Caplan, Birnbaum, Halmi, Rosenberg Family Tree

Lou Halmy, a musician and (self-taught as a) jazz arranger for more than 75 years.
Halmy was born in Budapest, Hungary, and his family immigrated to the United States in 1913 when he was 2.

He made his mark as a trumpet player during the 1930s with East Coast outfits including Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra, a society band that played on "The Woodbury Hour With Bob Hope" and in the "The Big Broadcast of 1938," a film starring Hope, W.C. Fields and Dorothy Lamour.

A self-taught arranger, Halmy used the money he saved while working in hit bands during the Depression to get started in Hollywood. Moving to Los Angeles in 1938, he got a lot of work from MGM Studios.

He spent World War II writing arrangements for a 92-piece military band in Southern California. His arrangements, including Meredith Willson's "Mail Call March," were heard worldwide on Armed Forces Radio Service broadcasts.

Over the course of his career, Halmy arranged music for Hope (the original setting of "Thanks for the Memory'), W.C. Handy, Paul Whiteman, Harry Warren, Leopold Stokowski, the Beach Boys, Burt Bacharach and Crosby, Stills and Nash.

His work includes published scores for "Digga Digga Doo," "Sentimental Gentleman From Georgia," "Autumn Leaves," "When I Fall in Love" and many other hits.

He arranged music for the comedy album "Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America" and also worked as a professional whistler for television and movies. In "Mary Poppins," he was the warbling voice of the bird who did "A Spoonful of Sugar" duet with Julie Andrews.

Halmy wrote and performed in films ranging from "Two Girls on Broadway" (1940) to "Jaws" (1975) and "Xanadu" (1980).

Halmy continued working even after he and his wife moved to Eugene in 1986. He resurrected some of his early 1930s arrangements for the Emerald City Jazz Kings, did a classical version of "Happy Birthday" for the Oregon Mozart Players, a symphonic tone poem, some string-quartet versions of pop standards, arrangements of hymns for five saxophones and lead sheets for aspiring songwriters.

"The best way to be retired," he said in a 1999 Register-Guard article by arts reporter Fred Crafts, "is to be busy as hell doing what you like. So, that's what I do."