Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The Academy celebrated the incredible musical legacy of songwriter Johnny Mercer with a gala centennial tribute, featuring film clips of many of his timeless classics, and personal appearances by friends and colleagues from his career in the movies. Performances by program host Michael Feinstein and others brought some of these beloved songs to life on the Academy’s stage.

Born in Savannah, Georgia, on November 18, 1909, Johnny Mercer began writing songs at the age of 15, and was ultimately credited with writing more than 1,700. His Oscar®-winning songs include On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe (“The Harvey Girls,” 1946), In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening (“Here Comes the Groom,” 1951), Moon River (“Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” 1961) and Days of Wine and Roses, from the 1962 film of the same name.

With an astonishing eighteen Academy Award® nominations for Best Song (and one more nomination for the song score of “Darling Lili,” written in collaboration with longtime friend Henry Mancini), Mercer remains one of the film industry’s most honored songwriters. Such standards as Blues in the Night, I’m Old Fashioned, That Old Black Magic and Something’s Gotta Give added immeasurably to the impact of the movies in which they were performed, not to mention the good will generated by Mercer’s anthem to the movie business – Hooray for Hollywood.