Alberta Nichols (December 3, 1898 – February 4, 1957) was a popular songwriter of the 1930s and 1940s. Together with her husband, lyricist Mann Holiner, they composed over 100 songs, of which their most famous were "Until the Real Thing Comes Along" and "A Love Like Ours".[1]
Nichols was born in Lincoln, Illinois, on December 3, 1898[2] and studied piano[3] at the Louisville Conservatory with George Copeland and Alfred Calzin. Her career spanned writing for vaudeville, radio, musical theater and the movies. In 1931, Nichols and Holiner collaborated with Sammy Cahn, Saul Chaplin and L.E. Freeman for the Broadway show, Rhapsody in Black. The group of five also co-wrote "Until the Real Thing Comes Along". Alec Wilder, in American Popular Song,[4] speculated that Nichols was the composer of the melody. Among the many singers who performed the song over the years, Billie Holiday recorded the song in 1942. Holiday was a close friend of the Nichols-Holiners.[5]
Collaborating with Cahn, Chapin and Freeman, the Nichols-Holiners team wrote the music for the film, Rhapsody in Black. "A Love Like Ours" considered by Virginia Grattan to be one of the best songs of the duo, was in the film Two Girls and a Sailor starring Van Johnson and June Allyson.[6]
Other songs from the Nichols-Holiner team were: "There Never Was a Town like Paris," "Sing a Little Tune," "You Can't Stop Me from Loving You," and "Why Shouldn't It Happen to Us?" (the latter published in 1945, and recorded by Frank Sinatra).[7]
Alberta Nichols died in Hollywood on February 4, 1957, at the age of 58.[2]
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (1981). The ASCAP Biographical Dictionary of Composers, Authors and Publishers. RR Bowker, Lic. ISBN0-8352-1283-1.
Cohen, Aaron (1987). International Encyclopedia of Women Composers, 2nd Ed. Books & Music USA. ISBN0-9617485-2-4.
Laurence, Anya (1979). Women of Notes: 1,000 Women Composers Born Before 1900. Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN0-8239-0463-6.
