Johnny Mercer Biography

Johnny Mercer

This prolific lyricist wrote words for some of the most memorable songs of the 1940s and 1950s, many made famous in film. Four of these titles won Academy Awards: “On the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe” (1946), “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening” (1951), “Moon River” (1961), and “Days of Wine and Roses” (1962). Mercer collaborated with popular composers such as Hoagy Carmichael, Harold Arlen, Henry Mancini, and Jerome Kern. He was a cofounder of Capitol Records.