Biography
Ignacio Herb Brown (some sources indicate his birth name was Ignacio Herbert Brown) was born in Deming, New Mexico. In 1901 his family moved to Los Angeles, where he attended Manual Arts High School. His music education started with instruction from his mother, Cora Alice (Hopkins) Brown. Brown first operated a tailoring business (1916), and then became a financially successful realtor, but he always wrote and played. After his first hit "Coral Sea" (1920) and first big hit, "When Buddha Smiles" (1921), he eventually became a full-time composer. He joined The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1927.
In 1928 he was hired to work in Hollywood by MGM and write film scores for the new medium of sound film. For his film work, he often collaborated with lyricist Arthur Freed. This collaboration produced Singin' in the Rain. He appeared in the MGM variety film The Hollywood Revue of 1929. Brown also worked with Richard A. Whiting and Buddy De Sylva on Broadway Musicals such as Take a Chance.
Along with L. Wolfe Gilbert, Nacio wrote the music for the popular children's Television Western, Hopalong Cassidy which first aired in 1949.
Nacio Herb Brown died in San Francisco, California, aged 68. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.
Inducted into the New Mexico Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2012.
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