Nicholas Brodzsky

Nicholas "Slug" Brodszky (; April 20, 1905 – December 24, 1958) was a composer of popular songs for the theatre and for films.

Brodszky was born in Odessa, today Ukraine (previously in Russian Empire, 1772–1917), into a Jewish family, who moved to Budapest during the civil war in Russia. He spent many years studying and working in Rome, Vienna, Berlin and Budapest. In the 1920s he contributed songs to Viennese operettas. His first film was made in Vienna in 1930 and featured Richard Tauber and Gitta Alpar. He wrote the music for C B Cochran and A P Herbert's coronation revue Home and Beauty at the Adelphi Theatre in 1937.

After a decade in the film industry in Germany and Austria, always keeping one step ahead of the rising Nazi party, he emigrated to the UK at the end of the 1930s. There he had some success providing music for the Terence Rattigan scripted film French Without Tears (1939), and The Way to the Stars (1949), both directed by Anthony Asquith. He also wrote the score for the Yiddish language film Der Purimspieler (1939).

He emigrated once again to the United States at the end of the 1940s. In Hollywood, he composed for many musical films including The Toast of New Orleans (1950); Rich, Young and Pretty (1951); Because You're Mine (1952); Small Town Girl (1953); The Student Prince (1954); Love Me or Leave Me (1955); and Serenade (1956).

Five of Nicholas Brodszky's musical compositions were nominated for Academy Awards for Best Original Song: 1950, "Be My Love" 1951, "Wonder Why" 1952, "Because You're Mine" 1953, "My Flaming Heart" 1955, "I'll Never Stop Loving You"

Brodszky was a tunesmith who always needed the help of arrangers and assistants to turn his ideas into finished compositions. These assistants included Roy Douglas, Philip Green, Skip Martin, Clive Richardson, Mischa Spoliansky, Albert Sendrey, Sidney Torch and Charles Williams, but they were rarely credited. Lionel Salter termed Brodszky a 'near-illiterate.'