Donaldson, Walter

Donaldson, Walter

(born Feb. 15, 1893, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.—died July 15, 1947, Santa Monica, Calif.) U.S. songwriter. He began his career as a music publisher's pianist and later established his own music publishing company. After his first Broadway success with “My Mammy,” introduced by Al Jolson in Sinbad (1918), he continued writing for Broadway revues for more than 25 years, producing songs such as “My Buddy,” “My Blue Heaven,” “Carolina in the Morning,” “Yes Sir! That's My Baby,” and “Makin' Whoopee.” He also wrote for many films.

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Donaldson, Walter (1893–1947) composer; born in Brooklyn. He composed many hit songs of the 1920s and 1930s that were used in Broadway shows, films, and by big-name bands. He wrote Al Jolson's signature song "My Mammy" (1918) and the score for the musical Whoopee (1928), which starred Eddie Cantor and contained the hit "Makin' Whoopee." In the 1930s and 1940s he was a composer-arranger of Hollywood films.