Louis Wolfe Gilbert (August 31, 1886–July 12, 1970) was a Russian-born American songwriter. Born in Odessa, Russia, he moved to the United States as a young man and eventually established himself as one of the leading songwriters on Tin Pan Alley. Gilbert began his career touring with John L. Sullivan and singing in a quartet at small Coney Island cafe called "College Inn", where he was discovered by English producer Albert Decourville. Decourville brought him to London as part of The Ragtime Octet. Gilbert's first songwriting success came in 1912 when F. A. Mills Music Publishers published his song Waiting For the Robert E. Lee (melody by composer Lewis F. Muir). Gilbert moved to Hollywood in 1915, and began writing for film, television, and radio (including the Eddie Cantor show). Gilbert wrote the theme lyrics for the popular children's Television Western Hopalong Cassidy, which first aired in 1949 on NBC. He was an innovator