Born in New York City. The celebrated creator of stage musicals and popular songs also contributed scores and songs, as well as screenplays, directly for the screen. The son of a furniture dealer, he composed his first song at 17, in 1902, and had his first of many hits in 1905. Early in his career he wrote songs mainly for incorporation into musical imports from Europe to Broadway, particularly operettas. But soon he began composing his own musicals, achieving considerable success with his melodious scores and songs. His most popular musical, Show Boat, has been adapted to the screen three times, in 1929, 1936, and 1951. In 1930, Kern settled in Hollywood and began to write original scores and songs for many films, in addition to adaptations of his stage musicals. His first film score was an accompaniment to the silent serial GLORIA'S ROMANCE (1916). He won Oscars for the song "The Way You Look Tonight" from the film SWING TIME (1936) and "The Last Time I Saw Paris" from LADY BE GOOD (1941). Among his best-known songs are "Ol' Man River," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "Look for the Silver Lining," "They Didn't Believe Me," and "Why Do I Love You?" His life story was told in the film TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY (1946), in which he was portrayed by Robert Walker.  Nominated for Music Best Song 1935: ROBERTA "Lovely To Look At" - Music  Music Best Song 1936: SWING TIME "The Way You Look Tonight" - Music  Music Best Song 1941: LADY BE GOOD "The Last Time I Saw Paris" - Music  Nominated for Music Best Song 1942: YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER "Dearly Beloved" - Music  Nominated for Music Best Song 1944: COVER GIRL "Long Ago and Far Away" - Music  Nominated for Music Scoring Awards (Scoring of a Musical Picture) 1945: CAN'T HELP SINGING (w. Hans J. Salter)  Nominated for Music Best Song 1945: CAN'T HELP SINGING "More and More" - Music  Nominated for Music Best Song 1946: CENTENNIAL SUMMER "All Through the Day" - Music 8 nominations, 2 Awards