Herbert Stothart

Herbert Stothart
Born September 11, 1885(1885-09-11)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Died February 1, 1949(1949-02-01) (aged 63)
Los Angeles, California
Spouse Mary Wolfe
Children Carol, Herbert, Constance

Herbert Stothart (September 11, 1885 – February 1, 1949) was a song writer, arranger, conductor, and composer. He was also nominated for nine Oscars, winning Best Original Score for The Wizard of Oz.

Contents

Biography

Herbert Stothart was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He studied music in Europe and at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he later taught.

Stothart was first hired by producer Arthur Hammerstein to be a musical director for touring companies of Broadway shows, and was soon writing music for the producer's nephew Oscar Hammerstein II. He composed some of the music in the famous operetta, Rose-Marie. Stothart soon joined with many famous playwrights including Vincent Youmans, George Gershwin and Franz Lehár. In 1929, Stothart was signed to a large Hollywood contract by another would-be playwright of the day, Louis B. Mayer.

The last twenty years of his life were spent at MGM Studios, where he was under contract as a composer. One of the films that he worked on was the famous 1936 version of Rose-Marie, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. He won an Oscar for his musical score of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

He died in Los Angeles, California at the age of 63. He was buried in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

Works

Herbert Stothart is credited as the composer of:

References

External links