Stephen Rae
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Robert O. Ragland
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: Q: The Winged Serpent, 10 to Midnight, Assassination, Death Wish 4, Messenger of Death.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

A.R. Rahman
Born: 6 January 1956, Madras, India.
Background: Real name Dileep Kumar, he changed his name to Allahrakha Rahman when he converted to Islam. Born into a musical family (his father was a movie music arranger), young Rahman began his career as a keyboard player for legendary Indian composer Ilayaraaja, and went on to collaborate with artists such as Zakir Hussein and Ravi Shankar. Gained a scholarship to study music at Trinity College in Oxford, and subsequently played with a number of world music bands, before side-stepping into composing music for advertising. The executives in Bollywood quickly took notice of Rahman's ad work, and he scored his first film - the smash-hit Tamil-Nadu epic "Roja" - in 1992. Since then, Rahman has become one of the most successful Bollywood composers in history, with over 50 credits, and a truly world-wide fame. He has won the equivalent of eight Oscars from the Indian film industry, and sold millions of albums. In addition to his film work, Rahman has released several albums of original music, including several works based on Islamic devotional songs, while in 2002 he collaborated with Sir Andrew Lloyd-Webber on the hit West End musical, "Bombay Dreams". He is also the co-owner of one of India's state-of-the-art recording studios in Madras.
Highlight Scores: Roja, Fire, Rangeela, Bombay, Dil Se, Earth, Taal, Fiza, Zubeidaa, Lagaan, Saathiya, The Legend of Baghat Singh.
Links: Rahman Online by Satish Subramanian

Nic Raine
Born:
Background: British composer and conductor, best known as John Barry's long-time orchestrator, and for his continued work with the Silva Screen film music label, and their series of excellent re-recordings and compilations. Received no formal musical education, but taught himself the basics while working as a copyist for Boosey & Hawkes in the 1970s. First emerged into the film music scene in the early 1980s, working with composers such as Elmer Bernstein, Maurice Jarre, Stanley Myers and Carl Davis, and learning his craft from fellow orchestrator Christopher Palmer. Established his relationship with Barry through the Bond films "A View To a Kill" and "The Living Daylights", and has worked with him on every score since. Has only ever scored two projects himself: a documentary series about the European silent movie industry, and a documentary about the life and work of Lon Chaney.
Highlight Scores: Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood, Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces.

David Raksin
Born: 4 August 1912, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Died: 9 August 2004.
Background: The “grandfather” of film music, who will forever be remembered for his score for the 1944 film noir “Laura”. Studied under Arnold Schoenberg at the University of Philadelphia, and began his career as an arranger in New York, where he worked for luminaries such as Stokowski and Gershwin. Came to Hollywood in 1936, arranging the orchestral music for Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times", and went on to be a studio mainstay throughout the 40s and 50s. Following the success of “Laura”, Raksin would go on to score a number of successful movies, receiving Oscar nominations for “Forever Amber” in 1947 and “Separate Tables” in 1958, before retiring to his Van Nuys home in the mid-1980s. Away from film music, Raksin was also an acclaimed classical composer, and wrote a great deal of music for ballets, theatre, chamber groups. Raksin was also active in music education and politics, having taught at the USC Thornton School of Music for 40 years, been the President of the Composers and Lyricists Guild, and sat on the board of ASCAP for many years. Had been suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, and was suffering from a bacterial infection in his lungs when he died aged 92. Click Here to read Raksin's obituary
Highlight Scores: Laura, Fallen Angel, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Forever Amber, Across the Wide Missouri, The Bad and the Beautiful, Apache, Separate Tables, Al Capone, The Day After.
Awards: Oscar nominations for "Forever Amber" (1947) and "Separate Tables" (1958).

Sid Ramin
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: Academy Award for "West Side Story" (1961).
Links: INSERT.

Joe Raposo
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: The Possession of Joel Delaney, Savages, The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppet Show (TV), Sesame Street (TV).
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Raymond Rasch
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: Academy Award for "Limelight" (1972).
Links: INSERT.

Alan Rawsthorne
Born: 2 May 1905, Lancashire, England. Died: 24 July 1971.
Background: Highly respected British classical composer and pianist, whose music graced just a dozen films in the 1940s and 50s, but whose efforts left a lasting mark. Chose music over potential careers as a dentist and/or architect, and studied at The Royal Manchester College of Music, and subsequently with composer Egon Petri. First appeared on the classical music map in the 1930s, premiering his debut composition, Theme and Variations for Two Violins, at the London Festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music . During the next forty years, Rawsthorne would go on to write a number of acclaimed pieces, including three symphonies, sonatas for cello and violin, solo piano works, a great deal of chamber music, and a ballet, "Madame Chrysanthème", performed at Sadler's Wells in 1955. Scored his first film in 1946, at the behest of producer Michael Balcon of Ealing Studios,and wrote what would go on to be is seminal piece for the film "Saraband for Dead Lovers" in 1948. He died at the age of 66 in 1971
Highlight Scores: The Captive Heart, Uncle Silas, Saraband for Dead Lovers, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, The Cruel Sea, The Man Who Never Was.
Links: The Friends of Alan Rawsthorne

J.A.C. Redford
Born: 14 July 1953, Los Angeles, California.
Background: Jonathan Alfred Clawson Redford began his career in film music in the late 1970s, writing episodic underscore for the hit TV series "Starsky & Hutch", and for the next ten years was a dedicated TV man, contributing to acclaimed series such as "Knots Landing", "Bret Maverick", "Fame", "Family Ties", "St. Elsewhere", "Murder She Wrote", "The Twilight Zone" and "Coach", picking up two Emmy nominations on the way. Began to break into the world of features in the late 1980s, with several projects of his own, and as an orchestrator for the likes of Alan Menken, James Horner, Danny Elfman and Rachel Portman - but a truly important assignment has continually eluded him. In addition to his film work, Redford has written a great deal of concert and theatre music, and has worked as an arranger for artists such as Bonnie Raitt and James Taylor. A devout Christian, Redford has also written a number of books on faith and music.
Highlight Scores: The Trip to Bountiful, Extremities, Oliver and Company, D2: The Mighty Ducks, Bye Bye Love, Heavyweights, A Kid in King Arthur's Court, D3: The Mighty Ducks, What the Deaf Man Heard.
Links: Official Site

Hugo Reisenfeld
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Niki Reiser
Born: 1958, Basel, Switzerland.
Background: Switzerland's leading composer of film music, Niki Reiser played the flute as a child, but left his homeland in his teens to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Returning to Switzerland in the mid-80s, he began his career as a jazz musician with his band "People", before making his foray into film. He scored his first movie in 1986 for director Dany Levy, and has since gone on to score numerous hits in Europe, mainly in Swiss and German cinema. Reiser has won three "German Oscars", and is gradually building an international reputation through recent successes such as the Oscar-winning "Nowhere in Africa". In addition to his film work, Reiser remains active on the performance circuit, regularly playing both jazz and Klezmer music across Europe and the United States.
Highlight Scores: Keiner Liebt Mich, Stille Nacht, Jenseits Der Stille, Meschugge, Das Trio, Pünktchen und Anton, Nowhere in Africa, Das Fliegende Klassenzimmer.
Links: Official Site (auf Deutsch)

Franz Reizenstein
Born: 1911, Nuremberg, Germany. Died: 1968.
Background: German-born composer and pianist, notable mainly for his great untapped potential in film music, and the brevity of his career. Studied under Paul Hindemith, before moving to England in 1934, where he was a pupil of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Reizenstein has already composed cello, piano, and violin concertos, an orchestral overture based on "Cyrano de Bergerac", the cantata "Voices by Night", two radio operas, and a great deal of chamber and piano music when he was approached by the British film studio Hammer to make his film music debut on their film "The Mummy" in 1959. Despite being the subject of great acclaim, he composed just one more score in his incredibly short career - "Circus of Horrors" in 1960 - after which, along with fellow composers William Alwyn and Clifton Parker, he publicly and controversially resigned from film scoring in protest at the exorbitant percentage of royalties being taken by music publishers. Sadly, Reizenstein died just seven years later, at the age of 57.
Highlight Scores: The Mummy, Circus of Horrors.

Joe Renzetti
Born: 4 January 1941
Background: Guitarist, composer and arranger Joseph Renzetti made a splash in film music by winning an Oscar for his first score, "The Buddy Holly Story" in 1978. Prior to this, Renzetti had been an acclaimed arranger and producer, having worked with artists such as Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, Wayne Newton and Leon Redbone. However, this career high point proved to be something of a false dawn as, with a couple of notable exceptions, Renzetti was reduced to scoring low-budget horror sequels by the early 1990s, and had disappeared off the film music map completely by 1997. In addition to his film work, Renzetti has penned several classical and concert works including a guitar concerto, a blues harmonica concert, and a medley of Elvis Presley hits for orchestra, but remains completely inactive in film music terms.
Highlight Scores: The Buddy Holly Story, Elvis, Under the Rainbow, The Exterminator, Dead & Buried, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Child's Play, Poltergeist III, Frankenhooker, Basket Case 2, Slaughter of the Innocents.
Awards: Academy Award for "The Buddy Holly Story" in 1978.
Links: Official Site

Freddie Rich
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Jonathan Richman
Born: 16 May 1951, Natick, Massachusetts.
Background: Cult rock musician with eclectic influences. Played guitar in his youth, and formed his band The Modern Lovers in the 1970s, which achieved a number of hits under the production guidance of Velvet Underground's John Cale. After The Modern Lovers disbanded in 1978, Richman left the punk sound behind him embarked on a solo career with a musical style best described as "acoustic comedy rock for adults who remember their childhood". Playing on the childlike naïveté of his songs, Richman quickly gained a cult following and a reputation for being the "coolest of the uncool in popular music", and enjoyed a succession of hit albums throughout the 1980s, including "I'm So Confused", "You Must Ask the Heart", "I, Jonathan" and "The Beserkley Years". Made his film debut in 1996 as the on-screen musical narrator in "There's Something About Mary", for which he also wrote the score and several original songs. Often collaborates with percussionist Tommy Larkins.
Highlight Scores: There's Something About Mary, A Sign from God

Nelson Riddle
Born: 1 June 1921, Oradell, New Jersey. Died: 6 October 1985.
Background: Began as a trombone player in big bands, notably with Tommy Dorsey, before moving to Hollywood as an arranger in the early 1950s. Prolific on television, contributing themes episodic underscores for "Naked City", "The Untouchables", "The Man from UNCLE", "The Loner", "Batman" and many others. Had successful collaborations with many artists outside of film, notably Rosemary Clooney, Nat King Cole, and especially Frank Sinatra. Also recorded prolifically on his own, scoring two hits with "Lisbon Antigua" in 1956 and "Theme from Route 66" in 1962. Was in the middle of a concert tour with singer Linda Ronstadt when he died of cancer.
Highlight Scores: Pal Joey, Hole in the Head, Li'l Abner, Can-Can, Oceans Eleven, Lolita, Robin and the 7 Hoods, Batman, Paint Your Wagon, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,The Maltese Bippy, The Great Gatsby.
Awards: Oscar for "The Great Gatsby" in 1975. Four other nominations between 1960-1970.

David Robbins
Born: 29 January 1955, Los Angeles, California.
Background: Brother of acclaimed actor/director Tim Robbins, and the son of folk musician Gil Robbins, young David was surrounded by the music and culture of New York's Greenwich Village as a child, after his parents moved there from California. Began his career as guitarist and songwriter with rock bands in the 1970s, before working as a composer and sound designer in the New York and Los Angeles theatre. Was musical director for the theatre group The Actors Gang, and was heavily involved in several acclaimed productions, notably "The Good Woman Of Setzuan", "Carnage: A Comedy", "Mein Kampf", and "The Exonerated". Began composing for film in 1992, for his brother's acclaimed political satire "Bob Roberts", and has since gone on to be involved with a number of acclaimed and interesting projects, many of which have involved either his brother, or sister-in-law Susan Sarandon.
Highlight Scores: Bob Roberts, Twenty Bucks, Dead Man Walking, Saviour, Cradle Will Rock, How To Kill Your Neighbour's Dog, The Prime Gig.
Links: Official Site

Richard Robbins
Born: 4 December 1940, South Weymouth, Massachusetts.
Background: American composer and pianist best known for his multiple collaborations with producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory, and who has subsequently - and somewhat unfairly - typecast as a "costume drama" composer. Began his career in musical education, working at the Mannes College of Music in New York, and at Rivers Music School in Weston, Massachusetts. While at Mannes, Robbins composed the music for the documentary short, "Sweet Sounds" (1976), about gifted five year-old music students at his school, which led directly to his association with Merchant-Ivory (they produced the documentary). Over the next 30 years, Robbins has scored virtually every one of their subsequent films, resulting in seventeen movies, and two Oscar nominations. In recent years, Robbins has begun to branch out into other genres of film in an attempt to resist pigeonholing, and even directed his own documentary short film, "Street Musicians of Bombay", in 1994.
Highlight Scores: Heat and Dust, The Bostonians, A Room With a View, Maurice, Mr & Mrs. Bridge, Howard's End, The Remains of the Day, Jefferson In Paris, Surviving Picasso, A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, Plâce Vendome, The Golden Bowl, Le Divorce, The White Countess.
Awards: Academy Awards nominations for "Howard's End" (1992) and "The Remains of the Day" (1993). BAFTA nomination for "A Room With a View" (1985).

Harry Robinson
Born: Unknown.
Background: One of the many composers to write music for the prolific British studio Hammer in the 1960s and 70s. Made his debut in 1968, writing music for the short-lived horror anthology TV series "Journey to the Unknown", before moving on to feature films the following year. Enjoyed a ten year tenure as a resident composer at Hammer before the studio disbanded at the end of the 1970s. Re-invented himself as a writer/producer for British television in the 1990s, and enjoyed modest successes with series such as "Virtual Murder" and "The Specials". He is variously credited as both Harry Robinson and Harry Robertson; his given name is actually Henry McLeod Robertson.
Highlight Scores: The Oblong Box, The Vampire Lovers, Countess Dracula, Twins of Evil, Lust for a Vampire, The Ghoul, Hawk the Slayer.
J. Peter Robinson
Born: 16 September 1945, Buckinghamshire, England.
Background: Reliable English B-list composer who has spent his career scoring small-scale successes and a plethora of action and horror movies, peppered with the occasional box-office smash. Studied at piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music, but became more interested in rock & roll and jazz, and enjoyed as successful career as a session keyboardist throughout the 1970s, working with artists such as Shawn Phillips, Quatermass, Carly Simon, Bryan Ferry, Stealers Wheel and others. High-profile collaborations with ex-Genesis members Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford, and with theatre guru Andrew Lloyd-Webber, led indirectly to him being hired as a synth programmer for composers Jack Nitzsche and Fred Karlin in the early 1980s. He made his film music debut as a solo composer in 1985, and concentrated on a career in Hollywood thereafter, scoring a number successful films, including several for director Roger Donaldson . In addition to his cinema work, Robinson has also contributed music to a number of acclaimed TV series, notably "The Wonder Years", "Tales from the Crypt", "Eerie Indiana" and, recently, "Charmed" and "The Handler". He has also continued to work as a successful pop arranger, having collaborated with Eric Clapton, Manhattan Transfer, Al Jarreau and Melissa Etheridge in recent years.
Highlight Scores: Cocktail, Blind Fury, Cadillac Man, Encino Man, Wayne's World, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Highlander III: The Sorcerer, Vampire in Brooklyn, Rumble in the Bronx, Jackie Chan's First Strike, Mr. Nice Guy, Detroit Rock City, 15 Minutes, The World’s Fastest Indian.

Milan Roder
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Nile Rodgers
Born: 19 September 1952, New York, New York.
Background: Prolific guitarist and ultra-successful music producer who, after being active in the Black Panther Party in New York in the 1970s, helped propel disco to new levels of popularity through his work with artists such as Chic, Sister Sledge and Diana Ross. The gargantuan success their songs "Freak Out", "We Are Family", "Upside Down" and "I'm Coming Out" cemented his legacy as one of the fathers of disco. Subsequent collaborations with the likes of Madonna ("Like a Virgin"), David Bowie ("Let's Dance") and Duran Duran ("The Reflex") cemented his reputation as one of the most successful music producers in history, and during the 1980s he went on to work with an impressive roster of artists including Blondie, Mick Jagger, IMXS, The B-52s, Eric Clapton and Paula Abdul. Began composing music for films in 1982, at the height of his success, and scored his biggest successes with two Eddie Murphy movies, "Coming to America" (1988) and "Beverly Hills Cop III" (1994). Has not scored a film since 1994, but remains active, as a producer, having recently staged a New York music event to raise funds for the victims of Septemer 11th.
Highlight Scores: Soup For One, Alphabet City, Coming to America, Earth Girls Are Easy, White Hot, Blue Chips, Beverly Hills Cop III.
Links: Official Site

Richard Rodgers
Born: 28 June 1902, New York, New York. Died: 30 December 1979.
Background: One of the best-loved, most-honoured and well known composers of the 20th century, held in equally high esteem both in Hollywood and on Broadway. Studied at Columbia University and the Manhattan School of Music, making his professional debut on Broadway in 1920. Working with lyricist Lorenz Hart, Rodgers wrote around 20 shows, as well as a dozen film scores in Hollywood, before hitting the big time in 1936 with the premiere of the musical "On Your Toes" in 1936. After Hart's death in 1943, Rodgers joined forces with Oscar Hammerstein II, who together became arguably the most successful composer/lyricist team in the history of musical theatre. During his 50 year career, Rodgers wrote over 1,500 songs (at least 85 of which are regarded as standards), and 42 full-length musicals, 19 of which were transferred to film. His list of successes is almost unparalleled; in collaboration with Hart and Hammerstein, he penned such immortal classics as "My Funny Valentine", "The Lady is a Tramp", "Have You Met Miss Jones", "Oklahoma", "You'll Never Walk Alone", "Some Enchanted Evening", "Shall We Dance", "The Sound of Music", "My Favourite Things", "Do-Re-Mi", "Blue Moon", "Manhattan", and countless others which have passed seamlessly into public knowledge. Rodgers has personally won 34 Tony Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes and two Grammy Awards but just one Academy Award - despite the success of his screen musicals, which received almost 30 Oscars between them, he was only personally involved in one production. Nevertheless, his music is the stuff of legend, and when he died, in December 1979 aged 77, American music lost one of its true greats.
Highlight Scores: On Your Toes, Babes in Arms, The Boys from Syracuse, Too Many Girls, I Married an Angel, State Fair, Oklahoma!, Carousel, The King and I, Pal Joey, South Pacific, Flower Drum Song, The Sound of Music, Cinderella.
Awards: Academy Award for "State Fair" (1945).
Links: The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organisation
Robert Rodriguez
Born: 20 June 1968, San Antonio, Texas.
Background: Talented young film maker, born in Texas but with Mexican heritage. Shot to fame in 1992 with the release of his film "El Mariachi", an ultra-low budget gangster thriller made for $7000 (which he raised by subjecting himself to experimental drug studies). Has subsequently gone on to make a series of pop-culture hits including "Desperado" (1995, a remake of "El Mariachi"), "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996), "The Faculty" (1998) and the "Spy Kids" series. Is widely regarded as being one of Hollywood's few true auteurs, as he regular photographs, edits, writes, and produces his films in addition to directing them. Having been an accomplished guitarist since childhood, he began dabbling in film music on the original "Spy Kids" (where he was one of a team of composers), co-wrote "Spy Kids 2" with John Debney and, having gained a lot of confidence, wrote the scores for "Spy Kids 3-D", "Once Upon A Time in Mexico" and his pulp comic book film noir “Sin City”.
Highlight Scores: Spy Kids, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, Once Upon A Time in Mexico, Kill Bill Vol.2, Sin City, The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D.

Heinz Roemheld
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: Academy Award for "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942).
Links: INSERT.

Eric Rogers
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: The "Carry On" movies.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.
Philippe Rombi
Born: Marseille, France.
Background: Exciting young French composer in the symphonic tradition of Jarre and Delerue. Studied piano and composition at the Conservatoire National de Région in Marseille, and then at the Conservatoire in Paris, where his tutors included Antoine Duhamel. With his mind firmly set on a career in film music (he listened to John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith as a child), he began scoring short films made by fellow students, and made his 'proper' film debut as recently as 1999, on the first of three collaborations with the talented director François Ozon. Made an international splash with his 2003 score "Swimming Pool", and looks set to lead the new generation of French film composers into the 21st century.
Highlight Scores: Les Amants Criminels, Sous Le Sable, Oui Mais, The Girl from Paris, Swimming Pool, Love Me If You Dare (Jeux d'Enfants), Le Coût de la Vie, Comme Une Image, 5x2.

Ann Ronell
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

David Rose
Born: 15 June 1910, London, England. Died: 23 August 1990.
Background: English-born, American-raised TV composer whose most famous compositions are arguably the burlesque classic 'The Stripper' and the muzak standard 'Holiday for Strings'. Studied at the Chicago College of Music, and began his career as an arranger for NBC Radio in Chicago, before moving to Hollywood in 1928. After enjoying a brief career as a bandleader and solo recording artist, joined the MGM music department in 1944. Made his film music debut the same year, scoring the Bob Hope adventure/comedy "The Princess and the Pirate", and picking up an Oscar nomination in the process, but made his name on American television as the musical director and composer for the popular "Red Skelton Show" in the 1950s. Subsequently went on to write music for over 50 movies in a 40-year career, as well as being prolific on television, where he contributed memorable scores for popular wholesome series such as "Bonanza", "Men into Space", "The High Chaparral", "Little House on the Prairie" and "Highway to Heaven". He also remained a respected music director and arranger throughout his career, conducting the Academy Awards orchestra in 1955, and accompanying Fred Astaire on several of his TV specials. Was controversially married to Judy Garland for four years, but the marriage was dissolved after she refused to have an abortion. Retired in 1985, and died of a heart attack in 1990, aged 80.
Highlight Scores: The Princess and the Pirate, Wonder Man, Operation Petticoat, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Hombre, Little House on the Prairie.
Awards: Oscar nominations for "The Princess and the Pirate" (1944) and "Wonder Man" (1945). Two Emmys in 1979 and 1982 for his scores for "Little House on the Prairie".

Laurence Rosenthal
Born: 4 November 1926, Detroit, Michigan.
Background: Studied at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, before becoming Chief Composer in US Air Force during his national service. Began his civilian composing career on Broadway, and contributed to music to acclaimed stage productions of "Rashomon", "A Patriot of Me", "The Music Man" and "Becket", the latter of which would initiate Rosenthal's Hollywood career when it was adapted for the big screen in 1964 (he had already written a handful of film scores by ten, but it was "Becket" which put him on the map). Spent the majority of the next 20 years as a television stalwart, occasionally landing major studio features but mainly concentrating on the upper-scale TV movies and mini-series, and by the end of the 1980s was beginning to find his career petering out. However, he enjoyed a hugely successful career renaissance in the mid-1990s through his involvement with the popular "Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" series and TV movies, which were scored by himself and Joel McNeely, and is now back in demand. In addition to his film work, Rosenthal has also written music for the American Ballet Theatre, and has had his symphonic compositions premiered by the New York Philharmonic and the Rochester Philharmonic, amongst others.
Highlight Scores: A Raisin in the Sun, The Miracle Worked, Becket, Michaelango: The Last Giant (TV), Man of La Mancha, Rooster Cogburn, Meteor, Clash of the Titans, The Letter, Easy Money, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (TV).
Awards: Academy Awards nominations for "Becket" (1964) and "Man of La Mancha" (1972). Golden Globe nomination for "Becket" Eight Emmy nominations between 1965 and 1997, including four wins for "Michaelango: The Last Giant" and "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles".

Bruce Rowland
Born: Melbourne, Australia.
Background: Acclaimed Australian composer, revered domestically, and who has achieved a modicum of success in Hollywood. Played piano as a child, and began his career as a keyboard player and arranger for Australian Saturday morning shows, which allowed him to work with a pre-Grease Olivia Newton John. He combined working on Australian TV with touring with his band The Strangers, which saw him sharing the stage with artists such as Roy Orbison and The Beach Boys. Writing jingles for advertising in the 1970s led to a move into movies into the 1980s, with great success. Rowland won three Australian Oscars in the early 1980s, and is now considered to be one of Australia's foremost film music composers.
Highlight Scores: The Man from Snowy River, Phar Lap, Return to Snowy River, An Indecent Obsession, Lightning Jack, Andre, Zeus and Roxanne, Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
Links: Official Site

François Roy
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: Dobermann, Blueberry.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Lance Rubin
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: Motel Hell, Modern Romance, Happy Birthday To Me.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Michel Rubini
Born:
Background: A professional classical pianist since early childhood, Michel began his performing career as accompanist to his violinist father, Jan Rubini, until his love of rock and jazz led him down a different path. He spent much of the late 1960s and 70s either on tour or in the studio, and worked with a hugely diverse list of artists ranging from Ray Charles to Frank Zappa, and Frank Sinatra to Barbra Streisand, in addition to working as a producer and arranger for Motown Records. His high profile in the pop world eventually led to assignments in Hollywood, with his big break coming on the back of his score for Tony Scott's 1983 cult vampire classic "The Hunger". However, Rubini's highly personal style of electronica did not really break out of the 80s, and he as not scored a film since 1994 - suffering the same fate as his contemporaries Giorgio Moroder, Brad Fiedel and Harold Faltermeyer - instead returning to the world of pop and rock production.
Highlight Scores: The Hunger, The New Kids, Band of the Hand, Manhunter, Nemesis.

Arthur B. Rubinstein
Born: New York, New York.
Background: Studied at the High School of Music & Art in New York, and then at Yale University, before first coming to promimence as musical director of a number of Broadway musicals, including "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Promises Promises" and "A Chorus Line". He made his film music debut in 1971, and struck up a fruitful collaboration with director John Badham on his first box office success, "Whose Life Is It Anyway?" in 1981 (they have since collaborated on nine occasions). Rubinstein also achieved a great deal of success through his stint as composer for the long-running ABC series "Scarecrow and Mrs. King". In addition to his film music work, Rubinstein has been a prolific theatre composer, having served as composer-in-residence for the American Conservatory Theatre and the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and written original music for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, the Long Wharf Theatre and the Ravina Festival. He has also written an original ballet, "Charbriesque", served as guest lecturer in film composition at USC, and helped create the film music department at the Sundance Institute.
Highlight Scores: Whose Life Is It Anyway?, WarGames, Scarecrow and Mrs. King (TV), Deal of the Century, Blue Thunder, Lost in America, The Best of Times, Stakeout, The Hard Way, Another Stakeout, Nick of Time.

Pete Rugolo
Born: 25 December 1915, Sicily, Italy.
Background: Italian-born jazz composer and arranger, who worked extensively on American television in the 1960s and 70s. His family moved to California when he was a child, took a degree in music at San Francisco State College, and studied with Darius Milhaud at Mills College in Oakland. Began his career as an arranger and composer, working with Johnny Richards and Stan Kenton, before being hired as a music director by Capitol Records, which led to further work with Nat King Cole, Mel Torme, June Christy, Woody Herman, Peggy Lee, and others. Began working in Hollywood as an orchestrator for George E. Stoll at MGM in the early 1950s, and by the end of the decade had established himself as a reliable composer of episodic underscore. Subsequently went on to write music for series such as "Leave it to Beaver", "Dr. Kildare", "The Fugitive", "The Outsider" and "Hawaii Five-0", as well as a couple of feature films which brought him two Emmy nominations. Looked to have retired at the beginning of the 1980s, but made a wholly unexpected comeback in 1997, writing the score Michael Oblowitz's crime drama "This World Then the Fireworks" aged 82!
Highlight Scores: The Sweet Ride, Jack the Ripper, The Letters, Chu Chu and the Philly Flash, This World Then the Fireworks.

Kate Rusby
Born: 1 December 1973, Barnsley, England.
Background: One of the young leading lights of English folk music, Kate Rusby is the self-titled "folk babe" of Britain. Began performing in pubs in her teens, with the family ceilidh band, before playing her first solo gig at the age of 15. Quickly became one of the most successful folk performers in England, singing her unique tragi-comic love songs to sell-out festivals across the UK. She has released several acclaimed albums, notably "Sleepless", "Little Lights", "Ten" and "Underneath the Stars", and made her film music debut in 2003, acting in and performing the score for the British comedy "Heartlands" with her composer husband John McCusker.
Highlight Scores: Heartlands
Links: Official Site

Larry Russell
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: Academy Award winner for "Limelight" (1972).
Links: INSERT.

Carlo Rustichelli
Born: 24 December 1916, Modena, Italy.
Background: One of the most prolific composers in Italian cinema history, who has written over 250 scores since making his debut in 1939Studied piano and composition in Bologna and at the Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, and began his career as a classical composer and pianist, specialising in writing opera, music for theatre, and occasional film scores, before several successful collaborations with director Pietro Germi focused Rustichelli's sights on a career in the cinema. Since then, Rustichelli has enjoyed collaborations with acclaimed directors such as Pierpaolo Pasolini, Mario Monicelli, and especially Mario Bava, with whom he has collaborated on some his most internationally successful horror films, such as "Blood and Black Lace", "The Whip and the Body" and "Kill Baby Kill". Remains semi-active despite being well into his eighties; his most recent score was for the 1995 film "Cash Express".
Highlight Scores: L'Uomo di Paglia, Divorce Italian Style, Blood and Black Lace, The Whip and the Body, L'Armata Brancaleone, Kill Baby Kill, The Secret War of Harry Frigg, And Then There Were None, Amici Miei, Aces High, The Blade Master.

The RZA
Born: 5 July 1966, Staten Island, New York.
Background: Real name Robert Diggs. Critically acclaimed and very popular songwriter, composer, producer and hip-hop DJ, best known as the founder member of the Wu Tang Clan. Made his debut in 1991, with the self-produced "Ooh I Love You Rakeem" album, and has since worked with artists such as Gravediggaz, Cypress Hill, Big Punisher, AZ, and the Notorious B.I.G. Made his film debut in 1999, working with director Jim Jarmusch, and achieved a level of critical and commercial success through his work on Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" (2003).
Highlight Scores: Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Kill Bill Vol.1, Kill Bill Vol.2, Soul Plane.
Awards: BAFTA nomination for "Kill Bill" (2003).
Links: Official Sony Music Wu Tang Clan Site.

Craig Safan
Born: 17 December 1948, Los Angeles, California.
Background: Possibly the most under-valued composer in Hollywood, Craig Safan has suffered the ignominy of having what could have been a career-launching score ("Wolfen") rejected, and bu the mid-1990s was scoring Pauly Shore movies. Made his film music debut in 1975, but got his first break seven years later, co-scoring the long-running comedy series "Cheers" with composer Gary Portnow. He followed this up with the popular sci-fi movie "The Last Starfighter" (1984) and then... nothing. The quality of Safan's projects went from bad to worse, despite his huge talent and musical skill. Despite all this, Safan has been keeping himself busy, scoring movie of the week after movie of the week, and even finding time to develop a stage musical based on the life of the famous courtesan/political figure Lola Montez.
Highlight Scores: Thief, The Last Starfighter, The Legend of Billie Jean, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Stand and Deliver, Son of the Morning Star, Money For Nothing, Major Payne, Mr. Wrong.

Conrad Salinger
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Hans J. Salter
Born: 14 January 1896, Vienna, Austria. Died: 23 July 1994.
Background: Prolific composer of B-movies and creature features, mostly for Universal. Conducted in opera houses and silent movie palaces in the 1920s, and wrote music for early talkies for the famous UFA Studios in Berlin, before heading for Hollywood in 1937 to escape World War II. Gained a degree of fame by scoring a dozen or so Abbott & Costello movies in the 1940s and 50s.
Highlight Scores: It Started With Eve, The Amazing Mrs. Holliday, Christmas Holiday, The Merry Morahans, This Love of Ours, Can't Help Singing, Winchester 73, The Big Heat, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Incredible Shrinking Man, various Abbott & Costello movies.
Awards: Six-time Oscar nominee between 1943-1946, but never won.

Bennett Salvay
Born: .
Background: Began his career on television in the early 80s, writing episodic underscore for the soap opera "Falcon Crest", before going on to establish himself as a reliable composer through hit series such as "Full House", "Family Matters", "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" and "Providence". Made his commercial breakthrough into films in 2001, with his work on director Victor Salva's "Jeepers Creepers" horror series, and looks set to capitalise on this in future. In addition to his film work, Salvay has worked extensively as an arranger in the pop world, having worked with artists such as Alice Cooper, Everclear, Wilson Phillips, Rob Zombie, Brian Setzer and Mötley Crüe.
Highlight Scores: Nature of the Beast, Rites of Passage, Love Stinks, Jeepers Creepers, Jeepers Creepers II.

Jeremy Sams
Born: 1957, London, England.
Background: The son of composer Eric Sams. Studied music and languages at Magdalene College, Cambridge and piano at the Guildhall School of Music, Began his career as a freelance pianist and piano teacher, and has performed in such far-off places as Brussels and Ankara. As well as composing, Sams is also a theatre director, lyricist and translator of opera libretti, with West End credits such as "Noises Off", "Spend Spend Spend", "The Wind in the Willows", Wild Oats", "Marat Sade" to his name. He also arranged and directed the stage adaptation of the immensely successful "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", currently showing at London's Palladium Theatre. In addition to his BAFTA, he was nominated for Two Tony awards in 2003 for his adaptation of the musical "Amour", which he translated from French to English. Is married to actress Maria Friedman.
Highlight Scores: Uncle Vanya, Old Times, Persuasion, Have Your Cake and Eat It, The Mother.
Links: Biography at Faber Music.
Awards: BAFTA for "Persuasion" in 1995.

Bernardo Sandoval
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.
Gustavo Santaolalla
Born: 1951, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Background: Highly respected Latino record producer, guitarist, composer and song-writer, whose Surco Records label has one of the most successful and acclaimed roster of rock artists in South America. Began his career playing in Latino bands in his native Argentina, and quickly became one of the key figures in Argentine rock. As the leader of Arco Iris (formed in the late '60s, and still performing today) and Soluna (mid '70s), he was the ultimate mix-master, combining rock, jazz, Latin American folk, and African influences, and as a producer was instrumental in launching the careers of artists such as the rap-rock band Molotov, the crooner Javier García and the Colombian heartthrob Juanes, whose album ‘Un D'A Normal (A Normal Day)’, racked up five Latin Grammy Awards in 2003 and sold more records in the U.S. than any other Spanish-language album that year. Moved to Los Angeles to embark on his composing/producing dual career. Is the favoured composer of acclaimed Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu, having written music for both his international hits, "Amores Perros" (2000) and the Oscar-nominated "21 Grams" (2003), and is currently making in-roads into the Hollywood independent scene following his work on the BAFTA-winning “Motorcycle Diaries” (2004), the critically acclaimed “North Country” (2005) and the Oscar and Golden Globe-winning “Brokeback Mountain” (2005)..
Highlight Scores: Amores Perros, 21 Grams, The Motorcycle Diaries, North Country, Brokeback Mountain, Babel.
Awards: Oscar and Golden Globe for “Brokeback Mountain”. BAFTA for “The Motorcycle Diaries”.

Shiro Sato
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: Ju-On: The Grudge.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Jordi Savall
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Carlo Savina
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Walter Scharf
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Victor Schertzinger
Born: 8 April 1880, Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania. Died: 26 October 1941.
Background: One of the early pioneers of Hollywood film music, and the first ever composer to win a Best Score Oscar. Studied at Brown University and the University of Brussels, and began his career as a concert violinist, before distinguished himself as a symphony conductor, and eventually coming to Hollywood as early as 1916 when he was commissioned to compose the orchestral accompaniment for the Thomas Ince film "Civilization". Switching to directing, Schertzinger made over 50 silent films, and became one of the top directors of the early 1920s, before returning to composing when talkies arrived, and embarking on a dual career. Between 1927 and his death in 1941, Schertzinger directed a number of successful films, notably "The Love Parade" (1929), "Paramount on Parade" (1930), "Something to Sing About" (1937), and The Mikado (1939), and was the principal director of the successful Bing Crosby/Bob Hope 'Road' pictures. He also wrote music for a further forty films.
Highlight Scores: Robin Hood, The Love Parade, Something to Sing About, One Night of Love, Road to Singapore, Rhythm of the River, The Fleet's In.
Awards: Academy Award for "One Night of Love" (1934). Nomination for "Something to Sing About" (1937). Nomination as Best Director for "One Night of Love".

Gérard Schurmann
Born: 16 March 1924, Dutch East Indies.
Background: Born in what is now Indonesia to Dutch parents, but raised in England. Formerly the Cultural Attaché at the Dutch Embassy in London, and resident conductor of the Dutch Radio Service in Hilversum. Began his film music career orchestrating for Alan Rawsthorne, Ernest Gold and Maurice Jarre, before being hired by British film studio Hammer to contribute to several of their horror movies during the 1960s. Moved to the USA in the 1980s, where he works as a touring conductor and occasional composer of symphonic, chamber and instrumental music.
Highlight Scores: The Bedford Incident, The Long Arm, Claretta, Horrors of the Black Museum, Konga, Dr Syn, The Lost Continent, The Gambler.
Links: Official Site.

David Schwartz
Born: .
Background: Prolific TV composer. Studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York and and at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and began his career as a session musician in New York, performing with such diverse acts as John Hall, Manhattan Transfer, the Glenn Miller Band, Howard Johnson and John Sebastian. Began composing music for film and television in 1990 and hit the big-time immediately, scoring the multi Emmy Award-winning series "Northern Exposure" for its entire seven season run. Throughout the 90s and 2000s, Schwartz contributed music to many successful TV series, notably "Arrested Development" "Leap of Faith", "Wolf Lake", "The Ellen Show", "The John Larroquette Show" and "Beverly Hills 90210", as well as dabbling in the world of features (his biggest success being the children's fantasy "Magic in the Water" in 1995), and continues to have his services be in demand.
Highlight Scores: Dead Man's Revenge, Magic in the Water, My Little Assassin, Two of Us, You Stupid Man.
Awards: Grammy nomination for "Northern Exposure" (1990). Emmy nomination for "Wolf Lake" (2001).
Links: Official Site

Stephen Schwartz
Born: 6 March 1948, New York, New York.
Background: Hugely successful composer and lyricist, whose forays into film have been eclipsed by his work on Broadway. Graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1968, and immediately caused a splash in the New York theatre through his work on the massively successful "Pippin" (1972), "The Magic Show" (1974) and "Godspell" (1976). Adapted his own music for both "Godspell" and "The Magic Show" into films, and explored the world of dramatic scoring on the low-budget thriller "Echoes" in 1983, before returning to concentrate on the theatre once more. His music reached a wider film music audience in the 1990s following his massively successful collaborations with Alan Menken and Hans Zimmer on a series of epic animated movies, for which he won three Oscars in the process. Recently, Schwartz has been developing a new Broadway musical entitled "Wicked", a spin-off from The Wizard of Oz focusing on the life of the Wicked Witch of the West prior to the arrival of Judy Garland. His son, Scott Schwartz, is a theatre director in New York.
Highlight Scores: Godspell, Pippin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Prince of Egypt, Geppetto.
Awards: Academy Awards for "Pocahontas" (1995) and "The Prince of Egypt" (1999), nomination for "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996). One Golden Globe and one Grammy (both for "Pocahontas"), plus further Golden Globe and Grammy nominations.
Links: Official Site

Morton Scott
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Tom Scott
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Humphrey Searle
Born: 26 August 1915, Oxford, England. Died: 12 May 1982.
Background: English twelve-tone and serialist composer, whose work in both the film and classical world is virtually forgotten today. Studied at the Royal Academy of Music, and briefly with Anton von Webern in Vienna, and spent much of his adult career studying the life of and cataloguing the works of Liszt. Among his most famous classical pieces are a piano sonata, three operas, three ballets, numerous symphonies and orchestral pieces and a series of compositions celebrating his love of cats, including a pre-Lloyd Webber version of TS Eliot's "Macavity". He scored his first film in 1956, and subsequently scored around a dozen films, many of which were in the horror genre (his most famous effort being the 1963 Robert Wise chiller "The Haunting"). He died in 1982, aged 67.
Highlight Scores: The Baby and the Battleship, The Abominable Snowman, Action of the Tiger, Law and Disorder, The Haunting.

Eckart Seeber
Born: 1963, Innsbruck, Austria.
Background: Ambitious young Austrian composer, now relocated to Los Angeles. Studied at the State Conservatory of Music in Innsbruck, before moving to Canada to complete his musical training. Began his career writing music for theatre in Canada, as well as conducting touring productions of Broadway shows, including "Phantom of the Opera", "Miss Saigon", "Les Miserables", "West Side Story", "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat", "Godspell", and others. Began writing music for commercials, documentaries, music libraries and multi-media during the 1980s, and enjoyed a small amount of success on several Canadian TV projects, before he launched himself at the film music world. Despite one small success ("Bram Stoker's Shadowbuilder") and work re-scoring old Jackie Chan and Jet Li movies for the American audience, he is still waiting for his breakout movie.
Highlight Scores: To The End of Time, Bram Stoker's Shadowbuilder, Jackie Chan's The Prisoner, Legend of the Red Dragon.
Links: Official Site

Mischa Segal
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: Ninja III: The Domination, Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon, The Phantom of the Opera.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Ilona Sekacz
Born: 1951, Blackpool, England.
Background: Born to a Polish mother and an English father, Ilona Sekacz played the violin, was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and studied at the University of Birmingham. After several false starts (including being the office junior that the British Film Institute), Sekacz finally began her career in music in repertory theatre, eventually writing for the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre in London. She scored a small number of television projects in the 1980s, but did not score her first feature until 1994, with Hannah Kodicek's "A Pin for the Butterfly". She followed that with the Dutch film "Antonia's Line" (1995), which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1997, and since than has scored a handful of critically acclaimed but little-seen art-house films, notably "Under the Skin" (1997), "Mrs. Dalloway" (1997) and "Solomon and Gaenor" (1999). Unfortunately, Sekacz's career in film has stalled somewhat, and for the last five years has concentrated mainly on writing music for theatre, where she received critical acclaim for her new musical version of John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera".
Highlight Scores: The Insurance Man, Antonia's Line, Under the Skin, Mrs. Dalloway, Solomon and Gaenor, Wondrous Oblivion
Awards: 1986 BAFTA Awards – Nominee, Best Original TV Music – The Insurance Man

Paul Shaffer
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: Saturday Night Live (TV), Gilda Live, Blues Brothers 2000, The Late Show with David Letterman (TV).
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.
Theodore Shapiro
Born: 1971, Washington, D.C.
Background: One of the rising stars of film music, Theodore “Teddy” Shapiro studied at Brown University in Rhode Island, and at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, and had his flute concerto, "Ophelia", performed at Carnegie Hall when he was just 25 years old. Intent on a career in film, Shapiro made his debut in 1997 and took the independent route, scoring films which became cult successes as festivals such as Sundance. He has since developed an unusual career scoring silly teen comedies and David Mamet movies, and exploded onto the commercial scene in 2004 with four movies – “Along Came Polly”, “Starsky & Hutch”, “13 Going On 30” and “Dodgeball” - which grossed over $50 million at the US box office. In addition to his film work, Shapiro remains active in the concert hall arena, having recently completed "Avenues", a concerto for pianist Awadagin Pratt, and a chamber piece entitled "City of Windows".
Highlight Scores: Hurricane, Six Ways to Sunday, Safe Men, Girlfight, State and Main, Heist, Not Another Teen Movie, Old School, A View from the Top, Along Came Polly, Starsky & Hutch, 13 Going On 30, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Aeon Flux.

Jamshied Sharifi
Born:
Background: American born of Iranian heritage, Sharifi graduated from M.I.T. a degree in humanities, and undertook further study at the Berklee School of Music. A critically acclaimed jazz pianist and keyboard player, Sharifi began his career as an assistant to Michael Gibbs, one of his former teachers at Berklee. And after seven years carrying out orchestration duties, began to strike out on his own, but despite his credentials, Sharifi has only four solo credits to his name - admittedly, all of them modest hits - but a surprisingly small output for such an obviously talented man. In addition to his film work, Sharifi has arranged and produced work for a number of Japanese and Korean artists, and played keyboards with vocalist Phil Hamilton. He has also recently begun to record music as a solo artist, having released the acclaimed album "A Prayer for the Soul of Layla" in 1997, which featured world music artists such as Hassan Hakmoun and Paula Cole.
Highlight Scores: Harriet the Spy, Muppets From Space, Down to Earth, Clockstoppers.

Artie Shaw
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Jonathan Sheffer
Born: New York, New York.
Background: Better known as a conductor than a composer, Sheffer graduated from Harvard University (where he studied with Leonard Bernstein), and undertook further study at the Juilliard School and the Aspen School of Music. He made his film music debut in 1986, and enjoyed a couple of commercially successful films in the early 1990s, but began to take an interest in serious conducting shortly thereafter. After making his conducting debut on the concert stage with the San Diego Symphony in 1991. he served as assistant to Michael Tilson Thomas at the London Symphony Orchestra and L'Orchestre National de France, and has since gone on to conduct some of the most prestigious orchestras of the world. During this time, he developed relationships with several high-profile Hollywood composers, notably Elliot Goldenthal, with whom he has now collaborated on nine films. In addition to his film compositions, Sheffer has written a ballet, a Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Orchestra, and a dance piece choreographed by Robert LaFosse and presented for the New York City Ballet Guild. He has also been involved with several musicals productions, and wrote an opera, "Blood on the Dining Room Floor", which ran off-Broadway in June 2000.
Highlight Scores: In a Shallow Grave, Bloodhounds of Broadway, Darkman, Omen IV: The Awakening, Pure Luck.

Richard M. Sherman
Born: 12 June 1928, New York, New York.
Background: The youngest of the two composing Sherman brothers, Dick Sherman has spent virtually his entire career working for the Disney empire. The son of composer Al Sherman, Dick spent early musical career in the 1950s struggling to make ends meet, until they made their breakthrough when singer Annette Funicello recorded one of his songs, and it caught the ear of Walt Disney. Together with brother Dick, the Shermans were hired as "staff songwriters", and never left the Magic Kingdom, subsequently writing countless songs, jingles, and theme park tunes, as well as over 50 individual film scores, many of which have gone on to be among the best-loved works in Hollywood history. Somewhat irritatingly, the Shermans are also responsible for the most annoying song in the history of music - "It's A Small World", which can be heard driving adults insane every day of the year at Disneyland in California. In addition to his film work, Sherman has written numerous top-ten songs (including hits for Doris Day and Ringo Starr), several Broadway musicals (notably "Over Here" and "Busker Alley").
Highlight Scores: The Absent-Minded Professor, The Parent Trap, The Sword in the Stone, Mary Poppins, That Darn Cat!, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, The Aristocats, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Charlotte's Web, Tom Sawyer, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Slipper and the Rose, The Magic of Lassie, The Tigger Movie, Piglet's Big Movie.
Awards: Two Academy Awards for "Mary Poppins" (1964), nominations for "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (1968), "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" (1971), "Tom Sawyer" (1973), "The Slipper and the Rose" (1976) and "The Magic of Lassie" (1978)
Links: Official Site

Robert B. Sherman
Born: 19 December 1925, New York, New York.
Background: The eldest of the two composing Sherman brothers, Bob Sherman has spent virtually his entire career working for the Disney empire. The son of composer Al Sherman, Bob spent early musical career in the 1950s struggling to make ends meet, until they made their breakthrough when singer Annette Funicello recorded one of his songs, and it caught the ear of Walt Disney. Together with brother Dick, the Shermans were hired as "staff songwriters", and never left the Magic Kingdom, subsequently writing countless songs, jingles, and theme park tunes, as well as over 50 individual film scores, many of which have gone on to be among the best-loved works in Hollywood history. Somewhat irritatingly, the Shermans are also responsible for the most annoying song in the history of music - "It's A Small World", which can be heard driving adults insane every day of the year at Disneyland in California. In addition to his film work, Sherman has written numerous top-ten songs (including hits for Doris Day and Ringo Starr), several Broadway musicals (notably "Over Here" and "Busker Alley").
Highlight Scores: The Absent-Minded Professor, The Parent Trap, The Sword in the Stone, Mary Poppins, That Darn Cat!, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, The Aristocats, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Charlotte's Web, Tom Sawyer, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Slipper and the Rose, The Magic of Lassie, The Tigger Movie, Piglet's Big Movie.
Awards: Two Academy Awards for "Mary Poppins" (1964), nominations for "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (1968), "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" (1971), "Tom Sawyer" (1973), "The Slipper and the Rose" (1976) and "The Magic of Lassie" (1978)
Links: Official Site

Kevin Shields
Born: Dublin, Ireland.
Background: Popular Irish rock musician, guitarist and composer, who first came to prominence as a member of the cult band My Bloody Valentine, and then subsequently with Jesus & Mary Chain and Primal Scream. A notoriously shy and introverted character, Shields spent virtually the entire 1990s out of the public eye, living quietly at his home in Dublin while working on new ideas, before returning to the fray with his film music debut in 2003, on Sofia Coppola's Oscar-winning comedy-drama "Lost in Translation", which he wrote in collaboration with Brian Reitzell.
Highlight Scores: Lost In Translation.
Awards: BAFTA nomination for "Lost in Translation".

Michael Shields
Born: Calgary, Canada.
Background: Talented Canadian composer gradually emerging into the world of film. Played piano and guitar as a child, and had the usual experience of rock bands and choirs in his teens, before touring Canada with his acapella group "Guild". Began writing for Canadian TV projects in 1993, and released his first solo album, the country-flavoured "Grace Motel", around the same time. Scored his first international success, the teen werewolf movie "Ginger Snaps" in 2000, and since then has been slowly building an impressive resume of credits that range from TV advertising gigs to independent features.
Highlight Scores: American Beer, Ginger Snaps, Lucky Girl, Turning Paige, Cover Story
Links: Official Site

Nathaniel Shilkret
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Dmitri Shostakovich
Born: 25 September 1906, St Petersburg, Russia. Died: 9 August 1975.
Background: Prodigiously talented, he studied at the Petrograd Conservatory, and wrote his first symphony in 1925, aged 19. Thereafter, was a prolific composer, with fifteen symphonies (including the famous October Symphony and Leningrad Symphony), eight ballets (including Lady Macbeth) and three operas, plus other various concertos and pieces to his name. Now regarded as one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century. Was surprisingly devoted to film music, writing his first score in 1925 (the same year as his first symphony) and went on to work with directors including Sergei Eisenstein, but never scored a movie outside Russia.
Highlight Scores: Battleship Potemkin, Alone, Counterplan, Maxim, The Great Citizen, Pirigov, The Fall of Berlin, The Unforgettable Year of 1919, The Gadfly, Hamlet, Sofia Perovskaya, Khovanshchina.
Awards: Oscar nomination for "Khovanshchina" (1961).
Links: Comprehensive Site by Robert Lang.

Lawrence Shragge
Born: Canada.
Background: Massively prolific television composer. Born in Canada, Shragge studied at Berklee College in Boston, and has scored almost 100 movies of the week, independent features and TV series since making his debut in 1980, without ever bringing attention to himself. Has won several SOCAN awards in Canada, and is highly regarded in his home country, but has made very little impact on the soundtrack world at large, despite the size of his filmography.
Highlight Scores: Intimate Relations, Night of the Twisters, The Wrong Guy, Summer's End, The Audrey Hepburn Story, The Triangle, Haven, Jett Jackson: The Movie, The Snow Queen.
Awards: Emmy nomination for "Haven" (2001).

Leo Shuken
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: Academy Award for "Stagecoach" (1939).
Links: INSERT.

Carlo Siliotto
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: The Punisher.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Stanley Silverman
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: Simon, Eyewitness, I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Louis Silvers
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Carly Simon
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: Heartburn, Working Girl, Postcards from the Edge.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Marty Simon
Born: Montreal, Canada.
Background: Canadian composer Simon studied at McGill University, and spent his early career as a rock musician in England, as a founder member of The Sharks, and as a session performer with artists as varied as Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix and Mick Jagger. Diversified into record production, and was responsible for producing hit records for Wilson Pickett, Julien Clerc and a pre-superstardom Celine Dion. Made his film music debut in 1987, and has gone on to enjoy a reasonably successful career scoring TV movies and features in Canada, and achieving a modicum of world-wide fame through his long-standing association with the cult science fiction series "Lexx".
Highlight Scores: Scanners II: The New Order, Quiet Killer, Scanners III: The Takeover, Lexx (TV), Going to Kansas City, No Alibi, Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534.

Claudio Simonetti
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.
Peter Simons
Born: 10 January 1978, Geleen, Netherlands.
Background: Aspiring Dutch composer whose work writing music “inspired” by motion pictures would seem to indicate a bright future. Studied flute and piano as a child, but is mostly self-taught in composition – he considers film music giants James Horner, Alan Silvestri, Hans Zimmer and Elliot Goldenthal his teachers. Among his notable works are “Of Beauty and Comfort”, a concert piece, and “The Wisdom and the Art”, inspired by the work of Clive Barker. He is currently writing his first symphony, inspired by the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster, and his first commissioned work, a video game score. Simons is also a freelance film music journalist with the Dutch magazine “Score”, and an editor for the Dutch movie site At The Movies.
Highlight Scores: None yet...
Links: Official Site.

Mike Simpson
Born: .
Background: One half of the musical duo that makes up The Dust Brothers, and who has recently been enjoying a solo career in film music. Studied at Pomona College in Claremont, California, and formed the group in 1983 with fellow Pomona student John King. From humble beginnings DJing at parties, by the end of 80s they were collaborating with influential rap artists such Tone-Loc, Young MC and The Beastie Boys, eventually becoming one the most sought-after remixing and producing teams in the industry. Further collaborations with the Rolling Stones, White Zombie, Beck and Hanson further enhanced their reputation in the 1990s, until they were approached by director David Fincher to provide music for his 1999 film "Fight Club". Simpson now divides his time equally between film projects and continued work in the record industry with King as a Dust Brother.
Highlight Scores: Fight Club, Road Trip, Saving Silverman, Freddy Got Fingered.
Links: Official Dust Brothers Site

Marlin Skiles
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Frank Skinner
Born: 31 October 1897, Meredosia, Illinois. Died: 8 October 1968.
Background: Massively prolific American composer of the Golden Age, whose music was heard in over 500 films throughout the 1930s, 40s, and 50s - albeit the vast majority of them culled from the hours of "stock music" he wrote during his tenure as a staff composer for Universal. Studied at the Chicago Musical College before becoming a vaudeville pianist, he later joined a dance band and went to work for a music publisher. He was originally brought to Hollywood by MGM to arrange the music for their Ziegfeld shows, before joining Universal in the late 1930s where he remained for the next three decades. Regularly working with fellow composer Hans Salter, Skinner specialised in the lowbrow science fiction and monster movies Universal produced at the time, and as a result never attained the plaudits of contemporaries such as Steiner and Waxman, despite being no less talented. Found his services less in demand at the end of the 1960s, but was beginning to explore the world of episodic television when he died in 1968, aged 71.
Highlight Scores: Mad About Music, Son of Frankenstein, Destry Rides Again, The House of the Seven Gables, Back Street, Saboteur, Arabian Nights, Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror, The Amazing Mrs Holliday, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Harvey, Imitation of Life.
Awards: Academy Award nominations for "Mad About Music" (1938), "The House of the Seven Gables" (1940), "Back Street" (1941), "Arabian Nights" (1942) and "The Amazing Mrs Holliday" (1943).

Cezary Skubiszewski
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
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Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Michael Small
Born: 30 May 1939, New York, New York. Died: 24 November 2003.
Background: Grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey. Was taught piano lessons as a child, and began his composing career writing original musical comedy shows while attending Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Moved to New York City in 1962 to continue his musical training, and began composing for films in the 1969, subsequently enjoying a large number of successful collaborations in the 1970s and 80s with notable directors such as Bob Rafelson, Arthur Penn, John Schlesinger and especially Alan J. Pakula. After a largely barren 1990s, Small was began to enjoy something of a career resurgence in 2001 through his association with the A&E detective series "The Nero Wolfe Mysteries", but succumbed to prostate cancer and died, aged 64, at home in Manhattan in 2003.
Highlight Scores: Klute, The Parallax View, The Stepford Wives, Marathon Man, Comes A Horseman, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Continental Divide, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Jaws: The Revenge, Black Widow, Mountains of the Moon, Mobsters, Consenting Adults, Wagons East, The Nero Wolfe Mysteries (TV).

Bruce Smeaton
Born: 5 March 1938, Brighton, Australia.
Background: Talented Australian composer with a series of successful movies under is belt but who has, in recent years, slipped underneath the film scoring radar. An entirely self-taught composer, Smeaton made his film music debut in 1973, and quickly became one of Australia's premier composers, working with directors such as Peter Weir and Fred Schepisi, whom he followed to the States for his one American studio project, "Roxanne" in 1987. Unusually, Smeaton has been virtually inactive since 1990, scoring just one movie in the last fifteen years. Over the course of his career, Smeaton was nominated for five Australian Oscars, winning in 1978 for "The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith".
Highlight Scores: The Cars that Ate Paris, Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Grendel Grendel Grendel, Street Hero, A Town Like Alice, Iceman, Roxanne, A Cry In The Dark, Almost.

B.C. Smith
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
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Awards: INSERT.
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Paul J. Smith
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: Academy Award winner for "Pinocchio" (1940).
Links: INSERT.

Curt Sobel
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: The Flamingo Kid, Alien Nation, Defenseless.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Maribeth Solomon
Born:
Background: One half of a Toronto-based husband-and wife-composing team, Micky Erbe and Maribeth Solomon have been writing music for film and television together since 1974. In recent years, Erbe and Solomon have become well-known for their contribution to several large format IMAX movies, notably "Nomads of the Deep", "North of Superior", "Hail Columbia!," "Blue Planet" and "Space Station 3D". They also received a great deal of exposure through their work on Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's last project, "Earth: Final Conflict". As well as film and TV work, Erbe and Solomon have composed, arranged or produced songs and albums for such performers as Isaac Hayes, Anne Murray, Natalie Cole, The Canadian Brass and opera star Maureen Forrester.
Highlight Scores: Ticket to Heaven, Threshold, Milk and Honey, Against Her Will: The Carrie Buck Story, Dancing in the Dark, Visitors of the Night, Blackjack, Earth: Final Conflict, Space Station 3D.
Links: Mickymar Productions

Stephen Sondheim
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: Stavisky, A Littlw Night Music, Reds.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Jeremy Soule
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Tim Souster
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Herbert W. Spencer
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Thad Spencer
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: Monster's Ball, Stay.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

John Sponsler
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Andy Stein
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: Hollywood Boulevard, Thunder and Lightning, Deathsport, National Lampoon's Movie Madness.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Ronald Stein
Born: 12 April 1930, St. Louis, Missouri. Died: 15 August 1988.
Background: Composer, conductor and pianist, whose most prolific years were in the 1950s and 60s. Studied at Washington University, Yale School of Music, and at USC in Los Angeles, and began his career writing musical for college productions. Prior to making his film music debut Stein was the assistant musical director for the St. Louis Municipal Opera, and was a piano soloist for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, before being hired to be the resident music director of American International Pictures in 1956. While at AIP, Stein enjoyed almost 20 years of marginal success, scoring a series of cult B-movies, horror flicks, westerns and monster movies, often in collaboration with AIP's other resident, Les Baxter, and often with no budget and impossible time constraints. Virtually retired at the end of the 1960s, by which time he had been appointed professor of music at the University of Colorado in Denver. Wrote his last solo film score in 1984, and died of pancreatic cancer in 1988, aged 58.
Highlight Scores: Attack of the 50-foot Woman, It Conquered the World, The Premature Burial, The Terror, Dementia 13, The Haunted Palace, Spider Baby, The Eye-Creatures, The Rain People.

Fred Steiner
Born: 24 February 1923, New York, New York.
Background: Reliable and prolific television composer of the 1950s and 60s, who wrote hours of music for some of the early American TV classics. The son of composer George Steiner (no relation to Max Steiner), he was always destined to follow in his father's footsteps. He began his career on radio, heading up the music on ABC popular "This is Your FBI" from 1945-1953, after which time he switched media. Among the literally dozens of series he contributed to are titles such as "General Electric Theater", "Gunsmoke", "Have Gun Will Travel", "Rawhide", "Bonanza", "The Twilight Zone", "Wild Wild West", "Hogan's Heroes", "Hawaii Five-O", and of course "Star Trek". His big-screen work was few and far-between, with the exception of a series of feature-length "Perry Mason" TV movies in the 1980s and 90s, although he did receive an Oscar nomination for his work on "The Color Purple" in 1985 when composer Quincy Jones managed to get his entire orchestration team nominated alongside him. Continues to compose today, despite being in his 80s, having recently been responsible for the anarchic 'cartoon music' heard in popular hits such as "Gremlins 2" and "Mrs. Doubtfire".
Highlight Scores: Run for the Sun, Time Limit, The St Valentines Day Massacre, The Sea Gypsies, Perry Mason (TV).
Awards: Oscar nomination for "The Color Purple" (1985).
Steven Stern
Born: Baltimore, Maryland.
Background: Young American composer with a profitable sideline business as the owner of a music library company. Studied music theory and classical guitar at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, and worked for a degree in Film Music Composition from Berklee College Of Music in Boston before making his film music debut in the early 1990s after joining Hans Zimmer’s Media Ventures crew. Worked with Zimmer on scores such as “I’ll Do Anything”, “Renaissance Man”, “The Lion King”, with Nick Glennie-Smith on “The Rock”, and with Mark Mancina on “Speed”, before branching out on his own in 1997. He has since gone on to write music for a number of successful TV shows and feature films, including “The Outer Limits”, “Poltergeist: The Legacy”, and the recent cinematic successes “D.E.B.S.” (2004) and “The Assassination of Richard Nixon” (2004). In addition to his film work, Stern is the Vice-President and Creative Director of Selectracks, a music library company which specialises in providing advertising and promo music for the motion picture industry, based in Santa Monica, California. Stern is married to Hollywood make-up artists Stacy Hodgson.
Highlight Scores: The Beneficiary, Bloody Murder, Hangman, Bloody Murder 2: Closing Camp, D.E.B.S., The Assassination of Richard Nixon.
Links: Official Site

Leith Stevens
Born: 13 September 1909, Mount Moriah, Missouri. Died: 23 July 1970.
Background: Prolific composer of the 1940s and 50s, noted especially for his work on the ground-breaking science fiction films of those decades. Studied at Julliard in New York City, and joined the Chicago Opera Company as a pianist in the early 1930s, before being hired to work as a musical director for radio variety shows through the 1940s. Made his film music debut in 1947, and worked solidly for the next 20 years, scoring acclaimed films, fledgling TV shows such as "General Electric Theater", "Gunsmoke" and "The Twilight Zone", and acting as music director for the popular variety show starring George Burns and Gracie Allen. Embraced the world of TV scoring in the 1960s, working most significantly for producer Irwin Allen on his hit shows "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", "Lost in Space", "Time Tunnel" and "Land of the Giants". Was working as the head of TV music for Paramount when he suffered the most tragic death: his wife, Elizabeth, was killed in a car accident in Palm Springs on 23 July 1970. Stevens spoke on the phone to the police and the coroner, calmly called several of their closest friends to let them know and, after hanging up, sat down and suffered a massive and fatal heart attack. He was 61.
Highlight Scores: Destination Moon, When Worlds Collide, The War of the Worlds, The Wild One, The Hitchhiker, Scared Stiff, Julie, The Five Pennies, A New Kind of Love, It Happened At the World's Fair.
Awards: Osar nominations for "Julie" (1956), "The Five Pennies" (1959) and "A New Kind of Love" (1963). Golden Globe nomination for "Destination Moon" (1950).

Morton Stevens
Born: 30 January 1929, Newark, New Jersey. Died: 11 November 1991.
Background: Successful television composer of the 1960s and 70s, best known to the world at large for the memorable surfer tune he wrote as the main title for the series "Hawaii Five-O". Began is career in the early 1950's as Sammy Davis Jr.'s arranger and conductor, before moving into television as one of the medium's first specialists. During a 30-year career Stevens worked on some 80 projects, eventually going on to be the head of television music for CBS in the 1960's. Among his television scores, in addition to "Hawaii Five-O" are titles such as "General Electric Theater", "Gunsmoke", "Wells Fargo", "The Man from UNCLE", "Gilligan's Island", "Wild Wild West", "Policewoman", "The Fall Guy", "Knight Rider", "The Twilight Zone", "Matlock" and "Jake and the Fatman". His non-episodic work was rare, limited mainly to TV movies, small features, and a series of lackluster Jerry Lewis movies, but he nevertheless picked up Emmy nominations for his work on "Wheels" (1978) and "Masada" (1981), on which he shared scoring duties with Jerry Goldsmith. Stevens was still working hard, writing for television, arranging music for John Williams and the Boston Pops and acting as music director for the Sammy Davis Jr./Frank Sinatra/Liza Minnelli/Dean Martin concerts in the late 1980s, when he developed cancer. He died at his home in Encino in November 1991, aged 62.
Highlight Scores: Hawaii Five-O (TV), Horror at 37,000 Feet, Wheels (TV), Masada (TV), Slapstick of Another Kind, Cracking Up, Alice in Wonderland, They Still Call Me Bruce.
Awards: Emmy for "Hawaii Five-O" (1968); seven further nominations between 1966-1981.

Dave Stewart
Born: 9 September 1952, Sunderland, England.
Background: A musician from an early age, Stewart's roots lie in the world of rock and pop. After several bands failed to hit the big time during the 1970s, Stewart teamed up with classically-trained vocalist Annie Lennox in 1981 and formed Eurythmics, and became one of the most popular musical acts of the 1980s. For almost a decade, Eurythmics had hit record after hit records, including such popular songs as "Sweet Dreams", "Here Comes the Rain Again", "Who's That Girl", "Thorn in My Side", until the band split in 1989. After an abortive attempt at a solo career, Stewart turned to composing and producing; among his production credits are artists such as Spiritual Cowboys, Daryl Hall and Shakespeare's Sister. He had actually made his film music debut back in 1984, writing original songs for the film "Nineteen Eighty-Four", but embarked seriously on his new career with the Dutch feature "Lily Was Here" (1989), and followed it up with several features, including the camp cult classic "Showgirls" (1995). He even tried his hand at directing, with the massive 2000 flop "Honest", and now seems to be stuck in limbo: he has film and production credits in the works, and is even looking to re-form Eurythmics in the near future.
Highlight Scores: Lily Was Here, The Ref, Showgirls, Crimetime, Beautiful Girls, Cookie's Fortune, Honest, Alfie.
Links: Official Site

George E. Stoll
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: Academy Award winner for "Anchors Aweigh" (1945).
Links: INSERT.

Morris Stoloff
Born: 1 August 1898, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Died: 16 April 1980.
Background: Important and respected Golden Age music director and conductor, who oversaw almost 400 productions during his 30-year tenure as the head of the music department of Columbia Pictures. A child prodigy on the violin, Stoloff studied with Leopold Auer for several years, and was touring the U.S. as a featured soloist when he joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1916 as its youngest member ever, aged 18. When sound came to motion pictures, studios came looking for musicians to provide it, and Stoloff was one of the first to cross over from classical music to movies, becoming the first concertmaster on Paramount's payroll, before joining Columbia in 1936. During his tenure, he guided the film careers of composers including George Duning, David Raksin, a young John Williams, and even Igor Stravinsky, while managing to write original music for around a dozen pictures himself, most of them in the studios fledgling days in the 1930s. Picked up seventeen Academy Award nominations for his music directing, winning on three occasions. After working with Frank Sinatra at Reprise Records in the 1960s, he retired to Woodland Hills, California, where he died in April 1980, aged 82.
Highlight Scores: The Awful Truth, You Can't Take it With You, Holiday, Girls School, You'll Never Get Rich, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, His Girl Friday, Ladies in Retirement, The Talk of the Town, Something to Shout About, Commandos Strike at Dawn, Cover Girl, Address Unknown, Tonight and Every Night, A Song to Remember, The Jolson Story, Gilda, The Lady from Shanghai, Jolson Sings Again, All the King's Men, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr T, Born Yesterday, In a Lonely Place, From Here to Eternity, Picnic, The Eddy Duchin Story, Song Without End, Fanny.
Awards: Academy Awards for "Cover Girl" (1944), "The Jolson Story" (1946) and "Song Without End" (1960), fourteen further nominations between 1939-1962.

Robert Stolz
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Christopher Stone
Born:
Background: The son of Hollywood producer/editor Virginia Lively Stone, Christopher Stone is an established composer in Hollywood's lower echelons, most famous for his long standing association with the "Phantasm" series of horror movies, and for his contribution to the long-running TV series "Walker: Texas Ranger", for which he has been writing since 1993. Made his film music debut in 1976, on his mother's film "Evil in the Deep", and spent much of the 1980s toiling away at the bottom of the barrel until the Phantasm franchise came beckoning in 1988. Interestingly (and somewhat bizarrely) Stone performed some the vocal work of the Elliot, loveable dragon in the Disney classic, "Pete's Dragon" (1977).
Highlight Scores: Phantasm II, Prison, Ticks, Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead, Fist of the North Star, The Stupids, DNA, Phantasm IV: Oblivion, Skeletons in the Closet, The President's Man.

Gregory Stone
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Richard Stone
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Herbert Stothart
Born: 11 September 1885, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Died: 1 February 1949.
Background: Golden Age composer and music director who worked exclusively for MGM throughout the 1930s and 40s. Studied music in Europe and at The University of Wisconsin, and began his career as a stage musical director for touring companies of Broadway shows produced by Albert Hammerstein, and was soon writing music for the producer's nephew, Oscar. During the 1920s Stothart enjoyed successful collaborations with the likes of Vincent Youmans, Otto Harbach, Rudolph Friml, George Gershwin, and Franz Lehar, before being offered a Hollywood contract by movie mogul Louis B. Mayer in 1929. During his 10 years with MGM Stothart scored upwards of 100 films, but is still best known for his work on the classic musical "The Wizard of Oz" (1939), for which he wrote the score, the majority of the memorable songs, and for which he won his only Oscar. Was still working solidly on new projects when he died suddenly, in February 1949, at the age of 64.
Highlight Scores: After the Thin Man, A Night at the Opera, Mutiny on the Bounty, Maytime, Sweethearts, Marie Antoinette, The Wizard of Oz, Pride and Prejudice, Waterloo Bridge, The Chocolate Soldier, Random Harvest, Mrs Miniver, Thousands Cheer, Madame Curie, Kismet, National Velvet, The Valley of Decision, The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Awards: Academy Award for "The Wizard of Oz" (1930). Eleven other nominations between 1935-1945.
William Stromberg
Born: 23 May 1964, Oceanside, California.
Background: Acclaimed composer and conductor, best known in the film music world for the on-going series of classic score reconstructions he has undertaken with fellow composer John Morgan, released on CD by Marco Polo. Began composing for film in the mid-1980s, mainly on low-budget crime thrillers and action movies (one of which starred a pre-fame Pamela Anderson), before coming to prominence for his work on the series of critically acclaimed 'Atomic Bomb' documentaries produced by special effects guru Peter Kuran. Recently, Stromberg has completed work on the straight-to-video sequel to "Starship Troopers", which looks likely to increase his stature in Hollywood. In addition to his composing work, Stromberg has also recently developed a professional relationship with composer Rolfe Kent as his regular orchestrator and conductor.
Highlight Scores: Edge of Honor, Killing Streets, Raw Justice, Trinity and Beyond, Other Voices, Starship Troopers 2.

Marty Stuart
Born: 30 September 1958, Philadelphia, Mississippi.
Background: Hugely popular and successful country singer/songwriter. Played the guitar and mandolin as a child, and began his career playing in bluegrass bands in and around Mississippi, before embarking on a career move to become a country session musician in Nashville. Worked with the likes of Doc and Merle Watson, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Emmylou Harris, Neil Young and Billy Joel, before going solo and releasing his first album in 1986. Follow-up albums, which included titles such as "Let There be Country", "Hillbilly Rock", "Tempted", "This One's Gonna Hurt You", "Love and Luck" and "The Pilgrim", cemented his status as one of the most successful artists in country music in the 1990s. Began dabbling in film music in 2000 at the behest of one of his biggest fans, Oscar-winning actor/director Billy Bob Thornton, resulting in the release of the critically acclaimed "All the Pretty Horses". Since then, Stuart has only occasionally ventured into film again, instead concentrating on maintaining his country music career, although he did co-produce and co-write Thornton's debut album, "Private Radio", in 2001.
Highlight Scores: All the Pretty Horses, Yellow Bird, Daddy and Them, Wakin' Up in Reno.
Awards: Golden Globe nomination for "All the Pretty Horses" (2000).
Links: Official Fan Site by Sherry Mattioli

Michael Suby
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: The Real Cancun, The Butterfly Effect.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Harry Sukman
Born: INSERT. Died: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: INSERT.
Awards: Academy Award winner for "Song Without End" (1960).
Links: INSERT.

Andy Summers
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: Weekend at Bernie’s.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Bob Summers
Born: INSERT.
Background: INSERT.
Highlight Scores: Sixth and Main, Beyond and Back, In Search of Historic Jesus, The Boogens.
Awards: INSERT.
Links: INSERT.

Mark Suozzo
Born: 8 November 1953, New York, New York.
Background: A resolutely "indie" composer, Mark Suozzo has contributed music to numerous left-field productions since making his debut in 1990. He began his career writing advertising jingles and commercials, industrial films and children's television (including a stint as a staff writer for "Sesame Street"), before being pulled out of kiddie music hell by director Whit Stillman to score the first of their three collaborations together. Suozzo has also worked in the pop and rock fields, providing arrangements for artists such as Aretha Franklin, Lilias White, Vanessa Williams, Britney Spears, 'N Sync, and the late Peter Allen, among others. He ha also written work for the New York stage, undertaken orchestration and arrangement duties for Carnegie Hall, and moonlights as a guitarist in a jazz rock combo in the night spots of Manhattan.
Highlight Scores: Metropolitan, Barcelona, Nick and Jane, The Last Days of Disco, Sound and Fury, Dead by Monday, American Splendor.

Keiichi Suzuki
Born: 28 August 1951, Tokyo, Japan.
Background: A rising star of Japanese film music, Suzuki actually began his career working for the Nintendo games company: he produced the "Batman" and "Gremlins 2" movie spin-off games in the early 1990s, while dabbling in writing music. First came to prominence as a member of the hugely popular pop band Moonriders (who released several acclaimed albums in the late 1990s, including "Getsumen Sanka" and "Hinotama Boy"), while scoring the "Mother" and "Earthbound" video games (also for Nintendo). Made his film music debut as recently as 2000, and made a splash, winning a Japanese Oscar for just his fourth film, Takeshi Kitano's samurai epic "Zatôichi" (2003). In addition to composing music, Suzuki is also an occasional actor.
Highlight Scores: Spiral, Chicken Heart, Tokyo Godfathers, Zatôichi.

Stanislas Syrewicz
Born:
Background: The least well known of the quartet of Polish composers working in the international film community, Stanislas Syrewicz has spent a great deal of his working career in England and France. Studied at the Warsaw Academy of Music where, and at Academy of Theatre in Warsaw, and began his career scoring stage plays and TV projects writing songs, and directing opera performances in his native Poland. He made his international film music debut in 1979, and emigrated to France shortly thereafter, to escape the political turmoil in his homeland. Since then, Syrewicz has scored a number of internationally successful films, worked with directors including John Frankenheimer and Ken Russell, and achieved a great deal of fame in the UK following his work on "The Choir", which topped the classical charts for many weeks. In addition to his film music work, Syrewicz has also arranged songs for Marianne Faithfull and Jon Anderson. Now a French citizen, he makes his home in Paris.
Highlight Scores: Biggles: Adventures in Time, The Lair of the White Worm, Stalin, The Choir (TV), True Blue, Shooting Fish, Crime and Punishment, The Clandestine Marriage, Nora, Extreme Ops.


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