Kahn was born in Koblenz, Germany in 1886. The family emigrated from there to the United States and moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1890. After graduating from high school, he worked as a clerk in a mail order business before launching one of the most successful and prolific careers from Tin Pan Alley. Kahn married Grace LeBoy in 1916 and they had two children, Donald and Irene.
In his early days, Kahn wrote special material for vaudeville. In 1913 he began a productive partnership with the well-established composer Egbert van Alstyne, with whom he created several notable hits of the era, including "Memories" and, along with Tony Jackson, "Pretty Baby." Later, he began writing lyrics for composer and bandleader Isham Jones. This partnership led to one of Kahn's best-known works, "I'll See You in My Dreams," which became the title of a movie based on his life.
Throughout the 1920s, Kahn continued to contribute to Broadway scores such as Holka Polka (1925), Kitty's Kisses (1926), Artists and Models (1927), Whoopee! (1928), and Show Girl (1929). He went on to write several movies, mainly for MGM.
By 1933, Kahn had become a full time motion picture songwriter contributing to movies such as Flying Down to Rio, Thanks a Million, Kid Millions, A Day at the Races, Everybody Sing, One Night of Love, Three Smart Girls, Let's Sing Again, San Francisco, Naughty Marietta, and Ziegfeld Girl.
He also collaborated with some of the finest composers including, Grace LeBoy Kahn (his wife), Richard A. Whiting, Buddy DeSylva, Al Jolson, Raymond Egan, Ted Fio Rito, Ernie Erdman, Neil Moret, Vincent Youmans, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, Harry Akst, Harry M. Woods, Edward Eliscu, Victor Schertzinger, Arthur Johnston, Bronislaw Kaper, Jerome Kern, Walter Jurmann, Sigmund Romberg and Harry Warren, though his primary collaborator was Walter Donaldson.
Kahn died in Beverly Hills, California on October 8, 1941 where he was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
His catalog contained some of the greatest collections of songs from the first half of the 20th century and it is for this very reason that he was inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970, nearly 30 years after his death. On April 11, 2008 at his home in Beverly Hills, California, Donald Kahn died at the age of 89 years old.
His most famous songs include "It Had To Be You" (1924) with music by Isham Jones, "Side by Side" (1927) with music by Harry M. Woods, and "Makin' Whoopee!" (1928) with music by Walter Donaldson. Kahn was also the lyricist for the Ted Healy/Three Stooges short film Beer and Pretzels (1933), with music by Al Goodhart. Danny Thomas played Kahn in the 1951 biographical film I'll See You in My Dreams.
