Ignacio Herb Brown

Ignacio Herbert "Nacio Herb" Brown (1896–1964) was an American writer of popular songs, movie scores and Broadway theatre music in the 1920s through the early 1950s. He was born in Deming, New Mexico. In 1901, his family moved to Los Angeles, where he attended Manual Arts High School. Brown first operated a tailoring business (1916), and then became a financially successful realtor, but he always wrote and played. After his first hit Coral Sea (1920) and first big hit, When Buddha Smiles (1921), he eventually became a full-time composer. He joined The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1927. In 1928 he was hired to work in Hollywood by MGM and write film scores for the new medium of sound film. For his film work, he often collaborated with lyricist Arthur Freed. Their music is collected for the most part in Singin' in the Rain. He appeared in the MGM variety film The Hollywood Revue of 1929. Brown also worked with Richard A. Whiting and Buddy De Sylva on Broadway Musicals such as Take a Chance. Amongst his most enduring works are the scores for the 1952 musical film Singin' in the Rain, and the 1939 film of the 1937 Broadway musical Babes in Arms.