Ray Heindorf | |
|---|---|
| Born | Raymond John Heindorf (1908-08-25)August 25, 1908 |
| Died | February 3, 1980(1980-02-03) (aged 71) Tarzana,California, U.S. |
| Resting place | San Fernando Mission Cemetery |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | composer andsongwriter |
| Years active | 1929–1972 |
Raymond John Heindorf (August 25, 1908 – February 3, 1980) was an Americancomposer andsongwriter who was noted for his work infilm.
Born inHaverstraw, New York, Heindorf worked as apianist in a silent movie house inMechanicville in his early teens.[1] In 1928, he moved to New York City, where he landed a job as a musical arranger before heading to Hollywood in late February 1929.[2] He gained his first job as an orchestrator atMGM, where he worked onHollywood Revue of 1929, and subsequently went on the road playing piano forLupe Vélez.[1]
After completing the tour with Vélez, Heindorf joinedWarner Bros., composing, arranging and conducting music exclusively for the studio for nearly forty years. He, along withGeorge Stoll atMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer, were jazz aficionados well known in the black entertainment community for employing minority musicians in their studio music departments.[3]
Heindorf appeared on screen, uncredited, as the orchestra leader in several films such asMy Wild Irish Rose (1947),Young Man with a Horn (1950), andI'll See You in My Dreams (1951). He undertook the musical direction ofJudy Garland's comeback filmA Star is Born (1954) and made a cameo as himself in the premiere party sequence whereJack Carson's character congratulates him on a great score.[4]
Among Heindorf's other screen credits as musical director, composer, or music supervisor and conductor are42nd Street,Gold Diggers of 1935,Knute Rockne All American,The Great Lie,Kings Row,Night and Day,Tea for Two,A Streetcar Named Desire,The Jazz Singer,Calamity Jane,No Time for Sergeants,The Helen Morgan Story,Marjorie Morningstar,Damn Yankees,Auntie Mame,The Young Philadelphians,Finian's Rainbow, and his final musical forJack L. Warner,1776.[5][6]
Between 1942 and 1969, Heindorf was nominated for eighteenAcademy Awards, seventeen of them forBest Score and one nomination forBest Song. He won three times in the category of Best Score of a Musical, forYankee Doodle Dandy (1942),This is the Army (1943), andThe Music Man (1962). His awards in 1942 and '43 made him one of the first composers or songwriters to winOscars in consecutive years in a musical category.[1][7]
Heindorf was a friend and admirer ofjazz pianistArt Tatum. As a gift for their mutual friends, Heindorf hosted two Tatum piano performances at his Hollywood home in 1950 and 1955. He recorded these private concerts, which were issued asArt Tatum: 20th Century Piano Genius on theVerve label.
Census records from 1930 show that Heindorf was living at the time in the Hollywood Hills with his friendArthur Lange, a bandleader and composer.[8] Heindorf was later married and divorced twice and had three children. His son Michael was also a film composer.[1]
Heindorf died inTarzana, California, aged 71, and reputedly was buried with his favorite conducting baton.[9]
