Wikipedia:
Augustus Guido Maria Meyer-Eigen (* March 28, 1897 in Graz, Austria; † August 18, 1941 in Frohnleiten, Austria) was an Austrian pianist, singer and composer in the field of light music. From 1931 he was also active as a singer under the pseudonym Heinz Egon.
Augustus Meyer-Eigen grew up in Austria as the son of the actor August Meyer-Eigen (1863-1932), born in Ratingen near Düsseldorf,[2] and the opera singer Marie Rochelle (1862-1939)[3] from Graz. He received his first music lessons from his mother. In 1911, the family emigrated to the United States. In 1921, although submitting an application with false statemetns, Augustus received U.S. citizenship. In his passport the name Austin Monroe Eigen was entered with place of birth Milwaukee. According to his own, now disputed statements, he first wanted to become a diplomat and studied at Dartmouth College. He earned his money as a railroad worker. He laid the foundation for his later profession during the war years, when - without having studied music - he sang and began to compose his own songs in an army camp.
From 1921, he used the stage name Austin Egen. In May 1922, he returned to Austria with his mother, who had already bought a house in Frohnleiten in Styria in 1921.
On March 17, 1923, ''Shimmy Shanghai Bay'', which he had written, appeared in a recording of the orchestras Dajos Béla at Odeon in Berlin. In the same year he moved to Berlin with his mother. There he performed as a singer and pianist in numerous cabarets and pubs such as ''Mutter Krause'' in Halensee.
In July 1923, he participated as a shareholder in the founding of Acme Schallplatten AG[4] (Record Company) and released his ragtime ''Monday Morning Blues'' with the record company in 1924. In 1925, he played the saxophone in an amateur jazz band as a pianist with the music publisher Curt Roehr, who was a member of the supervisory board of Acme AG; a year later he married Florence Herzog, a niece of Roehr.
During that time he also participated as a pianist in some recordings of the Eric Borchard Jazz Band and wrote an interlude for the Berlin version of the musical ''No, No, Nanette''. In 1926, he composed the Charlie Charleston for the silent film ''The Queen of the World Bath'' directed by Victor Janson.
Beginning in 1927 and later, he made numerous recordings as a baritone singer for Gramophone Company and Electrola, mainly with German versions of US jazz titles and his own compositions. He worked with the orchestras of Marek Weber, Stefan Weintraub, Arthur Young, Jack Hylton, Emil Roósz and Oskar Joost, composers such as Hermann Leopoldi, Walter Jurmann, Jim Cowler and Franz Grothe, as well as the Schlager (Hit) lyricist Fritz Rotter. From 1931, he accompanied with his singing under the pseudonym Heinz Egon a few recordings of the orchestra Bernard Etté as well as the song ''Eine Nacht in Monte Carlo'' with the orchestra Billy Bartholomew.
As an actor he appeared in the films ''Liebeswalzer'', ''Boykott'', ''Tingel-Tangel'', ''Kyritz-Pyritz'', ''Die Liebesfiliale'' and ''So'n Windhund''.
During the banking crisis of 1931, the companies of his father-in-law Roehr had to declare bankruptcy, so that Egen also lost his shares.
In January 1928, Egen had founded Standard Edition Musikverlag GmbH (1928-1935), which he co-managed with Curt Roehr from March onward.[5] The rights to his works were taken over by Bosworth Musikverlag, which holds them to this day.[6]
In October 1932, Egen moved back to Austria with his family, living mostly in Frohnleiten. In Vienna he performed on the radio and made recordings with the Heinz Sandauer orchestra at Columbia. He became a member of the Society of Authors and Composers AKM in Vienna, to which he also submitted proof of Aryan status after the ''Anschluss'' of Austria in 1938. In his spare time he also worked as a draftsman and sculptor. From 1939, Egen also ran a coffee shop in Graz.
In 1941 he died in Frohnleiten at the age of 44 from cirrhosis of the liver.
Note: Translated from the German version of Wikipedia into English.
