Joseph Edgar Howard was born in New York City on February 12, 1878. At the age of 11, he appeared on vaudeville as a boy soprano and then toured in a stock company production, Little Eva.
Collaborating with songwriters such as Frank Adams, Will Hough and Harold Orlob, Howard produced such hits as “Hello, My Baby”, “Goodbye, My Lady Love”, “There’s Nothing Like a Good Old Song”, “Somewhere in France is the Lily”, “On a Saturday Night”, “Can’t Get You Out of My Mind”, “Love Me Little, Love Me Long”, “Montana”, “Silver in Your Hair”, “Whistle a Song”, “On the Boulevard”, “San Francisco Frizz”, “An Echo of Her Smile”, “I Don’t Like Your Family”, “Blow the Smoke Away”, “What’s the Use of Dreaming?”, “When You First Kiss the Last Girl You Love”, “Honeymoon”, “Be Sweet to Me, Kid”, “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now”, “Tonight Will Never Come Again” and “Cross Your Heart”.
Howard also wrote the stage scores for The Land of Nod, The Time, the Place and the Girl, The Girl Question, A Stubborn Cinderella, The Goddess of Liberty and The Prince of Tonight.
Throughout his career, Howard performed in night clubs, theaters, radio and eventually on television. In the late 1950’s, he published an autobiography entitled Gay Nineties Troubadour.
Joe Howard died in Chicago, Illinois on May 19, 1961.
