Morris Stoloff
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.
Photos
Movies (169)
None but the Brave
1965 · Conductor
Lawrence of Arabia
1962 · Music Coordinator
Song Without End
1960 · Music Supervisor
1001 Arabian Nights
1959 · Conductor
The Last Angry Man
1959 · Conductor
Gunman's Walk
1958 · Conductor
Pal Joey
1957 · Music Supervisor, Conductor
3:10 to Yuma
1957 · Music Director, Conductor
Jeanne Eagels
1957 · Conductor
The Shadow on the Window
1957 · Conductor
Not One Shall Die
1957 · Conductor
Full of Life
1956 · Conductor
Nightfall
1956 · Conductor
Autumn Leaves
1956 · Conductor
The Last Frontier
1955 · 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
The Long Gray Line
1955 · Music Supervisor
Phffft
1954 · 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
Captain Pirate
1952 · Music Director
Affair in Trinidad
1952 · Music Director
The Brigand
1952 · Music Director
Paula
1952 · Music Director
Scandal Sheet
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
Lorna Doone
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 Killer That Stalked New York
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
Kill the Umpire
1950 · Music Director
A Woman of Distinction
1950 · Music Director
The Nevadan
1950 · Music Director
The Reckless Moment
1949 · Music Director
And Baby Makes Three
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
Jolson Sings Again
1949 · Original Music Composer
Mr. Soft Touch
1949 · Music Director
Knock on Any Door
1949 · Music Director
Slightly French
1949 · Music Director
Shockproof
1949 · Music Director
The Return of October
1948 · Music Director
The Untamed Breed
1948 · Music Director
The Sign of the Ram
1948 · Music Director
I Love Trouble
1948 · Music Director
It Had to Be You
1947 · Music Director
Her Husband's Affairs
1947 · Music Director
Framed
1947 · Music Director
Mr. District Attorney
1947 · Music Director
Johnny O'Clock
1947 · Music Director
Dead Reckoning
1946 · Music Director
The Jolson Story
1946 · Original Music Composer
Gallant Journey
1946 · 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
None Shall Escape
1944 · Music Director
The Chance of a Lifetime
1943 · Music Director
Footlight Glamour
1943 · Original Music Composer
Dangerous Blondes
1943 · Music Director
Sahara
1943 · Music Director
Destroyer
1943 · Music Director
Passport to Suez
1943 · Music Director
First Comes Courage
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
Something to Shout About
1943 · Original Music Composer
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
The Talk of the Town
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 · Music Director
Honolulu Lu
1941 · Music Director
Confessions of Boston Blackie
1941 · Music Director
Secrets of the Lone Wolf
1941 · Music Director
Three Girls About Town
1941 · Music Director
The Blonde from Singapore
1941 · Music Director
You'll Never Get Rich
1941 · Music Director
Ladies in Retirement
1941 · Music Director
The Devil Commands
1941 · Original Music Composer, 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 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
Island of Doomed Men
1940 · Music Director
Men Without Souls
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
Smashing the Spy Ring
1938 · Music Director
Blondie
1938 · Music Director
Girls' School
1938 · Original Music Composer
You Can't Take It with You
1938 · Music Director
South of Arizona
1938 · Music
West of Cheyenne
1938 · Music
Holiday
1938 · Music Director
Call of the Rockies
1938 · Music
Penitentiary
1938 · Music Director
Murder in Greenwich Village
1937 · Music Director
The Awful Truth
1937 · Music Director
It Happened in Hollywood
1937 · Music Director
Criminals of the Air
1937 · Music Director
Westbound Mail
1937 · Music
Theodora Goes Wild
1936 · Music Director
Code of the Range
1936 · Music
Craig's Wife
1936 · Music Director
TV shows (0)
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