Arthur Johnston

Best-known for his work on the Hollywood musicals of the 1930s, composer/arranger Arthur Johnston was born in New York City on January 10, 1898. At 15, he began playing piano at local movie houses, two years later landing work as a vocal arranger with a Big Apple publishing firm; Johnston later tenured as the personal pianist and assistant to Irving Berlin, additionally serving as musical director on most of Berlin's early stage shows. In 1924, Johnston composed the score to the musical Dixie to Broadway, which generated the songs "Mandy, Make Up Your Mind" and "I'm a Little B...