---
name: "Jimmy McHugh"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jimmy-mchugh"
roles: ["Composer"]
born: "10 July 1893"
died: "23 May 1969"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-19T21:24:32.677582+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Jimmy McHugh

Composer. Born 10 July 1893 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Died 23 May 1969.

## Details

- **Work:** Composer
- **Born:** 10 July 1893, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- **Died:** 23 May 1969
- **Also known as:** James McHugh
- **Academy Awards:** 5 Oscar nominations
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_McHugh, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1283031, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006192/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1015668

## Biography

Jimmy McHugh was an American composer and songwriter. Born James Francis McHugh in Boston, Massachusetts, he began his career there as a rehearsal pianist and song plugger before moving to New York in 1921. He wrote over 500 songs and contributed scores or songs to numerous Broadway shows and Hollywood films from the 1920s to the 1950s.

McHugh collaborated frequently with lyricists Dorothy Fields and Harold Adamson. His songs include 'I Can’t Give You Anything But Love', 'On the Sunny Side of the Street' and 'I’m in the Mood for Love'. He supplied songs for the 1933 film *Dancing Lady* and the song 'A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening' (with Adamson) for the 1951 film *The Racket*. McHugh was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, catalog.afi.com, britannica.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Racket* (1951), Fi1m 60, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/the-racket.md)

## Complete filmography (21)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *I Can't Give You Anything But Love: The Jimmy McHugh Story* (2024), as Songs
- *Perfectly Frank: Frank Loesser Revued* (1981), as Songs
- *Ask Any Girl* (1959), as Songs · Music
- *Screen Director's Playhouse* (1955), series, as Jimmy McHugh
- *Lovely to Look At* (1952), Lyricist
- *The Racket* (1951), Music — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/the-racket.md)
- *A Date with Judy* (1948), as Songs
- *Nob Hill* (1945), as Songs
- *Bring on the Girls* (1945), as Songs
- *Youth Runs Wild* (1944), as Songs
- *Higher and Higher* (1943), as Songs
- *Happy Go Lucky* (1943), as Songs
- *Rio* (1939), as Songs
- *That Certain Age* (1938), as Songs
- *Hitting a New High* (1937), Original Music Composer
- *The Nitwits* (1935), as Songs
- *Dancing Lady* (1933), as Songs
- *Meet the Baron* (1933), Music
- *The Cuban Love Song* (1931), as Songs
- *Flying High* (1931), Original Music Composer
- *Love in the Rough* (1930), as Songs

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 5 nominated

- 1945: Best Original Song (nominated), for *I Couldn’t Sleep a Wink Last Night / A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening*
- 1944: Best Original Song (nominated), for *Say a Prayer for the Boys Over There*
- 1941: Best Original Song (nominated), for *I’d Know You Anywhere*
- 1939: Best Original Song (nominated), for *My Own*
- 1936: Best Original Song (nominated), for *Lovely to Look At*

### Other awards — 1 won

- Songwriters Hall of Fame 1970: Songwriters Hall of Fame (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/jimmy-mchugh