Leroy Bernard Shield | |
|---|---|
 Leroy Shield as director of music for NBC | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Roy Shield Roy Shields Leroy Shields |
| Born | (1893-10-02)October 2, 1893 |
| Died | January 9, 1962(1962-01-09) (aged 68) |
| Genres | Film score,show tunes |
| Occupations | |
| Labels | RCA Victor,National Broadcasting Company |
Leroy Bernard Shield (October 2, 1893 – January 9, 1962) was an Americanfilm score andradiocomposer. He is best known for the themes and incidental music he wrote for the classicHal Roach comedy short films of the 1930s, including theOur Gang andLaurel and Hardy series.
Shield was a native ofWaseca, Minnesota. Around 1922, he became a staff musician for theVictor Talking Machine Company (which later becameRCA Victor), where he composed and conducted on-air music, and provided piano accompaniment on hundreds of popular and USF (US domestic foreign language) Victor recordings. He also worked part-time for theHal Roach film studio, composing countless background themes that became associated with such Roach comedy stars asLaurel and Hardy,Our Gang,ZaSu Pitts and Thelma Todd, andCharley Chase. "The Good Old Days", Shield's composition for the 1930Our Gang shortTeacher's Pet, became the series'stheme song, "Let's Go" was the theme used for shorts byThe Boy Friends, and his 1930 song "Beautiful Lady" was used as the theme song for thePitts and Todd films.[1]
On September 25, 1930, Shield recorded his only commercial recordings, "Sing Song Girl" (vocal by James Blackstone) and "Song Of The Big Trail" (vocal byBud Jamison), issued as Victor 22548.
His only known screen appearance was as the bandleader in the nightclub scenes for the premierePitts and Todd 1931 short entitledLet's Do Things, which was directed by Roach himself.
A series of miscommunications led to Shield's requests for scoring assignments from the Roach organization being repeatedly declined after 1936; the work went instead toMarvin Hatley. Shield continued to work for NBC in various musical capacities, including composition and conducting. He also wrote twotone poems,Gloucester andThe Great Bell, and the classicalUnion Pacific Suite.[2]
In 1942, he was awarded an honorary doctorate at the Chicago Musical College and was henceforth known as "Dr. Roy Shield".[3]
In 1947 Shield replaced H. Leopold Spitalny as the personnel contractor forArturo Toscanini's NBC Symphony Orchestra. He accompanied Toscanini and the orchestra on their 1950 coast-to-coast tour of the United States. Shield retired in 1955.[3] He died on January 9, 1962, inVero Beach, Florida.
In 1992, the Dutch bandThe Beau Hunks transcribed and recorded Shield's music from the Hal Roach comedies. The recordings drew praise from cartoonistR. Crumb, who rendered a portrait of Shield for the CD cover, and led to a renewed appreciation of the composer's work.In late 2016, producer and pianist Alessandro Simonetto published a CD,Leroy Shield: The Laurel & Hardy Piano Music (AEVEA/OnClassical AE16024) with music from the original manuscripts and publications, and some piano transcriptions of Shield's music.
