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Frank Churchill | |
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| Born | Frank Edwin Churchill[1] (1901-10-20)October 20, 1901 Rumford, Maine, U.S. |
| Died | May 14, 1942(1942-05-14) (aged 40) Castaic, California, U.S. |
| Occupations | Composer, songwriter |
| Instrument | Piano |
| Years active | 1916–1942 |
Frank Edwin Churchill[1] (October 20, 1901 – May 14, 1942) was an American film composer and songwriter. He wrote most of the music for films produced byWalt Disney, such asSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs,Dumbo,Bambi,The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, andPeter Pan.
Churchill was born on October 20, 1901, inRumford, Maine, the son of Clara E. (Curtis) and Andrew J. Churchill.[1]
Churchill began his career playing piano in cinemas at the age of 15 inVentura, California. After dropping out of medical studies atUCLA to pursue a career in music, he became an accompanist at theLos Angeles radio stationKNX (AM) in 1924.
He joined Disney studios in 1930, and scored many animated shorts - his song forThe Three Little Pigs, "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf", was a huge commercial success.
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 You may hear Frank Churchill's song "With a Smile and a Song" fromSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs as performed by theShep Fields' Rippling Rhythm Jazz Orchestra andJohn Serry in 1937Here on ucsb.edu |
In 1937, he was chosen to score Disney's first full-length animated feature,Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs withPaul Smith andLeigh Harline. His catchy, artfully written songs played a large part in the film's initial success and continuing popularity.
Because of the success ofPeter Pan when those two were in production, he shared credit withJack Lawrence for the deleted song "Never Smile at a Crocodile" fromPeter Pan. In 1942, Churchill and fellow composerOliver Wallace won anOscar in the category "Scoring of a Musical Picture" for cowriting the score forDumbo. He also shared an Oscar nomination withNed Washington for the song "Baby Mine" fromDumbo forBest Song. A year later, Churchill received two posthumous Oscar nominations; the first for cowriting the score toBambi withEdward Plumb, and the second for cowriting the song "Love is a Song" fromBambi with lyricistLarry Morey.
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Churchill died by suicide on May 14, 1942, at his ranch north of Los Angeles in Castaic. He is purported to have died "at the piano" of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Although there is some speculation that his suicide was a result of negative discourse withWalt Disney regarding his latest scores forBambi, it was more likely due to his deep depression and bout with heavy drinking after the deaths of two of his closest friends and fellow Disney orchestra members who had died earlier that year within a month of each other.[citation needed] He was survived by his wife Carolyn and his daughter Corrine. He was buried in Glendale'sForest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.
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