orig. Salvatore Guaragna
born Dec. 24, 1893, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.
died Sept. 22, 1981, Los Angeles, Calif.
U.S. songwriter.
The youngest of 12 children, Warren was self-taught musically. He toured with brass bands and carnivals from age 15. After a few years as a song plugger in Tin Pan Alley , he began contributing tunes to Broadway musicals, including "You're My Everything" and "I Found a Million Dollar Baby in a Five-and-Ten-Cent Store." In 1932 he moved to Hollywood, where he collaborated on films such as Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), 42nd Street (1933), Down Argentine Way (1940), and Sun Valley Serenade (1941; with "Chattanooga Choo-Choo"), and he received Academy Awards for the songs "Lullaby of Broadway," "You'll Never Know," and "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe." Between 1935 and 1950 he wrote more top-10 hit songs than any other songwriter.