John Herndon Mercer (1909 - 1976)

Born 18 Nov 1909 in Savannah, Chatham, Georgia.

Ancestors

Died 25 Jun 1976 at age 66 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

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Biography

Johnny Mercer is Notable.

Johnny Mercer was a Georgian.

Johnny Mercer is buried in Bonaventure Cemetery.

In old Savannah witticism inquires why people from Savannah are like the Chinese—the answer is, they eat rice and worship their ancestors. This was, in the case of lyricist, composer, and singer Johnny Mercer, no joke.

Johnny was a Mercer, one of Savannah’s first families, with two generals and two colonels, evenly divided between the Union and the Confederacy, in the previous five generations. This had a profound effect on Johnny, but even this couldn't match the influence of coastal Georgia.

While Johnny Mercer had the talent, Georgia provided the inspiration that made him one of America's most popular and successful songwriters of the twentieth century. Between 1929 and 1976 Mercer penned lyrics to more than 1,000 songs, received nineteen Academy Award nominations, wrote music for a number of Broadway shows, and co-founded Capitol Records. Perhaps best known for the 1961 Academy Award–winning song "Moon River," Mercer also took Oscars for "Days of Wine and Roses," "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," and "On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe."^[1]These movie hits reflected Mercer's ties to the Hollywood studios, but the lyricist also wrote songs that became popular because of their commercial appeal, including "Jeepers Creepers," "Accentuate the Positive," "Glow-Worm," "Goody Goody," and "Hooray for Hollywood."^[2]Time and again Mercer drew upon his Georgia heritage for song ideas. ^[3][4]

Mercer House was featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Johnny Mercer is buried at Bonaventure Cemetery.[5]

After receiving a diagnosis of brain cancer, Mercer underwent surgery, from which he never fully recovered. He died June 25, 1976, and is buried in the family plot in Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah. His widow donated his papers to Georgia State University in Atlanta, which maintains a Mercer Web site and interactive museum in his memory. The city of Savannah named its municipal theater in his honor. Family and friends created the Johnny Mercer Foundation to introduce school children to American popular songs.^[6]

In 1995 the Georgia legislature declared April 19, 1995, to be Johnny Mercer Day in the state for Mercer's "outstanding contributions to the field of music." He was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1980 and posthumously inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in 2011.^[7]

It is hard to portray the significance of Johnny Mercer to Georgia, and particularly to Savannah. Despite the multitude of movies and music videos filmed here and the top music performers of all genres from Georgia, Johnny Mercer is still the person first mentioned in a 2011 study commissioned by Georgia Music Partners on the economic impact of the music industry in Georgia.^[8]

In 1996, the Federal Government issued a postage stamp honoring Johnny as part of their Song Writer Series.

Johnny Mercer Theater

Savannah has honored Johnny Mercer by naming a theater after him and erecting a statue of him in Johnson Square. Johnny became even more famous when the book, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" highlighted his house, where Jim Williams lived, and his music as played by Emma Kelley.^[9]

Recently, some current artist recorded covers of Moon River to commemorate the death of singer, Andy Williams who made it his theme song in 1970. It had been originally written by Johnny and orchestrated by Henry Mancini for Audrey Hepburn to sing in Breakfast at Tiffanie's. Johnny wrote many many scores and songs that we still remember today. You can see the detailed list of the songs he wrote at the Song Writer's Hall of Fame.

Listen to Moon River sung by Elton John.

Listen to Moon River sung by Andy Williams.

Sources

1. ↑ All Music Discography and Awards.
2. ↑ Furia, Philip (1990). Poets of Tin Pan Alley. Oxford University Press. ISBN.
3. ↑ Wikipedia Johnny Mercer.
4. ↑ New Georgia Encyclopedia Johnny Mercer.
5. ↑ Find a Grave Memorial.
6. ↑ New Georgia Encyclopedia Johnny Mercer.
7. ↑ New Georgia Encyclopedia Johnny Mercer.
8. ↑ Economic and Fiscal Impact Analysis of the Music Industry in Georgia May 2011 Prepared by:B. William Riall, Ph.D., a study was commissioned by Georgia Music Partners http://georgiamusicpartners.org.
9. ↑ Wikipedia Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

See also:

• "United States Census, 1910", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLKS-292 : Fri Oct 06 14:56:21 UTC 2023), Entry for George A Mercer and Lillian Mercer, 1910.

• "United States Census, 1920", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJ8L-M5G : Fri Oct 06 12:16:16 UTC 2023), Entry for George A Mercer and Lillian Mercer, 1920.

• "United States Census, 1930", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X45Y-QZX : Fri Oct 06 16:16:18 UTC 2023), Entry for John Mercer, 1930.

• "New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1938", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24DW-V1C : 21 June 2023), John Herndon Mercer and Rose Elizabeth Meltzer, 1931.

• NPR's 100 Years of Johnny Mercer, Pop Poet Laureate

• Songwriter's Hall of Fame; Johnny Mercer

• johnny-mercer-part-1-1930-39/Johnny Mercer, part 1: selected hits and standards, 1930 to 1935

• "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" (1946)

• "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" (1951)

• "Moon River" (1961)

• "Laura" (1945)

• Judy Garland & Johnny Mercer- "Friendship" (1940)

• The Johnny Mercer Story 02