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Milton Ager (October 6 1893 - May 6 1979) was an American pianist and composer. He was the father of columnist Shana Alexander.

Ager was born in Chicago, Illinois, the sixth of nine children. Leaving school with only three years of formal high-school education, he taught himself to play the piano and embarked on a career as a musician. After spending time on the Vaudeville circuit, he moved to Chicago to write music for the growing movie industry. During World War I he served as a morale officer.

Milton Ager also was a music publisher in partnership with his frequent musical collaborator, lyricist Jack Yellen. He moved to Hollywood where he made a good living writing songs for film. On his passing, Milton Ager was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Milton Ager was inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame in 1979.

Ager's niece, Joy Eden Harrison, a singer/songwriter with three jazzy albums to her credit, claims his work has been influential on her own musical career.

[edit] Songs

Among the best known Milton Ager songs are:

• "Rockaway Hunt Fox Trot" (1915)
• "Erin Is Calling" (1916)
• "Tom, Dick and Harry and Jack" (1917)
• "Everything is Peaches Down in Georgia" (1918)
• "France We Have Not Forgotten You" (1918)
• "Anything is Nice" (1919)
• "Freckles" (1919)
• "There's a Lot of Blue-Eyed Marys Down in Maryland" (1919)
• "A Young Man's Fancy" (1920)
• "Nobody's Baby" (1920), his first big hit
• "Lovin' Sam" (1920)
• "Who Cares?" (1920)
• "Stay Away From Louisville Lou" (1923)
• "Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp Of Savannah)" (1924)
• "I Wonder What's Become of Sally" (1924)
• "I Certainly Could" (1926)
• "Hard-To-Get Gertie" (1926)
• "Ain't She Sweet" (1927)
• "Vo-Do-De-O" (1927)
• "I Still Love You" (1928)
• "If You Don't Love Me" (1928)
• "Oh Baby" (1928)
• "Happy Days Are Here Again" (1929)
• "I May Be Wrong" (1929)
• "Some Day We'll Meet Again" (1932)

Works for Broadway include:

• What's in a Name? (1920) - musical - composer
• Rain or Shine (1928) - musical - co-composer
• Murray Anderson's Almanac (1929) - revue - co-composer

[edit] External links

• Milton Ager's entry at the Songwriters' Hall of Fame
• Milton Ager's entry at IMDb