McHugh (Jimmy) is born in Boston.

The son of James and Julia McHugh, Jimmy McHugh grows up in Jamaica Plain. plays piano at the Boston Opera House, and works a song plugger for the Boston office of Irving Berlin Publishing, then moves to New York in the 1920s. A pianist and composer, he teams up with lyricist Dorothy Fields to write such hits as “I Feel a Song Coming On,” “I’m In the Mood for Love,” and “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love.” McHugh also composes for Broadway and, after moving to Los Angeles, for Hollywood movies. He dies in Beverly Hills on May 23, 1969.