Roy Webb
Roy Webb (born October 3, 1888 in New York , New York , † December 10, 1982 in Santa Monica , California ) was an American film composer .
Life
Roy Webb, the younger brother of director and songwriter Kenneth Webb , wrote the music for more than 300 films.
At Columbia University , Webb first studied art and later music. Coming from a well-to-do family, Webb composed music for performances on campus, which he staged together with his brother. Webb served in World War I and began working as a copywriter on Broadway upon his return . Through a collaboration with the Broadway producer Lew Fields, Webb met the composer Max Steiner , with whom he worked on many projects and with whom he had a lifelong friendship.
With the advent of talkies , Webb moved to Hollywood and started working as a musical director for RKO Pictures . At RKO, Webb worked with Steiner, who had also gone to Hollywood. When RKO decided to stop producing musicals from now on, the two composers lost their jobs. Steiner worked out a concept to provide musical accompaniment to film plots and was reinstated as head of the music department at RKO. The first thing Steiner did was reinstate Roy Webb. While Steiner moved to Selznick International in 1936 , Webb remained as Steiner's successor until 1955, when the studio was closed, musical director at RKO.
In 1961, all of Webb's scores were destroyed by a fire in his house and the consterned composer did not write a single note afterwards. Musicologist Christopher Palmer succeeded in reconstructing a large part of Webbs' work, as some copies of Webb's compositions were found in RKO archives, among other things.
Roy Webb died of a heart attack at the age of 94.
plant
Roy Webb, who wrote Columbia University's official football song Roar, Lion, Roar in 1925 , has been nominated for an Oscar for best film score seven times :
In 1937 he was first nominated for Quality Street . In 1940, for My Favorite Wife ( My Favorite Wife ), a screwball comedy with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant , 1942 for I Married a Witch ( I Married a Witch ), a fantasy comedy starring Veronica Lake and Fredric March and Joan of Paris , a war drama with Michèle Morgan in the title role, 1943 for The Fallen Sparrow , a spy thriller with Maureen O'Hara and John Garfield , 1944 for Alarm im Pazifik ( The Fighting Seabees ), a war film with Susan Hayward and John Wayne , and 1945 for Mit den Augen love ( the Enchanted Cottage ), a melodrama with Dorothy McGuire and Robert Young .
Webb composed the music for Jacques Tourneurs Cat People , Alfred Hitchcock Notorious and Mr. and Mrs. Smith , as well as Howard Hawks Leopards are not kissed and except for three, for all films produced by Val Lewton for RKO.
Filmography (selection)
- 1935: The Last Days of Pompeii
- 1935: Vanity Fair (Becky Sharp)
- 1936: Sylvia Scarlett
- 1937: Quality Street
- 1938: The Renegade Ranger
- 1938: You don't kiss leopards (Bringing Up Baby)
- 1938: Room service (Room Service)
- 1938: Next Time I Marry
- 1939: In Name Only (In Name Only)
- 1937: Stage Door (Stage Door)
- 1940: My Favorite Wife (My Favorite Wife)
- 1940: Abe Lincoln in Illinois (Abe Lincoln in Illinois)
- 1940: Miss Kitty (Kitty Foyle)
- 1941: Tom, Dick and Harry (Tom, Dick and Harry)
- 1941: Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Mr. & Mrs. Smith)
- 1941: Mary and the Millionaire (The Devil and Miss Jones)
- 1942: The Magnificent Ambersons (The Magnificent Ambersons)
- 1942: Cat People (Cat People)
- 1942: My Wife, the Witch (I Married a Witch)
- 1942: The fleet breaks through (The Navy Comes Through)
- 1943: Flight for Freedom
- 1943: I Walked with a Zombie (I Walked with a Zombie)
- 1943: The Fallen Sparrow
- 1943: Hitler's Children
- 1943: Regardless of losses (Bombardier)
- 1943: Hunted by Agents ( Journey into Fear )
- 1943: The Ghost Ship
- 1943: The Leopard Man
- 1944: With rifle and lasso (Tall in the Saddle)
- 1944: Alarm in the Pacific (The Fighting Seabees)
- 1944: Leather Neck ( Marine Raiders )
- 1944: Experiment in Terror (Experiment Perilous)
- 1944: The Seventh Cross (The Seventh Cross)
- 1944: Murder, My Sweet
- 1945: With the Eyes of Love (The Enchanted Cottage)
- 1945: The spiral staircase (The Spiral Staircase)
- 1945: The Body Snatcher (The Body Snatcher)
- 1945: Cornered
- 1945: Sing Your Way Home
- 1946: Notorious (Notorious)
- 1946: Land of the Bandits ( Badman's Territory )
- 1947: Goldenes Poison (Out of the Past)
- 1947: In the Crossfire (Crossfire)
- 1947: Foreign City (Magic Town)
- 1947: Sinbad the Sailor (Sinbad the Sailor)
- 1947: Shackles of Love (Cass Timberlane)
- 1949: The Window (The Window)
- 1949: Panic for King Kong (Mighty Joe Young)
- 1950: Hell at the White Tower (The White Tower)
- 1951: The Last Attack (Fixed Bayonets!)
- 1952: The Sons of the Three Musketeers ( At Sword's Point )
- 1952: Before the New Day (Clash by Night)
- 1953: Houdini, the king of vaudeville (Houdini)
- 1954: Under Two Flags (The Raid)
- 1954: Track in mountains (Track of the Cat)
- 1955: Marty
- 1955: The Yellow Stream (Blood Alley)
- 1955: The Kentucky Man (The Kentuckian)
- 1956: Playboy - March, March! (The Girl He Left Behind)
Web links
- Roy Webb in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Detailed biography and appreciation on cinemusic.de
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Webb, Roy |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American film composer |
DATE OF BIRTH | October 3, 1888 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | New York , New York, United States |
DATE OF DEATH | December 10, 1982 |
Place of death | Santa Monica , California, United States |