orig. John Herndon Mercer
born Nov. 18, 1909, Savannah, Ga., U.S.
died June 25, 1976, Bel Air, Calif.
U.S. songwriter.
After moving to New York City in the late 1920s, Mercer began to write lyrics while supporting himself as an actor. He later joined Paul Whiteman 's orchestra as singer and master of ceremonies. In 1939 he joined Benny Goodman 's Camel Caravan radio show. In 1942 Mercer cofounded Capitol Records. On Broadway, he collaborated with Harold Arlen on St. Louis Woman (1946) and Saratoga (1959) and also provided lyrics for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), Li'l Abner (1956), and Foxy (1964). His songs for films won four Academy Awards. He collaborated with composers such as Hoagy Carmichael , Henry Mancini , Jerome Kern , and Jimmy Van Heusen and is credited with more than 1,000 lyrics, including those for "Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive," "One for My Baby," "Autumn Leaves," and "Moon River."