Thomas Montgomery Adair (June 15, 1913 – May 24, 1988) was an American

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 ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Biography

Adair was born on 15 June 1913, in

Newton, Kansas Newton is a city in and the county seat of Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 18,602. Newton is located north of Wichita. The city of North Newton is located immediately north and e ...

, where his father owned a clothing store: he was the only child of William Adair and Madge Cochran. Around 1923 the family moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where Tom Adair attended Los Angeles Junior College (now

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus ...

). In his early career he worked as a complaints clerk at the local power company, while writing poetry and song lyrics in his spare time. In 1941, Adair met

Matt Dennis Matthew Loveland Dennis (February 11, 1914 – June 21, 2002) was an American singer, pianist, band leader, arranger, and writer of music for popular songs. Biography Dennis was born in Seattle, Washington, United States. His mother was a violi ...

in a club and the duo began writing songs together. Adair's song-writing career took him to New York during the 1940s where he penned several

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 ...

hits, and worked with

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

and

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

. He later returned to Los Angeles and worked with writer James B. Allardice on scripts for sit-coms. In 1949, Adair married Frances Adelle Jeffords; in later life, they worked together on songs and teleplays for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

. They had 4 children.

Career

After meeting Matt Dennis in 1940, Adair started working with him, moving to New York when the duo were hired by Tommy Dorsey. Adair and Dennis wrote numerous songs for Dorsey,

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

, and

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

and penned

's hit " Let's Get Away from It All." In 1942, Matt Dennis joined the Army Air Corps. Adair moved on to work with

Dick Uhl Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to: Media * ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia * Dicks (band), a musical group * ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film * "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat Names ...

and hit song "In the Blue of the Evening" with

Alfonso d'Artega Alfonso D'Artega (June 5, 1907 – January 20, 1998), often known simply as D'Artega, was a songwriter, conductor, arranger and actor. His song "In the Blue of Evening", co-written with Tom Adair, was a number one hit for the Tommy Dorsey, Tom ...

. About the collaboration among Adair, Dennis, and Sinatra, Vanity Fair magazine said "Sinatra's first recording away from Dorsey took place at RCA’s Los Angeles studios on the afternoon of Monday, January 19, 1942. He had chosen the song for his attempt as a soloist, a ballad, naturally, all dripping with romance: it was 'The Night We Called It a Day,' by these new kids Matt Dennis and Tom Adair, who’d written 'Let’s Get Away from It All' and 'Violets for Your Furs.' " From June 1944, Adair worked with composer

Gordon Jenkins Gordon Hill Jenkins (May 12, 1910 – May 1, 1984) was an American arranger, composer, and pianist who was influential in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s. Jenkins worked with The Andrews Sisters, Johnny Cash, The Weavers, Frank Sinatra, Loui ...

in writing a complete score every week for the Auto-Lite radio show, which featured singer

Dick Haymes Richard Benjamin Haymes (September 13, 1918 – March 28, 1980) was an Argentinian singer and actor. He was one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, an actor, television host ...

. He wrote many hit songs, including "Let's Get Away From It All", " Everything Happens to Me", "In The Blue of Evening", "Will You Still Be Mine?", "

Violets for Your Furs "Violets for Your Furs" is a 1941 song written by Matt Dennis with words by Tom Adair, and first recorded in that year by Tommy Dorsey's orchestra with vocals by Frank Sinatra. The song describes the wearing of violets with furs on an evening in ...

", " The Night We Called It A Day", "The Skyscraper Blues", "A Home-Sweet-Home In The Army", "How Will I Know My Love?", "Sing A Smiling Song", "Paul Bunyan", "

There's No You "There's No You" is a popular song written by Harold S. Hopper better known as Hal Hopper with lyrics by Tom Adair. The song was first published in 1944. Two of the best-known versions of the song were recorded in 1944 by Jo Stafford and Frank Sin ...

", and "Weep No More". In 1949, Adair wrote the lyrics for the

production of ''Along Fifth Avenue''. It ran for 180 performances at the

Broadhurst Theatre The Broadhurst Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 235 West 44th Street (Manhattan), 44th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1917, the theater was designed ...

, with the original cast including

Carol Bruce Carol Bruce (born Shirley Levy; November 15, 1919 – October 9, 2007) was an American band singer, Broadway star, and film and television actress. Early years Bruce was born Shirley Levy in a Jewish family, in Manhattan, to Beatrice and Har ...

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

George S. Irving George S. Irving (born Irving Shelasky; November 1, 1922 – December 26, 2016) was an American actor known primarily for his character roles on Broadway theatre, Broadway and as the voice of Heat Miser in the American Christmas television spe ...

Hank Ladd Hank is a male given name. It may have been inspired by the Dutch name Henk,The Origins of 10 Nicknam ...

, Donald Richards and

Nancy Walker Nancy Walker (born Anna Myrtle Swoyer; May 10, 1922 – March 25, 1992) was an American actress and comedian of stage, screen, and television. She was also a film and television director (lending her talents to ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', on wh ...

. After the show closed, Adair returned to Los Angeles, working for Disney in the 1950s. In 1958, Adair first met

James B. Allardice James B. Allardice (March 20, 1919 – February 15, 1966) was an American television comedy writer of the 1950s and 1960s. Biography James Burns Allardice Jr. was born to James Burns Allardice, a native of Scotland, and Lucinda (Lula) Masters G ...

while working on "The

Ann Sothern Ann Sothern (born Harriette Arlene Lake; January 22, 1909 – March 15, 2001) was an American actress who worked on stage, radio, film, and television, in a career that spanned nearly six decades. Sothern began her career in the late 1920 ...

Show" (1958); he wrote the music while Allardice was a writer on the show. Adair went on to have a successful partnership working on the sit-com, "Hazel" (1961); however, they also collaborated in the writing on two episodes of "Hazel": "A Replacement For Phoebe" (which aired on 1961-10-02) and "Harold's Good Fortune" (which aired on 1961-11-30). Later the two collaborated on many other shows, including "My Three Sons", "F Troop", "Hogan's Heroes", "I Dream of Jeannie" and "Gomer Pyle". The partnership lasted until Allardice's death in 1966. A late triumph was the lyrics for an

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

cartoon special, "

Babar Babar ( ur, ), also variously spelled as Baber, Babur, and Babor is a male given name of Pashto, and Persian language, Persian origin, and a popular male given name in Pakistan. It is generally taken in reference to the Persian language, Persian ...

Comes to America" (1971) with

John Scott Trotter John Scott Trotter Jr. (June 14, 1908 – October 29, 1975), also known as "Uncle John", was an American arranger, composer and orchestra leader. Trotter was best known for conducting the John Scott Trotter Orchestra which backed singer and ...

Death

The Adairs retired to

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

in 1984. On 24 May 1988, Tom died at the age of 74.

Music in Films

* (2011) The Ides of March. George Clooney, Ryan Gosling. * (2004) Melinda and Melinda. Johnny Lee Miller * (2000) Keeping the Faith. Eli Wallach * (1999) The End of the Affair. Ralph Fiennes * (1998) Playing By Heart. Sean Connery * (1957) Julie. Doris Day

Music in Television

* (2002) We Were the Mulvaneys

Award nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adair, Tom 1913 births 1988 deaths People from Newton, Kansas American television writers American male screenwriters American musical theatre lyricists American film score composers American male film score composers American television composers Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Hawaii Songwriters from Kansas 20th-century classical musicians American male television writers 20th-century American composers Screenwriters from Kansas 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American male writers Walt Disney Animation Studios people 20th-century American screenwriters