Walter Scharf

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Walter Scharf (born August 1, 1910 in New York City , † February 24, 2003 in Brentwood , California ) was an American film composer .

Live and act

Scharf was born in New York City. His mother, Bessie Zwerling, worked as a comedian at the "New York Yiddish Theater" (possibly the Irving Place Theater is meant here). The film actress Yetta Zwerling was a sister of his mother. He studied piano lessons and music theory at New York University . Scholarships enabled him to train at European music schools.

He began his professional career in 1930 as a pianist in bands on the east coast, including the singer and actor Rudy Vallee, and worked as an arranger on Broadway for George Gershwin's musical Girl Crazy . From 1933 he worked in Hollywood for the film, where he arranged film music for Al Jolson at Warner Bros. , for Alice Faye at 20th Century Fox and for Bing Crosby at Paramount Pictures . Scharf then worked for various film companies, especially for Republic Pictures, which specializes in cheap productions . For the film music he had composed for the film drama Mercy Island (1941), he received his first Oscar nomination together with Cy Feuer .

From 1957 he worked on five films with Elvis Presley . About this experience he said in 1992: “I didn't want to make these films. But the royalties were just fabulous. ”He peaked his career composing the comedies with comedian Jerry Lewis . The collaboration ended in 1962, after which Scharf composed mainly for television.

Between 1965 and 1975 he composed for the documentaries by Jacques Cousteau . For this work he was awarded two Emmys .

From 1942 to 1973, Scharf was nominated a total of ten times for an Oscar , but was never able to take it home. For the song Ben , developed together with Don Black , he received an Oscar nomination in 1973 and the Golden Globe Award in the "Best Movie Song" category .

In addition to his work for the film, Scharf also composed orchestral works, including The Palestine Suite , which was first performed in 1941, conducted by Werner Janssen , on the CBS radio program and then conducted in 1945 by Leopold Stokowski in the Hollywood Bowl for the first time in front of an audience. After retiring from the film and television business, he composed The Tree Still Stands: A Symphonic Portrait of the Stages of a Hebraic Man , premiered in 1989, and the Israeli Suite , which premiered in 1993.

Film music (selection)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Walter Scharf, 92; Movie and TV Composer, Arranger, Conductor LA Times , obituary, February 28, 2003
  2. ↑ Yetta Zwerling short biography (with mention of her sister Bessie) on the page "Lives in the Yiddish Theater", based on Zalmen Zylbercweig's "Leksikon fun Yidishn Teater"
  3. ↑ Walter Scharf, 92; Movie and TV Composer, Arranger, Conductor LA Times , obituary, February 28, 2003
  4. ^ Walter Scharf , Variety , obituary dated February 27, 2003
  5. ^ The Palestine Suite Information and excerpts from the composition on the website of the Milken Archive for Jewish Music

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Sharp, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film composer
DATE OF BIRTH August 1, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH February 24, 2003
Place of death Brentwood (California)