Robert Alexander Anderson (often given as R. Alex Anderson) (June 6, 1894 – May 30, 1995)[1] was an American composer who was born and lived most of his life in Hawaii, writing many popular Hawaiian songs within the hapa haole genre including "Lovely Hula Hands" (1940) and "Mele Kalikimaka" (1949), the latter the best known Hawaiian Christmas song.
Despite lacking formal training as a composer, he wrote many songs as a student there, including "When Twilight Falls on Blue Cayuga".
This was later turned into the initial treatment for The Dawn Patrol, which retained the title despite the final product bearing little resemblance after incorporating other sources.
While Anderson never studied theory or harmony and played a piano mostly by ear, many of his over 100 island songs have become standards.
In 1939, as a result of a chance remark, Anderson was inspired to write his most popular song, "Lovely Hula Hands".