Morris Stoloff

Birthday:

07/30/1898

Place of birth:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA:

Biography:

Morris W. Stoloff was a musical composer. Stoloff worked with Sammy Davis Jr., Dinah Shore and Frank Sinatra. Stoloff worked as music director at Columbia Pictures from 1936 to 1962. Among space age pop fans, he is best remembered for his 1956 Top 10 hit that paired the swing era tune "Moonglow" with the love theme from the movie Picnic, the medley called "Moonglow and Theme from Picnic". It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. Stoloff was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A child prodigy on the violin, Stoloff was taken under the wing of W. A. Clark. After studying with Leopold Auer for several years, Stoloff was touring the U.S. as a featured soloist at the age of 16, and joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic a year later as its youngest member ever. When sound came to motion pictures, studios came looking for musicians to provide it, and Stoloff was one of the first to cross over from classical music to movies. He was the first concertmaster on Paramount Pictures' payroll, and he worked with setting up the mechanics of a system that had to provide a steady stream of music for everything from epic dramas to serials and comedy shorts. In 1936, Stoloff moved over to Columbia Pictures, where he took the title of music director, a new position unique to the studio system. As music director, he was the chief executive responsible for providing musical production support to every film the studio released. This meant matching up composers, orchestrators, conductors, musicians and recording facilities to meet the creative scope of each project as well as its schedule and budget. Stoloff often took partial credit for a picture's score when he worked closely with a particular composer to work out a theme, motifs, and melodies. As a result, he ranks among some of the most-nominated individuals in the history of the Academy Awards. He won three Oscars for best scores, including those for Cover Girl (1944), The Jolson Story (1946), and Song Without End (1960), and was nominated 14 other times. By the late 1940s, film music was beginning to be recognized on its own, and Stoloff began recording some of the more popular numbers as singles for Decca Records. When long-play albums were perfected, the studios saw the opportunity to market more than just singles to the listening audience, and soundtrack albums became a hot commodity. Stoloff exercised his privilege as musical director to record these soundtrack albums himself, working with material from the actual scores. When Frank Sinatra founded Reprise Records in the early 1960s, he hired Stoloff as musical director; the two having worked successfully before on Pal Joey (1957). One of Stoloff's most noteworthy achievements while at Reprise was the release of a set of re-recordings of great Broadway musicals, including Kiss Me, Kate with a studio cast. Stoloff died in Los Angeles, California, aged 81.



Credits

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Music Coordinator
Song Without End (1960)
Music Supervisor
The Last Angry Man (1959)
Conductor
Pal Joey (1957)
Music Supervisor
Pal Joey (1957)
Conductor
3:10 to Yuma (1957)
Music Director
Jeanne Eagels (1957)
Conductor
The Shadow on the Window (1957)
Conductor
Not One Shall Die (1957)
Conductor
Full of Life (1956)
Conductor
Three Stripes in the Sun (1955)
Conductor
Picnic (1955)
Conductor
Queen Bee (1955)
Conductor
The Man from Laramie (1955)
Conductor
5 Against the House (1955)
Conductor
Tight Spot (1955)
Conductor
The Violent Men (1955)
Conductor
Human Desire (1954)
Conductor
It Should Happen to You (1954)
Music Director
From Here to Eternity (1953)
Music Director
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953)
Music Director
Let's Do It Again (1953)
Music Director
The Juggler (1953)
Music Director
Eight Iron Men (1952)
Music Director
Assignment: Paris (1952)
Music Director
Affair in Trinidad (1952)
Music Director
Death of a Salesman (1951)
Music Director
Man in the Saddle (1951)
Music Director
The Son of Dr. Jekyll (1951)
Music Director
The Lady and the Bandit (1951)
Music Director
The Harlem Globetrotters (1951)
Music Director
Santa Fe (1951)
Music Director
Born Yesterday (1950)
Music Director
The Flying Missile (1950)
Music Director
Stage to Tucson (1950)
Music Director
Harriet Craig (1950)
Music Director
The Fuller Brush Girl (1950)
Music Director
Convicted (1950)
Music Director
Fortunes of Captain Blood (1950)
Music Director
In a Lonely Place (1950)
Music Director
The Nevadan (1950)
Music Director
The Reckless Moment (1949)
Music Director
Tell It to the Judge (1949)
Music Director
All the King's Men (1949)
Music Director
Tokyo Joe (1949)
Music Director
Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949)
Music Director
Mr. Soft Touch (1949)
Music Director
Knock on Any Door (1949)
Music Director
Slightly French (1949)
Music Director
Shockproof (1949)
Music Director
The Untamed Breed (1948)
Music Director
The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
Music Director
It Had to Be You (1947)
Music Director
Framed (1947)
Music Director
Mr. District Attorney (1947)
Music Director
Dead Reckoning (1947)
Music Director
Johnny O'Clock (1947)
Music Director
Gilda (1946)
Music Director
Meet Me on Broadway (1946)
Original Music Composer
Over 21 (1945)
Music Director
Together Again (1944)
Music Director
Strange Affair (1944)
Music Director
Secret Command (1944)
Music
Address Unknown (1944)
Music Director
Cover Girl (1944)
Music Director
The Ghost That Walks Alone (1944)
Music Director
The Chance of a Lifetime (1943)
Music Director
Footlight Glamour (1943)
Original Music Composer
Sahara (1943)
Music Director
Destroyer (1943)
Music Director
Passport to Suez (1943)
Music Director
Appointment in Berlin (1943)
Music Director
It's a Great Life (1943)
Original Music Composer
The Desperadoes (1943)
Music Director
The More the Merrier (1943)
Music Director
Murder in Times Square (1943)
Music Director
A Night to Remember (1942)
Music Director
The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942)
Music Director
Overland to Deadwood (1942)
Music Director
My Sister Eileen (1942)
Other
Counter-Espionage (1942)
Music Director
Atlantic Convoy (1942)
Music Director
Submarine Raider (1942)
Music Director
Meet the Stewarts (1942)
Music Director
Blondie's Blessed Event (1942)
Music Director
Alias Boston Blackie (1942)
Music Director
Blondie Goes to College (1942)
Original Music Composer
Honolulu Lu (1941)
Music Director
The Blonde from Singapore (1941)
Music Director
You'll Never Get Rich (1941)
Music
Ladies in Retirement (1941)
Music Director
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
Music Director
Time Out for Rhythm (1941)
Music Director
Penny Serenade (1941)
Music Director
The Lone Wolf Takes a Chance (1941)
Music Director
Blondie Goes Latin (1941)
Original Music Composer
The Devil Commands (1941)
Original Music Composer
The Devil Commands (1941)
Music Director
The Face Behind the Mask (1941)
Music Director
The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date (1940)
Music Director
Blondie Plays Cupid (1940)
Original Music Composer
Before I Hang (1940)
Music Director
Blondie Has Servant Trouble (1940)
Original Music Composer
Girls of the Road (1940)
Music Director
The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady (1940)
Music Director
Men Without Souls (1940)
Music Director
Island of Doomed Men (1940)
Music Director
The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940)
Music Director
The Man with Nine Lives (1940)
Music Director
Blondie on a Budget (1940)
Original Music Composer
Convicted Woman (1940)
Music Director
The Lone Wolf Strikes (1940)
Music Director
His Girl Friday (1940)
Music Director
The Amazing Mr. Williams (1939)
Music Director
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Music Director
Golden Boy (1939)
Music Director
The Man They Could Not Hang (1939)
Music Director
Blondie Takes a Vacation (1939)
Original Music Composer
Good Girls Go to Paris (1939)
Music
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Music Director
Mandrake the Magician (1939)
Music Director
The Lady and the Mob (1939)
Music Director
Let Us Live (1939)
Music Director
You Can't Take It with You (1938)
Music
Holiday (1938)
Music Director
Penitentiary (1938)
Music Director
Murder in Greenwich Village (1937)
Music Director
The Awful Truth (1937)
Music Director
It Happened in Hollywood (1937)
Music Director
Theodora Goes Wild (1936)
Music Director
Craig's Wife (1936)
Music Director