---
name: "Sammy Fain"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/sammy-fain"
fi1m_id: "sammy-fain"
imdb_id: "nm0006066"
tmdb_id: 1012323
wikidata_id: "Q742896"
roles: ["Songs"]
born: "17 June 1902"
died: "6 December 1989"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-09-25T01:10:43.849093+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."
---

# Sammy Fain

## Identity

Sammy Fain

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/sammy-fain
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** sammy-fain
- **IMDb ID:** nm0006066
- **TMDB ID:** 1012323
- **Wikidata ID:** Q742896
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Fain, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q742896, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006066/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1012323

Songs. Born 17 June 1902 in New York City. Died 6 December 1989.

## Details

- **Work:** Songs
- **Born:** 17 June 1902, New York City
- **Died:** 6 December 1989
- **Active:** 1933–1959
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 1 writing, 4 crew
- **Academy Awards:** 2 Oscars (2 won · 7 nominated)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 70 (1), 1950s 76 (4)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 70 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Animation 3, Family 3, Fantasy 3, Adventure 2, Romance 2, Drama 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $196m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Fain, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q742896, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006066/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1012323

## Streaming the US now

- **Tubi:** [*Footlight Parade*](https://film.one/film/footlight-parade.md) (70)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Sammy Fain was an American composer of popular songs for Broadway and Hollywood films. Born Samuel Feinberg in New York City on 17 June 1902, he began his career as a staff pianist and songwriter in the mid-1920s and achieved early success collaborating with lyricist Irving Kahal from 1927 until Kahal's death in 1942.

Fain contributed songs to numerous films in the 1930s, including *Footlight Parade* (1933). He later wrote for Walt Disney animated features such as *Alice in Wonderland* (1951), *Peter Pan* (1953), *Sleeping Beauty* (1959) and *The Rescuers* (1977), as well as live-action musicals including *Calamity Jane* (1953) and *April Love* (1957). With lyricist Paul Francis Webster he won Academy Awards for best original song for 'Secret Love' from *Calamity Jane* and the title song from *Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing* (1955).

Fain also wrote for Broadway productions including *Everybody's Welcome* (1931), *Hellzapoppin* (1938) and *Flahooley* (1951). He died in Los Angeles on 6 December 1989.

*Sources: britannica.com, en.wikipedia.org, songhall.org, nytimes.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

### Wrote (1)

- *Footlight Parade* (1933), Fi1m 70, Lyricist, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/footlight-parade.md)

### Crew (4) — the average rests on these

- *Imitation of Life* (1959), Fi1m 86, Songs — [page](https://film.one/film/imitation-of-life.md)
- *Sleeping Beauty* (1959), Fi1m 78, Songs — [page](https://film.one/film/sleeping-beauty.md)
- *Peter Pan* (1953), Fi1m 68, Songs — [page](https://film.one/film/peter-pan-1953.md)
- *Alice in Wonderland* (1951), Fi1m 71, Songs — [page](https://film.one/film/alice-in-wonderland.md)

## Complete filmography (29)

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

- *Maleficent* (2014), as Songs
- *Disney's Halloween Treat* (1982), Music
- *A Special Valentine with the Family Circus* (1978), as Bus Driver (voice)
- *The Rescuers* (1977), as Songs
- *If He Hollers, Let Him Go!* (1968), as Songs
- *Alice in Waterland* (1964), as Songs
- *Calamity Jane* (1963), Music, Songs
- *Imitation of Life* (1959), as Songs — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/imitation-of-life.md)
- *Sleeping Beauty* (1959), as Songs — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/sleeping-beauty.md)
- *April Love* (1957), Lyricist
- *Hollywood or Bust* (1956), as Songs
- *Calamity Jane* (1953), as Songs
- *Peter Pan* (1953), as Songs — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/peter-pan-1953.md)
- *Alice in Wonderland* (1951), as Songs — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/film/alice-in-wonderland.md)
- *Call Me Mister* (1951), as Songs
- *Two Sisters from Boston* (1946), as Songs
- *George White's Scandals* (1945), as Songs
- *Week-End at the Waldorf* (1945), as Songs
- *Thrill of a Romance* (1945), as Songs
- *The Singing Hill* (1941), as Songs
- *Tarnished Angel* (1938), Music
- *Walter Wanger's Vogues of 1938* (1937), as Songs
- *New Faces of 1937* (1937), as Songs
- *Goin' to Town* (1935), as Songs
- *Dames* (1934), as Buttercup Balmer (uncredited) · Original Music Composer, Lyricist
- *Fashions of 1934* (1934), Lyricist, Music
- *Footlight Parade* (1933), Music, Lyricist — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/footlight-parade.md)
- *Melody Makers No. 1: Sammy Fain* (1932), as Sammy Fain
- *Young Man of Manhattan* (1930), as Songs

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 2 won, 7 nominated

- 1978: Best Original Song (nominated), for *Someone's Waiting For You*
- 1977: Best Original Song (nominated)
- 1973: Best Original Song (nominated)
- 1963: Best Original Song (nominated), for *Tender Is the Night*
- 1959: Best Original Song (nominated), for *A Certain Smile*
- 1958: Best Original Song (nominated), for *April Love*
- 1956: Best Original Song (won), for *Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing*
- 1954: Best Original Song (won), for *Secret Love*
- 1938: Best Original Song (nominated), for *That Old Feeling*

### Other awards — 1 won

- Songwriters Hall of Fame 1972: 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/sammy-fain