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IMDbPro

Lewis Allan(1903-1986)

  • Actor
  • Composer
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Composer, lyricist, songwriter and teacher, educated at City College of New York (BA), and Harvard University (MA). He was an instructor in English literature, and a writer for theater, radio, television and film. He joined ASCAP in 1945, and his chief musical collaborators were Robert Kurka and Elie Siegmeister. He co-wrote the classic song "The House I Live In", sung by Frank Sinatra in the 1945 Academy Award-winning short film of the same title. His other songs include "Strange Fruit" and "Apples, Peaches & Cherries". His classical compositions include the operas "The Good Soldier Schweik"; "Darling Corie"; "Malady of Love"; and "The Soldier", plus the cantata "The Town Crier" (which garnered the Natl. 5 Arts award).
BornFebruary 10, 1903
DiedOctober 30, 1986(83)
BornFebruary 10, 1903
DiedOctober 30, 1986(83)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Add photos, demo reels
  • Awards
    • 1 win & 1 nomination total

Known for

Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke in 9½ Weeks (1986)
9½ Weeks
5.9
  • Soundtrack("Strange Fruit")
  • 1986
Frank Sinatra in The House I Live In (1945)
The House I Live In
6.4
Short
  • Soundtrack("The House I Live In")
  • 1945
Andra Day in The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)
The United States vs. Billie Holiday
6.3
  • Soundtrack(as Allan Lewis, "Strange Fruit")
  • 2021
Marlene Dietrich, Orson Welles, W.C. Fields, Laverne Andrews, Maxene Andrews, Patty Andrews, Susanna Foster, Grace McDonald, Donald O'Connor, George Raft, Peggy Ryan, Dinah Shore, Vera Zorina, and The Andrews Sisters in Follow the Boys (1944)
Follow the Boys
5.8
  • Soundtrack("The House I Live In" (1942))
  • 1944

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor



  • Brian Keith, Rita Gam, and Rick Jason in Sierra Baron (1958)
    Sierra Baron
    5.9
    • Hank Moe
    • 1958

Composer



  • Strange Fruit (2012)
    Strange Fruit
    Video
    • Composer (as Allan Lewis)
    • 2012

Soundtrack



  • Nouvelle Vague (2025)
    Nouvelle Vague
    7.4
    • lyrics: "Scoubidou" (Apples, Peaches and Cherries)
    • music: "Scoubidou" (Apples, Peaches and Cherries)
    • 2025
  • Laibach: Strange Fruit (2024)
    Laibach: Strange Fruit
    Music Video
    • writer: "Strange Fruit"
    • 2024
  • Bardot (2023)
    Bardot
    6.4
    TV Mini Series
    • lyrics: "Scoubidou" (Apples, Peaches and Cherries)
    • music: "Scoubidou" (Apples, Peaches and Cherries)
    • 2023
  • Andra Day in The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)
    The United States vs. Billie Holiday
    6.3
    • writer: "Strange Fruit" (as Allan Lewis)
    • 2021
  • The Plot Against America (2020)
    The Plot Against America
    7.3
    TV Mini Series
    • writer: "The House I Live In" (uncredited)
    • 2020
  • Omar Epps and Paula Patton in Traffik (2018)
    Traffik
    5.9
    • writer: "Strange Fruit"
    • 2018
  • Black Lightning (2018)
    Black Lightning
    6.1
    TV Series
    • writer: "Strange Fruit"
    • 2018
  • Audra McDonald in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill (2016)
    Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill
    7.8
    TV Movie
    • writer: "Strange Fruit"
    • 2016
  • The Birth of a Nation (2016)
    The Birth of a Nation
    6.5
    • writer: "Strange Fruit"
    • 2016
  • Boy George, Kelly Rowland, Seal, and Delta Goodrem in The Voice (2012)
    The Voice
    5.2
    TV Series
    • writer: "Strange Fruit"
    • 2015
  • Rufus Sewell in The Man in the High Castle (2015)
    The Man in the High Castle
    7.9
    TV Series
    • writer: "Strange Fruit" (uncredited)
    • 2015
  • Lauren Laverne and Jo Whiley in Glastonbury 2015 (2015)
    Glastonbury 2015
    7.1
    TV Series
    • writer: "Blood on the Leaves"
    • 2015
  • What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)
    What Happened, Miss Simone?
    7.6
    • lyrics: "Strange Fruit"
    • music: "Strange Fruit"
    • writer: "Strange Fruit"
    • 2015
  • Schwarzkopf BRD
    Schwarzkopf BRD: Martin Luther King in Berlin!
    7.8
    • writer: "Strange Fruits"
    • 2014
  • Criminal Minds (2005)
    Criminal Minds
    8.1
    TV Series
    • writer: "Strange Fruit"
    • 2013

Personal details

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  • Alternative name
    • Allan Lewis
  • Born
    • February 10, 1903
    • New York City, New York, USA
  • Died
    • October 30, 1986
    • Longmeadow, Massachusetts, USA(Alzheimer's disease)
  • Spouse
    • Anne Shaffer? - 1973 (her death, 2 children)

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Meeropol wrote the song "Strange Fruit," a powerful anti-lynching song made famous by Billie Holiday, in 1939 after he saw a photograph of a black man who had been lynched by a white mob in Georgia. The song became a big, and controversial, hit. Shortly after WWII, MGM hired Meeropol to write a song for a short film they were making about tolerance, The House I Live In (1945). After the film came out, Meeropol was incensed to discover that the studio had cut out one line in the song, "My neighbors who are black and white," as they thought it would cut into the film's ticket sales in the South.

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