilda'' (1946) in which it was sung by the title character, played by Rita Hayworth with the singing voice of Anita Kert Ellis ...

", written for ''

Gilda ''Gilda'' is a 1946 American film noir directed by Charles Vidor and starring Rita Hayworth in her signature role and Glenn Ford. The film is known for cinematographer Rudolph Maté's lush photography, costume designer Jean Louis's wardrobe fo ...

'' starring

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

, and in all contributed to about twenty films for the company, including ''

Dead Reckoning In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating current position of some moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and then incorporating estimates of speed, heading direction, and course over elapsed time. ...

'' and ''

The Lady from Shanghai ''The Lady from Shanghai'' is a 1947 American film noir directed by Orson Welles (uncredited) and starring Welles, his estranged wife Rita Hayworth, and Everett Sloane. It is based on the novel ''If I Die Before I Wake'' by Sherwood King. Altho ...

''. After Doris Fisher married in 1947 and retired from the entertainment industry, Roberts linked up with

Lester Lee Lester Lee (November 7, 1903 – June 19, 1956) was an American composer. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Original Song for the film ''Miss Sadie Thompson''. Lee was also the co-writer of "Pennsylvania Polka". Lee die ...

, with whom he co-wrote "You're Never Too Old", "Every Baby Needs a Da Da Daddy" and other songs in the 1948 movie ''

Ladies of the Chorus ''Ladies of the Chorus'' is a 1948 American musical romance film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Adele Jergens, Marilyn Monroe and Rand Brooks. The screenplay, written by Harry Sauber and Joseph Carole, was based on a story by Sauber. Rel ...

'' starring

. He and Lee then wrote the music for the 1949 Broadway show ''All for Love ''. With Robert Allen, he also co-wrote

's 1952 hit, " To Know You (Is to Love You)". Roberts died at a Florida hospital, two months before his 61st birthday. A notice in ''Billboard'' indicated that the location was in Hollywood, while ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' obituary, which featured an age discrepancy and gave the location's name as Hallandale, specified that "Allan Roberts, a lyricist, died of a heart attack today at a local hospital. He was 62 years old." The obituary further notes that " s survivors include his widow, Molly, and two sons, Robert and Jeffery, all of Hollywood."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Allan 1905 births 1966 deaths Songwriters from New York (state) Musicians from New York City 20th-century American musicians