Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 – April 12, 1973) was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was a JewishAmerican lyricist and a Hollywood film producer.

Freed began his career as a song-plugger and pianist in Chicago. After meeting Minnie Marx, he sang as part of the act of her sons, the Marx Brothers, on the vaudeville circuit, and also wrote material for the brothers. He soon began to write songs, and was eventually hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. For years, he wrote lyrics for numerous films, many set to music by Nacio Herb Brown.

In 1939, after working (uncredited) in the role of associate producer on The Wizard of Oz, he was promoted to being the head of his own unit within MGM, and helped elevate the studio to the leading creator of film musicals. His first solo credit as producer was the film version of Rodgers and Hart's smash Broadway musical Babes in Arms (also 1939), released only a few months after The Wizard of Oz. It starred Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, and it was so successful that it ushered in a long series of "let's put on a show" "backyard" musicals, all starring Rooney and Garland.

Nacio Herb Brown (February 22, 1896 – September 28, 1964) was an American writer of popular songs, movie scores, and Broadway theatre music in the 1920s through the early 1950s.

Ignacio Herb Brown (some sources indicate his birth name was Ignacio Herbert Brown) was born in Deming, New Mexico. In 1901 his family moved to Los Angeles, where he attended Manual Arts High School. His music education started with instruction from his mother, Cora Alice (Hopkins) Brown. Brown first operated a tailoring business (1916), and then became a financially successful realtor, but he always wrote and played. After his first hit "Coral Sea" (1920) and first big hit, "When Buddha Smiles" (1921), he eventually became a full-time composer. He joined The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1927.

In 1928 he was hired to work in Hollywood by MGM and write film scores for the new medium of sound film. For his film work, he often collaborated with lyricist Arthur Freed. This collaboration produced Singin' in the Rain. He appeared in the MGM variety film The Hollywood Revue of 1929. Brown also worked with Richard A. Whiting and Buddy De Sylva on Broadway Musicals such as Take a Chance.^{[citation needed]}

Herb Brown (born March 14, 1936) is an American basketball coach. He is the former head coach of the Detroit Pistons (1976–78). Brown was named head coach of the NBA's Detroit Pistons during the 1975-76 NBA season, replacing Ray Scott, who'd gone 17-25. The 39-year-old Brown, who'd been an assistant to Scott in Detroit, went 19-21 in his first season with the Pistons, who won 10 of their last 11 games of the regular season. He then guided the team into the second round of the NBA playoffs where the Pistons lost to Golden State, four games to two.

The following season, the Pistons went 44-38 under Brown, before losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Golden State Warriors.

The Pistons fired Brown on December 15, 1977, after a 9-15 start to the 1977-78 NBA season, replacing him with the team's 32-year-old general manager, Bob Kauffman, who went 29-29 as head coach.

The Bobcats are Brown's third team on which he has served under brother Larry. Together, they helped coach the Pistons to the NBA championship in 2004, and led the Philadelphia 76ers to the 2001 NBA Finals.

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artistes of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation.

A multimedia star, from 1934 to 1954 Bing Crosby was a leader in record sales, radio ratings and motion picture grosses. His early career coincided with technical recording innovations; this allowed him to develop a laid-back, intimate singing style that influenced many of the popular male singers who followed him, including Perry Como,Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin. Yank magazine recognized Crosby as the person who had done the most for American G.I. morale during World War II and, during his peak years, around 1948, polls declared him the "most admired man alive," ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. Also in 1948, the Music Digest estimated that Crosby recordings filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music.

Gus Arnheim (September 4, 1897 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – January 19, 1955 in Los Angeles, California) was an early popular band leader. He is noted for writing several songs with his first hit being "I Cried for You" from 1923. He was most popular in the 1920s and 1930s. He also had a few small acting roles.

In 1928-31, Arnheim had an extended engagement at the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles. In 1930, when Paul Whiteman finished filming The King of Jazz for Universal, The Rhythm Boys vocal trio, consisting of Bing Crosby, Harry Barris and Al Rinker decided to stay in California and they signed up with Arnheim's band. While the Rhythm Boys only recorded one song with Arnheim, "Them There Eyes", which also happened to be The Rhythm Boys final recording, Arnheim's Orchestra backed Crosby on a number of songs released by Victor Records in 1931. These popular records, coupled with Arnheim's radio broadcasts featuring Crosby's solo vocals, were a key element to the beginning of Crosby's popularity as a crooner.