|
Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZYOUNG, Victor (1900-68, famous film composer)(b 8 August 1900, Chicago; d 11 November 1956, Palm Springs CA) Violinist, arranger, conductor, composer. To Warsaw, Poland in 1910, studied at a conservatory there and played in the Warsaw Philharmonic; toured the USA as a concert violinist in the early 1920s, then worked in theatre orchestras as concert master, leading to playing and composing popular music in top dance bands such as Ted Fio Rito and Isham Jones. He played the violin solo in Jones's famous recording of Hoagy Carmichael's 'Stardust' '31. He conducted on the radio in the early 1930s, on records and film as well from '35, becoming a top film composer: over 160 film scores included Wells Fargo '37, Raffles '40, The Glass Key '42, For Whom The Bell Tolls '43, The Blue Dahlia '46, The Quiet Man '52, Shane '53; he received a posthumous Oscar for Around The World In Eighty Days '56. He also wrote 'Blue Star' '55 (theme for TV's Medic). As a conductor he had eight chart entries '50-7 all on Decca including 'Mona Lisa' (no. 10 '50), 'The High And The Mighty' (no. 6 '54), 'Around The World In Eighty Days' (no. 13 '57; flip side had Bing Crosby vocal version with Harry Adamson's words; the soundtrack LP was no. 1 for ten weeks). He backed Judy Garland on her hit 'Over The Rainbow' '39, Crosby on several million-sellers. He worked with lyricist Will J. Harris on 'Sweet Sue' '28, several people including Wayne King on 'Beautiful Love' '31, with Sam M. Lewis on 'Street Of Dreams' '33, Edward Heyman on 'When I Fall In Love' '51 (recorded by Doris Day, Nat Cole), many others, but his most successful collaborator was Ned Washington (b 15 August 1901, Scranton PA; d 20 December 1976, Beverly Hills): they wrote 'Can't We Talk It Over?' '32, 'A Hundred Years From Today' (for Blackbirds Of 1933; later sung by Jack Teagarden), 'I Don't Stand A Ghost Of A Chance With You' '33 (Crosby got a co-credit), 'Stella By Starlight' '46, 'My Foolish Heart' '49 (film theme), many more. Washington also wrote with Carmichael ('The Nearness Of You' '40), Bronislaw Kaper ('On Green Dolphin Street' '47), etc. With Leigh Harline Washington scored Disney's Pinocchio '40, winning Oscars for best score and best song ('When You Wish Upon A Star'), and with Dmitri Tiomkin the theme for High Noon '52 ('Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling') for another Oscar; wrote TV title song Rawhide and won a Golden Globe award '65 for Circus World, and much, much more: he had one of the longest entries in a 1980 ASCAP biographical disctionary. |