Robert Alexander Anderson (composer)

Robert Alexander Anderson (often given as R. Alex Anderson) (June 6, 1894 – May 30, 1995) 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 "" (1949), the latter the best known Hawaiian Christmas song. Background Anderson was called “Andy” by his close friends. Anderson was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and attended Punahou School, where he wrote the school’s football song as a junior and the school song as a senior. Anderson graduated from Cornell University in 1916, where he studied electrical and mechanical engineering and was a member of the Cornell University Glee Club. Despite lacking formal training as a composer, Anderson wrote many songs as a student there, including “When Twilight Falls on Blue Cayuga”. In 1927, he wrote his first hit song, “Haole Hula”. Another well-known song of his was “Punahou” (1966). Anderson’s exploits during World War I involved flying combat missions in France. After being shot down and taken as a prisoner of war by the Germans, he conceived of a daring and ultimately successful escape. This was later turned into the init