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Herbert Stothart

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Herbert P. Stothart (September 11, 1885 – February 1, 1949) was an American songwriter, arranger, conductor, and composer. He was also nominated for twelve Academy Awards, winning Best Original Score for The Wizard of Oz. Stothart was widely acknowledged as a member of the top tier of Hollywood composers during the 1930s and 1940s.

Life and career

Herbert Stothart was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He studied music in Europe and at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he later taught.

Stothart was first hired by producer Arthur Hammerstein to be a musical director for touring companies of Broadway shows, and was soon writing music for the producer's nephew Oscar Hammerstein II. He composed music for the famous operetta, Rose-Marie. Stothart soon joined with many famous composers including Vincent Youmans, George Gershwin and Franz Lehár. Stothart achieved pop-chart success with standards like “Cute Little Two by Four”, “Wildflower”, “Bambalina”, “The Mounties”, “Totem Tom-Tom”, “Why Shouldn’t We?”, “Fly Away”, “Song of the Flame”, “The Cossack Love Song”, “Dawn”, “I Wanna Be Loved by You”, “Cuban Love Song”, “The Rogue Song” and “The Donkey Serenade.”

The year 1929 marked the end of the era of silent films. Shortly after completing his latest musical “Golden Dawn” with Oscar Hammerstein, Stothart received an invitation from Louis B. Mayer to move to Hollywood, which he accepted. In 1929, Stothart was signed to a large MGM contract.

The next twenty years of his life were spent at MGM Studios, where he was part of elite group of Hollywood composers. Among the many films that he worked on was the famous 1936 version of Rose-Marie, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. He conducted and wrote songs and scores for the films The Cuban Love Song, The Good Earth, Romeo and Juliet, Mutiny on the Bounty, Mrs. Miniver, The Green Years and The Picture of Dorian Gray. His output included the Marx Brothers' Night at the Opera, the Leo Tolstoy romantic drama Anna Karenina, two Charles Dickens dramas (A Tale of Two Cities and David Copperfield), and Mutiny on the Bounty, which earned him his first Academy Award nomination. He won an Oscar for his musical score for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

Herbert Stothart spent his entire Hollywood career at MGM. In 1947, he suffered a heart attack while visiting Scotland, and afterwards, composed an orchestral piece (Heart Attack: A Symphonic Poem), based on his tribulations. He worked on another (Voices of Liberation), commissioned by Roger Wagner Chorale, when he died two years later at the age of 63.

Sound

Rose Marie

1954

Songs

Big Jack

1949

Original Music Composer

Hills of Home

1948

Original Music Composer

The Three Musketeers

1948

Original Music Composer

Three Daring Daughters

1948

Original Music Composer

Desire Me

1947

Original Music Composer

The Unfinished Dance

1947

Music

The Sea of Grass

1947

Original Music Composer

The Yearling

1946

Original Music Composer

Undercurrent

1946

Original Music Composer

Undercurrent

1946

Conductor

The Green Years

1946

Original Music Composer

They Were Expendable

1945

Original Music Composer

The Valley of Decision

1945

Original Music Composer

Son of Lassie

1945

Music

The Picture of Dorian Gray

1945

Original Music Composer

National Velvet

1945

Original Music Composer

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

1944

Original Music Composer

Kismet

1944

Original Music Composer

Dragon Seed

1944

Music

The White Cliffs of Dover

1944

Original Music Composer

A Guy Named Joe

1943

Original Music Composer

Madame Curie

1943

Music

Thousands Cheer

1943

Original Music Composer

The Human Comedy

1943

Music

Random Harvest

1942

Music

Tennessee Johnson

1942

Original Music Composer

Cairo

1942

Music

I Married an Angel

1942

Original Music Composer

I Married an Angel

1942

Songs

Mrs. Miniver

1942

Original Music Composer

Rio Rita

1942

Music

The Chocolate Soldier

1941

Original Music Composer

Smilin' Through

1941

Original Music Composer

Blossoms in the Dust

1941

Original Music Composer

Ziegfeld Girl

1941

Music

Men of Boys Town

1941

Music

Andy Hardy's Private Secretary

1941

Music Director

Come Live with Me

1941

Music

Pride and Prejudice

1940

Original Music Composer

Susan and God

1940

Music

Waterloo Bridge

1940

Original Music Composer

Edison, the Man

1940

Music

Northwest Passage

1940

Original Music Composer

Balalaika

1939

Original Music Composer

The Wizard of Oz

1939

Original Music Composer

Broadway Serenade

1939

Music Director

Idiot's Delight

1939

Music

Sweethearts

1938

Original Music Composer

Marie Antoinette

1938

Original Music Composer

Of Human Hearts

1938

Music

The Firefly

1937

Songs

Conquest

1937

Original Music Composer

The Good Earth

1937

Original Music Composer

Maytime

1937

Songs

Maytime

1937

Original Music Composer

Camille

1936

Original Music Composer

After the Thin Man

1936

Original Music Composer

The Devil Is a Sissy

1936

Music

Romeo and Juliet

1936

Music

The Gorgeous Hussy

1936

Music

San Francisco

1936

Music

Moonlight Murder

1936

Original Music Composer

Robin Hood of El Dorado

1936

Original Music Composer

Wife vs. Secretary

1936

Original Music Composer

Rose Marie

1936

Original Music Composer

Ah, Wilderness!

1935

Original Music Composer

A Tale of Two Cities

1935

Original Music Composer

Mutiny on the Bounty

1935

Original Music Composer

A Night at the Opera

1935

Music

Anna Karenina

1935

Original Music Composer

China Seas

1935

Original Music Composer

David Copperfield

1935

Original Music Composer

Sequoia

1935

Original Music Composer

The Night Is Young

1935

Conductor

Biography of a Bachelor Girl

1935

Music

The Painted Veil

1934

Original Music Composer

What Every Woman Knows

1934

Original Music Composer

The Barretts of Wimpole Street

1934

Music

Chained

1934

Original Music Composer

Treasure Island

1934

Original Music Composer

Viva Villa!

1934

Original Music Composer

Laughing Boy

1934

Original Music Composer

Riptide

1934

Music

Queen Christina

1933

Music

Queen Christina

1933

Music Director

Night Flight

1933

Music

The White Sister

1933

Music

Rasputin and the Empress

1932

Music

The Son-Daughter

1932

Music Score Producer

The Son-Daughter

1932

Original Music Composer

The Cuban Love Song

1931

Music Score Producer

The Cuban Love Song

1931

Songs

The Squaw Man

1931

Music

New Moon

1930

Songs

A Lady's Morals

1930

Songs

Madam Satan

1930

Songs

Madam Satan

1930

Music

Call of the Flesh

1930

Songs

Golden Dawn

1930

Songs

The Florodora Girl

1930

Songs

The Florodora Girl

1930

Original Music Composer

The Song of the Flame

1930

Songs

In Gay Madrid

1930

Songs

Herbert Stothart

Documentaries

Writing

Sound

Crew