Arthur Freed was born Arthur Grossman on September 9, 1894 in Charleston, South Carolina. He was raised in Seattle, Washington. After graduation from high school he worked as a pianist and song plugger for a Chicago music publisher. In 1921, he collaborated for the first time with composer Nacio Herb Brown on the song "When Buddha Smiles." Freed's first major success came in 1923, when he wrote "I Cried For You" with Gus Arnheim and Abe Lyman. He died on April 12, 1973, aged 78 in Los Angeles, US.