Biography
Robin was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and studied at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and Carnegie Tech's drama school. He later worked as a reporter and as a publicist.
Robin's first hits came in 1926 with the Broadway production By the Way, with hits in several other musicals immediately following, such as Bubbling Over (1926), Hit the Deck, Judy (1927), and Hello Yourself (1928). In 1932, Robin went out to Hollywood to work for Paramount Pictures. His principal collaborator was composer Ralph Rainger, together they became one of the leading film songwriting duos of the 1930s and early 1940s, writing over 50 hits. Robin & Rainger worked together until Rainger's untimely death in a plane crash on 23 October 1942. Robin continued to collaborate with many other composers over the years, including Vincent Youmans, Sam Coslow, Richard A. Whiting, and Nacio Herb Brown. Leo Robin collaborated with Rainger on the 1938 Oscar-winning song "Thanks for the Memory," sung by Bob Hope in the film The Big Broadcast of 1938, which was to become Hope's signature tune.
Robin collaborated on the score for the 1955 musical film My Sister Eileen with Jule Styne, then officially retired from the movie industry. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 1972. Robin wrote many popular songs, mostly for film and television, including "Louise," "Beyond the Blue Horizon," (written for the film Monte Carlo), "Prisoner of Love" and "Blue Hawaii".
Robin died of heart failure in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 84 and was interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.
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