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IMDbPro

Johnny Burke(1908-1964)

  • Music Department
  • Writer
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Johnny Burke
Songwriter ("Swinging on a Star" [Academy Award, 1944], "What's New?", "Oh, You Crazy Moon"), producer, director and author, educated at the University of Wisconsin and Crane College. He joined the staff of music publishing companies in New York and Chicago, then went to Hollywood under contract to Paramount Studios. Joining ASCAP in 1932, he formed a publishing company with Jimmy Van Heusen, with whom he collaborated musically. His other musical collaborators included James V. Monaco, Arthur Johnston, Victor Schertzinger, Harold Spina, Bob Haggart and Erroll Garner. He wrote the Broadway stage scores for "Nelly Bly", "Donnybrook" and "Carnival in Flanders" (which he also co-produced). His song compositions include "Annie Doesn't Live Here Anymore", "The Beat of My Heart", "Pennies from Heaven", "One, Two, Button Your Shoe", "Let's Call a Heart a Heart", "So Do I", "It's the Natural Thing to Do", "All You Want to Do is Dance", "The Moon Got in My Eyes", "My Heart is Taking Lessons", "This is My Night to Dream", "On the Sentimental Side", "I've Got a Pocketful of Dreams", "Laugh and Call It Love", "Don't Let the Moon Get Away", "Go Fly a Kite", "An Apple for the Teacher", "A Man and His Dream", "East Side of Heaven", "That Sly Old Gentleman", "Sing a Song of Sunbeams", "Hang Your Heart on a Hickory Limb", "Scatterbrain", "Sweet Potato Piper", "Too Romantic", "April Played the Fiddle", "Meet the Sun Half Way", "Only Forever", "Ain't It a Shame About Mame?", "I Don't Want to Cry Any More", "Imagination", "Dearest, Darest I?", "Isn't That Just Like Love?", "It's Always You", "Birds of a Feather", "Constantly", "Road to Morocco", "Ain't Got a Dime to My Name", "Moonlight Becomes You", "Sunday, Monday or Always", "If You Please", "Suddenly It's Spring", "A Friend of Yours", "Polka Dots and Moonbeams", "Going My Way", "The Day After Forever", "It Could Happen to You", "And His Rocking Horse Ran Away", "Like Someone in Love", "Sleigh Ride in July", "Yah-Ta-Ta Yah-Ta-Ta", "Put It There, Pal", "Welcome to My Dream", "It's Anybody's Spring", "Personality", "Just My Luck", "Aren't You Glad You're You?", "My Heart Is a Hobo", "Country Style", "Smile Right Back at the Sun", "Apalachicola, Fla.", "But Beautiful", "You Don't Have to Know the Language", "If You Stub Your Toe on the Moon", "Once and for Always", "You're in Love With Someone", "Someplace on Anywhere Road", "Sunshine Cake" High on the List", "And You'll Be Home", "Life Is So Peculiar", "Early American", "Here's that Rainy Day", "Ring the Bell", "The Magic Window", "Moonflowers", "To See You", "Misty", "If Love Ain't There", "He Makes Me Feel I'm Lovely", and "What's New?".
BornOctober 3, 1908
DiedFebruary 25, 1964(55)
BornOctober 3, 1908
DiedFebruary 25, 1964(55)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Won 1 Oscar
    • 1 win & 4 nominations total

Known for

Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, and Risë Stevens in Going My Way (1944)
Going My Way
7.0
  • Soundtrack("Going My Way" (1944), "Swinging on a Star" (1944), "The Day After Forever" (1944), "Hail Alma Mater" (1944) (uncredited))
  • 1944
Alice Krige, Brent Spiner, and Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Star Trek: First Contact
7.6
  • Soundtrack("Moonlight Becomes You")
  • 1996
Alicia Silverstone and Brendan Fraser in Blast from the Past (1999)
Blast from the Past
6.7
  • Soundtrack("Like Someone in Love")
  • 1999
Bruce Willis in Hudson Hawk (1991)
Hudson Hawk
5.7
  • Soundtrack("Swinging on a Star")
  • 1991

Credits

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IMDbPro

Music Department



  • The Sensible Thing (1996)
    The Sensible Thing
    6.9
    TV Short
    • composer: song "Polka Dots and Moonbeams"
    • 1996
  • Robert Palmer: It Could Happen to You (1989)
    Robert Palmer: It Could Happen to You
    Music Video
    • Music Department
    • 1989
  • Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour in Road to Bali (1952)
    Road to Bali
    6.4
    • new songs
    • 1952
  • Groucho Marx, Bing Crosby, Charles Coburn, Gower Champion, Marge Champion, Dorothy Kirsten, Nancy Olson, and The Merry Macs in Mr. Music (1950)
    Mr. Music
    6.1
    • lyrics: new songs
    • 1950
  • Bing Crosby and Coleen Gray in Riding High (1950)
    Riding High
    6.2
    • new songs: lyrics by
    • 1950
  • Bing Crosby, Rhonda Fleming, and Cedric Hardwicke in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949)
    A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
    6.5
    • lyricist
    • 1949
  • Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour in Road to Rio (1947)
    Road to Rio
    6.9
    • lyrics by: new songs
    • 1947
  • A Bout with a Trout (1947)
    A Bout with a Trout
    6.7
    Short
    • lyricist
    • 1947
  • Betty Hutton and Sonny Tufts in Cross My Heart (1946)
    Cross My Heart
    6.3
    • songs: lyrics by
    • 1946
  • London Town (1946)
    London Town
    5.7
    • lyrics by
    • 1946
  • Playmates (1941)
    Playmates
    5.5
    • songwriter: lyrics
    • 1941
  • Bing Crosby and Andy Devine in Swing with Bing (1940)
    Swing with Bing
    6.4
    Short
    • song by
    • 1940
  • Bing Crosby and Beatrice Lillie in Doctor Rhythm (1938)
    Doctor Rhythm
    5.9
    • lyrics
    • 1938
  • Bob Hope and Leah Ray in Going Spanish (1934)
    Going Spanish
    4.8
    Short
    • lyrics: songs (uncredited)
    • 1934
  • The Knife of the Party (1934)
    The Knife of the Party
    4.6
    Short
    • lyrics: songs
    • 1934

Writer



  • Jack Fulton and Jean Sargent in Strange Case of Hennessy (1933)
    Strange Case of Hennessy
    4.4
    Short
    • story
    • 1933

Soundtrack



  • Pedro Pascal, Chris Evans, and Dakota Johnson in Materialists (2025)
    Materialists
    6.4
    • writer: "But Beautiful"
    • 2025
  • Courtney B. Vance, Lesley Manville, Niecy Nash, and Travis Kelce in Grotesquerie (2024)
    Grotesquerie
    6.1
    TV Series
    • writer: "Like Someone In Love"
    • 2024
  • Dennis Quaid in Reagan (2024)
    Reagan
    6.1
    • writer: "Swinging on a Star"
    • 2024
  • Tatort (1970)
    Tatort
    7.0
    TV Series
    • writer: "It could happen to you"
    • 2024
  • The Project (2009)
    The Project
    4.2
    TV Series
    • lyrics: "Pennies From Heaven"
    • 2024
  • Phoebe-Rae Taylor in Out of My Mind (2024)
    Out of My Mind
    7.4
    • writer: "Swinging on a Star"
    • 2024
  • Brie Larson in Lessons in Chemistry (2023)
    Lessons in Chemistry
    8.2
    TV Mini Series
    • writer: "But Beautiful"
    • 2023
  • Rachel Brosnahan in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017)
    The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
    8.7
    TV Series
    • writer: "Harmony"
    • writer: "Pennies From Heaven"
    • 2019–2023
  • Cate Blanchett in Tár (2022)
    Tár
    7.4
    • writer: "Here's That Rainy Day"
    • 2022
  • Angga Yunanda, Ari Irham, Rachel Amanda, Iqbaal Dhiafakhri Ramadhan, Umay Shahab, and Aghniny Haque in Stealing Raden Saleh (2022)
    Stealing Raden Saleh
    7.3
    • writer: "Misty"
    • 2022
  • Nell Tiger Free in Servant (2019)
    Servant
    7.4
    TV Series
    • writer: "Pennies from Heaven"
    • 2021
  • Armie Hammer and Lily James in Rebecca (2020)
    Rebecca
    6.0
    • writer: "Pennies from Heaven"
    • 2020
  • Hollywood (2020)
    Hollywood
    7.5
    TV Mini Series
    • writer: "Personality" (uncredited)
    • 2020
  • Julianne Moore, Timothy Hutton, Bette Midler, Enid Graham, Olivia Olson, Janelle Monáe, Alicia Vikander, Lulu Wilson, and Ryan Kiera Armstrong in The Glorias (2020)
    The Glorias
    6.0
    • writer: "Pennies from Heaven"
    • 2020
  • Seth Green, Mila Kunis, Alex Borstein, and Seth MacFarlane in Family Guy (1999)
    Family Guy
    8.1
    TV Series
    • writer: "Road To Morocco"
    • lyrics: "The Road to Rhode Island"
    • 2000–2019

Personal details

Edit
  • Born
    • October 3, 1908
    • Antioch, California, USA
  • Died
    • February 25, 1964
    • New York City, New York, USA
  • Spouses
      Bessie PattersonJune 1939 - February 25, 1964 (his death, 1 child)
  • Other works
    Nellie Bly (1946). Musical. Music by Jimmy Van Heusen. Material by Joseph Quillan. Lyrics by Johnny Burke. Musical Director: Charles Drury. Choreography by Edward Caton and Lee Sherman. Directed by Edgar MacGregor. Adelphi Theatre: 21 Jan 1946- 2 Feb 1946 (16 performances). Cast: Walter Armin (as "Pulitzer" and "French Mayor"), Suzie Baker, Artells Dickson, William Gaxton (as "Frank Jordan"), Joy Hodges (as "Nellie Bly"), Victor Moore (as "Phineas T. Fogarty"), Harry Murray (as "Deckhand" and "Official"), William O'Shay, Fred Peters, Edward Robins, Lubov Roudenko, Drucilla Strain, Robert Strauss, Larry Stuart, Doris Sward, The Debonairs, Jack Voeth, Jack Whitney. Produced by Nat Karson and Eddie Cantor.

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Grandfather of Quinn Kaufman (daughter of Lee Stanley and half-sister of Shane Stanley).

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