Editing Hoagy Carmichael (section)

=== 1940s ===
[[File:Best Years of Our Lives.jpg|thumb|Carmichael, [[Fredric March]], [[Myrna Loy]], [[Dana Andrews]] and [[Theresa Wright]] in ''[[The Best Years of Our Lives]]'' (1946)]]
The growing Carmichael family, which included Hoagy, Ruth, and their sons, Hoagy Bix (born in 1938) and Randy Bob (born in 1940), moved into the former mansion of chewing-gum heir [[William Wrigley, Jr.|William P. Wrigley, Jr.]] in Los Angeles in 1942, when the United States entered World War II after the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]].{{sfn|Sudhalter|2002|p=226}} His contribution to the war effort was similar to other patriotic efforts by [[Irving Berlin]] ("[[This Is the Army]], Mr. Jones"), Johnny Mercer ("[[G.I. Jive]]"), and [[Frank Loesser]] ("[[Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition]]"). Carmichael's wartime songs (most with lyrics by [[Paul Francis Webster]]) included "My Christmas Song for You," "Don't Forget to Say 'No' Baby," "Billy-a-Dick," "The Army of Hippocrates," "Cranky Old Yank," "Eager Beaver," "No More Toujours l'Amour," "Morning Glory," and the never-completed "Hitler Blues."{{sfn|Sudhalter|2002|p=244}}

Throughout the 1940s Carmichael maintained a strong personal and professional relationship with Mercer. In later 1941 their continuing collaboration led to "[[Skylark (song)|Skylark]]," considered one of Carmichael's greatest songs. Bing Crosby recorded it almost immediately in January 1942. Since then many others have recorded the song, including [[Glenn Miller]], [[Dinah Shore]], [[Helen Forrest]] (with [[Harry James]]),{{sfn|Hasse|1988|pp=13, 46}} Aretha Franklin and [[Bette Midler]].

Carmichael's 1942 song "I'm a Cranky Old Yank" was listed in the 1967 edition of the ''[[Guinness Book of Records]]'' under the title "I'm a Cranky Old Yank in a Clanky Old Tank on the Streets of Yokohama with My Honolulu Mama Doin' Those Beat-o, Beat-o Flat-On-My-Seat-o, Hirohito Blues" as the longest song title.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dmdb.org/cgi-bin/plinfo_view.pl?SYN053324 |title=Details for I'm A Cranky Old Yank In A Clanky Old Tank – Bing Crosby}}</ref>

Carmichael appeared as an actor in 14 motion pictures, performing at least one of his songs in each. He described his on-screen persona as the "hound-dog-faced old musical philosopher noodling on the honky-tonk piano, saying to a tart with a heart of gold: 'He'll be back, honey. He's all man.'"{{sfn|Sudhalter|2002|p=249}} In 1944 Carmichael played Cricket in the screen adaptation of [[Ernest Hemingway]]'s ''[[To Have and Have Not (film)|To Have and Have Not]]'', opposite [[Humphrey Bogart]] and [[Lauren Bacall]]. He sang "[[Hong Kong Blues]]" and "The Rhumba Jumps," and played piano as Bacall sang "How Little We Know." In the multi-Academy Award-winning film ''[[The Best Years of Our Lives]]'' (1946) with [[Dana Andrews]], [[Myrna Loy]] and [[Fredric March]], Carmichael's character teaches a disabled veteran with metal prostheses to play "[[Chopsticks (music)|Chopsticks]]," and also performs "Lazy River."{{sfn|Hasse|1988|p=37}} Carmichael played Hi Linnett in ''[[Canyon Passage]]'' (1946), a [[Universal Pictures]] western that starred [[Dana Andrews]] (his costar in ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' and ''[[Night Song (1948 film)|Night Song]]''), [[Susan Hayward]], and [[Brian Donlevy]]. He also composed several songs for the film, including "Ole Buttermilk Sky," an [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominee.{{sfn|Hasse|1988|p=40}}

Carmichael's career as a recording artist peaked in the mid-1940s when he recorded exclusively for [[Decca Records]] and [[V-Disc]] (the Armed Forces label for service personnel overseas), acted and performed in motion pictures, and hosted variety shows on the radio. He also sang in live shows across the United States, and debuted in the United Kingdom at the [[Prince Edward Theatre|London Casino]] in 1948.{{sfn|Hasse|1988|p=11}} According to his son Randy, Carmichael was an incessant composer, working on a song for days or even weeks until it was perfect. His perfectionism extended to his clothes, grooming, and eating. Once the work was done, however, Carmichael would cut loose—relax, play golf, drink, and indulge in the Hollywood high life.{{sfn|Sudhalter|2002|p=259}} Carmichael also found time to write his first autobiography, ''The Stardust Road'', published in 1946.<ref name=StardustRoad>{{cite book |author=Carmichael, Hoagy |title=The Stardust Road |publisher=Rinehart and Company |location=New York |year=1946 }}</ref> In addition, Carmichael composed an orchestral work, ''Brown County in Autumn'', in 1948, but it was not well received by critics.{{sfn|Hasse|1988|p=11}}

Between 1944 and 1948, Carmichael became a well-known radio personality and hosted three musical-variety programs. In 1944–45, the 30-minute ''Tonight at Hoagy's'' aired on [[Mutual Broadcasting System|Mutual]] radio on Sunday nights at 8:30&nbsp;p.m. (Pacific time), sponsored by Safeway supermarkets. Produced by Walter Snow, the show featured Carmichael as host and vocalist. Musicians included [[Pee Wee Hunt]] and [[Joe Venuti]]. Fans were rather blunt about Carmichael's singing, providing comments such as "you cannot sing for your soul" and "your singing is so delightfully awful that it is really funny."{{sfn|Sudhalter|2002|p=246}}