Thanks for the Memory was written by Ralph Rainger, composer, and Leo Robin, lyricist, and published in 1938. It was introduced in the Paramount film The Big Broadcast of 1938, where Bob Hope and Shirley Ross sing it as a divorced couple who meet aboard a ship. The original recording is by Dorothy Lamour with an orchestra under Cy Feuer, from 1937. That same year, Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra issued a popular recording with a vocal by Bobby Goday.
The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and became Bob Hope's signature tune, with many different adapted lyrics. It ranked No. 63 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs (2004). Later versions include recordings by Martha Tilton and Benny Goodman, Mildred Bailey, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Harry Nilsson, Sarah Vaughan and Jim Hall.
