Big-band arranger and composer Van Alexander scored his biggest success with a nursery rhyme. His arrangement of "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," done in collaboration with vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, was the biggest hit for both of them. Although originally created in 1938 as a vehicle while she was vocalist with the Chick Webb band, it became one of her most endearing signature songs, as well as providing the composer both steady royalty checks and a road map for future excursions. He also worked with artists such as Kay Starr, Dakota Staton, Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, Dinah Shore, Doris Day, and Peggy Lee, and wrote scores for the movies Baby Face Nelson, The Big Operator, and The Private Lives of Adam and Eve, among others, and created the original music for many television shows including Hazel, The Farmer's Daughter, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and Dennis the Menace.