Biography and filmography

Hugo Friedhofer

Hugo Wilhelm Friedhofer (May 3, 1901 – May 17, 1981) was an American composer and cellist best known for his motion picture scores.

Friedhofer was born in San Francisco, California, United States. His father, Paul, was a cellist trained in Dresden, Germany; his mother, Eva König, was born in Germany.

Friedhofer began playing cello at the age of 13. After taking lessons in harmony and counterpoint at University of California, Berkeley, he was employed as a cellist for the People's Symphony Orchestra.

In 1929, he relocated to Hollywood, where he performed as a musician for Fox Studios productions such as Sunny Side Up (1920) and Grand Canary (1934). Later, he was hired as an orchestrator for Warner Bros. and worked on more than 50 films for the studio. While at Warners he was largely assigned to work with Max Steiner and, because he could speak German, Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Steiner, in particular, relied on Friedhofer's skill in turning his sketches into a full orchestral score.

In 1937, Friedhofer composed his first full-length film score, The Adventures of Marco Polo. Though he was still employed as an orchestrator through the 1930s and into the 1940s, he gradually received more assignments as a composer. In 1942, he composed the score for the film Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas.

In 1946, Friedhofer was hired to compose the score for the 1946 William Wyler directed film, The Best Years of Our Lives, which earned him an Oscar for Best Original Score at the 1947 Academy Awards, beating Bernard Herrmann, Miklós Rózsa, William Walton and Franz Waxman. A new recording of the score, released in 1979 by Entr'acte Recording Society, was favorably received at the time.

Friedhofer was also nominated for other films, including The Bishop's Wife, Joan of Arc, Above and Beyond, Between Heaven and Hell, Boy on a Dolphin, An Affair to Remember, and The Young Lions.

Friedhofer, who was greatly admired by his colleagues, was also noted for his caustic, self-deprecating wit. When asked by fellow composer David Raksin as to the progress he was making on his score for Joan of Arc, he replied, "I've just started on the barbecue!". In reply to an interview by Page Cook, the film music critic at Films in Review magazine, who inquired about his place in the pantheon of film musicians, Friedhofer said, "I am just a fake giant among real pygmies."

A biographical collection of essays, letters and interviews has been edited by Linda Danly.

He died at St. Vincent Hospsital from complications of a fall on May 17, 1981.

Description above from the Wikipedia page Hugo Friedhofer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Photos

Movies (140)

Max Steiner: Maestro of Movie Music

2019 · Self (archive footage)

Die Sister, Die!

1978 · Original Music Composer

Private Parts

1972 · Original Music Composer

Von Richthofen and Brown

1971 · Original Music Composer

The Over the Hill Gang

1969 · Original Music Composer

The Secret Invasion

1964 · Original Music Composer

Geronimo

1962 · Music

Beauty and the Beast

1962 · Original Music Composer

Homicidal

1961 · Original Music Composer, Conductor

One-Eyed Jacks

1961 · Original Music Composer

Never So Few

1959 · Original Music Composer

The Blue Angel

1959 · Music

This Earth Is Mine

1959 · Music

Woman Obsessed

1959 · Original Music Composer

In Love and War

1958 · Original Music Composer

I Married a Monster from Outer Space

1958 · Original Music Composer

The Barbarian and the Geisha

1958 · Original Music Composer

The Young Lions

1958 · Original Music Composer

The Sun Also Rises

1957 · Music

An Affair to Remember

1957 · Original Music Composer

Boy on a Dolphin

1957 · Original Music Composer

Between Heaven and Hell

1956 · Original Music Composer

The Revolt of Mamie Stover

1956 · Original Music Composer

The Harder They Fall

1956 · Original Music Composer

The Rains of Ranchipur

1955 · Original Music Composer

Seven Cities of Gold

1955 · Original Music Composer

Soldier of Fortune

1955 · Music

Violent Saturday

1955 · Original Music Composer

White Feather

1955 · Original Music Composer

Vera Cruz

1954 · Original Music Composer

Deep in My Heart

1954 · Orchestrator

Man in the Attic

1953 · Original Music Composer

Hondo

1953 · Original Music Composer

Plunder of the Sun

1953 · Original Music Composer

Dangerous Crossing

1953 · Additional Music

Thunder in the East

1952 · Original Music Composer

The Outcasts of Poker Flat

1952 · Original Music Composer

Lydia Bailey

1952 · Music

The Marrying Kind

1952 · Original Music Composer

Queen for a Day

1951 · Music

Ace in the Hole

1951 · Original Music Composer

Cry Danger

1951 · Music

The Sound of Fury

1950 · Music