He achieved some local success as a pianist and singer before moving to New York City in his early twenties, where he worked as an accompanist in vaudeville[5] and changed his name to Harold Arlen.

Between 1926 and about 1934, Arlen appeared occasionally as a band vocalist on records by The Buffalodians, Red Nichols, Joe Venuti, Leo Reisman, and Eddie Duchin, usually singing his own compositions.

[2] Arlen and Koehler's partnership resulted in a number of hit songs, including the familiar standards "Let's Fall in Love" and "Stormy Weather".

), "Lydia the Tattooed Lady", for Groucho Marx in At the Circus in 1939, and "Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe", for Ethel Waters in the 1943 movie Cabin in the Sky.

[2] Arlen composed two of the defining songs of Judy Garland's career: "Over the Rainbow" and "The Man That Got Away", the last written for the 1954 version of the film A Star Is Born.

[2] At her famous 1961 Carnegie Hall concert, after finishing a set of his songs, Garland acknowledged Arlen in the audience and invited him to receive an ovation.

"[10] Shortly before his death, Arlen adopted his own nephew, Samuel, the 22-year-old adult son of his brother Julius "Jerry" Arluck; his estate would have an heir in order to extend his copyright.