Roy Webb

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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)

Web links

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