Ray Heindorf
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ray Heindorf (August 25, 1908 - February 2, 1980) was an Academy Award-winning American songwriter, composer, conductor, and arranger.
Born in Haverstraw, New York, Heindorf worked as a pianist in the movie house in Mechanicville in his early teens. In 1928, he moved to New York City, where he worked as a musical arranger before heading to Hollywood. He landed his first orchestration job at MGM, where he worked on Hollywood Revue of 1929, then went on the road playing piano for Lupe Velez [1]. After completing this engagement, he joined Warner Bros., composing and/or arranging and conducting music exclusively for the studio for nearly forty years.
Heindorf's screen credits include Gold Diggers of 1935, The Great Lie, Knute Rockne All American, Kings Row, Night and Day, Tea for Two, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Jazz Singer, A Star is Born, No Time for Sergeants, The Helen Morgan Story, Marjorie Morningstar, Auntie Mame, Finian's Rainbow, and 1776. Between 1943 and 1969 he was nominated for eighteen Academy Awards and won three, for Yankee Doodle Dandy, This is the Army, and The Music Man.
Heindorf was a friend and admirer of legendary jazz pianist Art Tatum. He hosted two Tatum piano performances at his Hollywood home in 1950 and 1955 for their mutual friends. Heindorf taped the private concerts, complete with background conversations of Tatum and the group, with some of the pianist's very best playing. These performances are now available on the Verve label.
Heindorf died in Tarzana, California.
