Immigrating to Chicago with his German Jewish family in 1900, Gus Kahn got his start as a lyricist in vaudeville before moving into Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, and, finally and notably, Hollywood. He wrote with numerous composers, including Egberet Van Alstyne, Isham Jones, Ted Fio Rito, Vincet Youmans, George Gershwin, and Jerome Kern, although his primary collaborator was Walter Donaldson.