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Ned Washington

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Ned Washington (1901 to 1976) was an American lyricist, born Edward Michael Washington in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He began in vaudeville as a master of ceremonies and started his career as a songwriter with Earl Carroll's Vanities on Broadway at the end of the 1920s. In 1930 he joined ASCAP. In 1934 MGM hired him and he moved to Hollywood, where he eventually wrote complete scores for feature films. In the 1940s he worked for several studios, including Paramount, Warner Brothers, Disney and Republic.

Music and breakthrough

He collaborated with many of the great composers of his time, such as Hoagy Carmichael, Victor Young, Max Steiner and Dimitri Tiomkin. With Leigh Harline he wrote most of the melodic songs of the Pinocchio soundtrack, including When You Wish Upon a Star. For this he won the Oscar for best original song in 1940. In 1952 he won another Oscar for High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'). In total he received eleven Oscar nominations between 1940 and 1962.

Influence

His songs also include Rawhide, with music by Tiomkin, Town Without Pity, Wild Is the Wind and The 3:10 to Yuma. From 1957 until his death he was a board member of ASCAP. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and in 2001 was posthumously named a Disney Legend. His lyrics show how film songs from Hollywood, from cartoon to Western, shaped the popular music of the twentieth century.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to When You Wish Upon a Star from Pinocchio and notice how simple the words are, and how the melody gives the lyrics a feeling of hope.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Categories: Artists