Young, Victor ²

   Another name for Victor was Victor Abe Young.

  General Notes:

From the early 1930's until his demise in I956, violinist; composer; arranger; and bandleader Victor Young was an important part of the music scene. In the late 1920's, Young turned from a concert music career to popular music and composing. In th e 1930's, his band was popular and very well recorded: In the Mid-1930's, Young moved to the West Coast where he composed music, and arranged, for Hollywood studios. In the 1940's, his band, still active, usually backed vocalists on their recordin gs. Victor's father, William Young, was a tenor with the Chicago Opera Co. After Victor's mother died, William Young abandoned his two children, and the two of them, Victor and his sister Helen, left Chicago and went to Poland to be raised by the ir elderly grandparents; they traveled from Chicago to Warsaw alone. (Victor was just 10 years old). William Young re-married and had another family. He died in 1932 from Cancer, and is buried in a Brooklyn, NY cemetery. Victor's grandfather, a t ailor, had sufficient savings to start Victor at the Warsaw Conservatory, where Victor studied violin under Isador Lotto, receiving the 'Diploma of Merit.' After more study with private tutors, he debuted with the Warsaw Philharmonic, following wh ich he toured Europe with different concert orchestras. His first public appearance with the Warsaw Philharmonic went so well that a wealthy music lover gave him a 1730 Guarnerius, the instrument which Victor Young continued to play as an adult i n America. The man who presented him with the violin was a banker, Josef Goldfeder. Victor kept the violin on display on an entry hall table in his Beverly Hills home. The day after Victor Young died, the violin, which had been left to a very clo se relative, Henry Hill, a professional musician (violinist) mysteriously disappeared. (A close family friend had walked out of the house with it.) Victor and his sister Helen attended the Warsaw Conservatory of Music at the same time. Helen wen t on to become a fine pianist. She was his accompanist when he concertized all over Europe and the United States. Helen went on to marry violinist Henry Hill, whom she and Victor had met in Europe. In 1914, at the outbreak of WW1, he returned t o Chicago where he had his American debut. There followed a succession of jobs, and during the early part of the 1920's, he toured as a concert violinist. He worked in Los Angeles as a concert-master in a motion picture theater orchestra. He the n did the same in Chicago's Central Park Theater. But around this time, he had decided to leave the classics and make his career in popular song. Later in the 1920's, he worked with the Ted Fio Rito Orchestra as violinist and arranger. Still i n Chicago, Young was the orchestra leader at the famed Chicago Theater and at the State and Lake Theater and also had the dance orchestra at the Edgewater Beach Hotel. His radio career also started in Chicago in the late 1920's, but in 1931 he mo ved to New York City where he continued working in the radio studios.

His songwriting career started in 1928 when he wrote: 1928 "Sweet Sue", lyric by Will Harris, 1929 "Can't You Understand?", lyric by Jack Osterman, During the 1930's, Young did a great deal of radio work, conducting for many stars ncluding Smith B ellew, Al Jolson, and Don Ameche. In 1935, he returned to Los Angeles and formed his own orchestra; a successful venture. The orchestra was heard on radio stations, as well as at the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater. Young then became associated P aramount Pictures Studios, as chief composer and arranger. and began his major career in the motion picture industry.

His earliest, and most important, lyricist collaborator in Hollywood was Ned Washington, with whom he wrote such songs as: 1933 "Sweet Madness", from film 'Murder at the Vanities', a George White 'Vanities' film, 1933 "A Ghost of a Chance"., 193 3 "A Hundred Years From Today", from show "Blackbirds of 1933/34"

Other VIctor Young songs with Washington lyrics are: "Can't We Talk It Over", "Stella By Starlight", "My Foolish Heart" 1935 With musical collaboration from Joe Young, for films: Straight is the Way' he wrote: "A Hundred Years From Today", lyri c Ned Washington. From that humble start, Victor went on to score over 300 motion pictures, among which are: 1937 Wells Fargo Swing High, Swing Low, 1938 Breaking The Ice, 1939 Golden Boy, Man of Conquest, 1940 Arizona, 1941 I Wanted Wings, Hol d Back the Dawn, 1942 Flying Tigers, Silver Queen, The Glass Key, 1943 For Whom The Bell Tolls, 1944 The Uninvited, 1949 Sampson and Delilah, 1950 Rio Grande, 1952 Scaramouche, The Greatest Show On Earth, 1953 Shane, 1954 Three Coins In The Founta in. Some others were: 'Golding Earrings, starring Marlene Dietrich, 'The Big Clock, Love Letters, The Greatest Show on Earth.

Among the hit songs he wrote for various films are: (All below to lyrics by Ned Washington): For film 'All Women Have Secrets', "I Live Again Because I'm In Love Again", for film 'I Wanted Wings', "Born to Love", 1946 for film 'The Uninvited', " Stella by Starlight", 1950 For film, 'My Foolish Heart' "My Foolish Heart", for film, 'Lucky Stiff' "Loveliness", for film 'The Wild Blue Yonder' "The Heavy Bomber Song", For film, 'The Greatest Show on Earth' "The Greatest Show on Earth"lyric Ne w Washington., "Be a Jumping Jack", lyric New Washington, 1952 "When I Fall In Love". And, among the songs he wrote to lyrics by still others: "Beautiful Love", lyric Egbert Van Alstyne. "Street Of Dreams", lyric Sam M. Lewis. "When I Fall In L ove", lyric Edward Heyman. "Love Letters", Lyric Edward Heyman. "Written In The Wind", Lyric Sammy Cahn.

For Film, 'Northwest Mounted Police', the song, "Does the Moon Shine Through the Tall Trees?", the Lyric was by Frank Loesser. For film, 'The Searching Wind', the title song, "The Searching Wind", lyric by Edward Heyman. For film, 'The Fabulou s Senorita', "You've Changed", lyric by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. For film, 'Samson and Delilah', the title song, "Samson and Delilah". For film, Golden Earring's', the title song, "Golden Earring's", Young collaborated on this tune with t he song-writing team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. 1956 For film, 'Around the World in Eighty Days', the title song, "Around the World in Eighty Days", lyric Ned Washington. This was the last picture released with Victor's name in the credits.

All told, Young had been nominated for an Academy Award 22 times, and won just this one time, posthumously. His award for this film was accepted by Elizabeth Taylor.

Victor Young suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on November 9th, at his home in Desert Hot Springs, CA, and died November 10th, 1956. He was just 56 years old. Ferde Grofe was called upon to complete the score on which Victor had been working, a music al comedy based on the life of Mark Twain. After his death, Young's wife presented all Victor's personal possessions and musicial scores to Brandeis University, in Waltham, MA. Some years later, Brandeis gave half of the collection to the Bosto n Public Library. The rest of the collection, including his Oscar, is still in boxes in the basement of the University. Much of the information on Victor Young was kindly supplied by his niece, Ms. Bobbie Fromberg.

Composer filmography: "Shane" (1966) (TV Series) (theme), China Gate (1957), Omar Khayyam (1957), Buster Keaton Story, The (1957), Forty Guns (1957) (songs) (uncredited), Run of the Arrow (1957), Vagabond King, The (1956), Around the World in 8 0 Days (1956), Conqueror, The (1956), Brave One, The (1956), Maverick Queen, The (1956), Proud and Profane, The (1956), Written on the Wind (1956), Strategic Air Command (1955), Tall Men, The (1955), Son of Sinbad 1955), Left Hand of God, The (195 5), Man Alone, A (1955), Timberjack (1955) (song "Timberjack"), Jubilee Trail (1954), Johnny Guitar (1954), Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), About Mrs. Leslie (1954), Country Girl, The (1954), Drum Beat (1954/I), Geraldine (1954) (title song) ( additional song), Stars Are Singing, The (1953), Sun Shines Bright, The (1953), Shane (1953), Star, The (1953/I), Fair Wind to Java (1953), Flight Nurse (1953), Forever Female (1953), Little Boy Lost(1953), Perilous Journey, A (1953), Trouble in t he Glen (1953), Woman They Almost Lynched, The (1953), Scaramouche (1952), Something to Live for (1952), Quiet Man, The (1952), Greatest Show on Earth, The (1952), Anything Can Happen (1952), Blackbeard the Pirate (1952), One Minute to Zero (1952) , Story of Will Rogers, The (1952), Thunderbirds (1952), Lemon Drop Kid, The (1951), My Favorite Spy (1951), Place in the Sun, A (1951) (uncredited), Bullfighter and the Lady (1951), Payment on Demand (1951), Appointment with Danger (1951), Bell e le grand (1951), Honeychile (1951), Millionaire for Christy, A (1951), Wild Blue Yonder, The (1951), Our Very Own (1950), Bright Leaf (1950), Rio Grande (1950), Gun Crazy (1950), Arizona Cowboy (1950) (uncredited), Fireball, The (1950), Paid i n Full (1950), September Affair (1950), Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), Samson and Delilah (1949), Song of Surrender (1949), Chicago Deadline (1949),Streets of Laredo (1949), Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A (1949), File on Thelma Jordon, Th e (1949), My Foolish Heart (1949), Big Clock, The (1948), Paleface, The (1948), Miss Tatlock's Millions (1948), Dream Girl (1948), Emperor Waltz, The (1948), State of the Union (1948), I Walk Alone (1948), Accused, The (1948), Beyond Glory (1948) , Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948), So Evil My Love (1948), Unconquered (1947), Calcutta (1947), Golden Earrings (1947), Suddenly, It's Spring (1947), Imperfect Lady, The (1947), Trouble with Women, The (1947, Two Years Before the Mast (1946), Blu e Dahlia, The (1946) (uncredited), Kitty (1946), To Each His Own (1946), California (1946), Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946), Searching Wind, The (1946), Masquerade in Mexico (1945), Love Letters (1945), You Came Along (1945), Target Tokyo (1945) , Great John L., The (1945), Hold That Blonde (1945), Medal for Benny, A (1945), Practically Yours (1944), Ministry of Fear (1944), Frenchman's Creek (1944), Story of Dr. Wassell, The (1944), And Now Tomorrow (1944), And the Angels Sing (1944), Gr eat Moment, The (1944), Uninvited, The (1944), Young and Willing (1943), Crystal Ball, The (1943), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), China (1943), No Time for Love (1943), Buckskin Frontier (1943), Hostages (1943), Racket Man, The (1943) (uncredited ), True to Life (1943), Great Man's Lady, The (1942), Forest Rangers, The (1942), Flying Tigers (1942), Take a Letter, Darling (1942), Reap the Wild Wind (1942), Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942), Glass Key, The (1942), Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patc h (1942), Palm Beach Story, The (1942), Remarkable Andrew, The (1942), Silver Queen (1942), Hold Back the Dawn (1941), Caught in the Draft (1941), I Wanted Wings (1941), Aloma of the South Seas (1941), Buy Me That Town (1941), Mad Doctor, The (194 1),Reaching for the Sun (1941), Skylark (1941), Virginia (1941), Arizona (1940), Untamed (1940), North West Mounted Police (1940), Knights of the Range (1940), Arise, My Love (1940), Three Faces West (1940)
Buck Benny Rides Again (1940), Dark Command (1940), Raffles (1940), Dancing on a Dime (1940), I Want a Divorce (1940), Moon Over Burma (1940), Three Men from Texas (1940), Way of All Flesh, The (1940), Young Buffalo Bill (1940) (uncredited), Ligh t That Failed, The (1939), Gulliver's Travels (1939) (atmospheric music), Golden Boy (1939), Heritage of the Desert (1939), Man of Conquest (1939), $1000 a Touchdown (1939) (incidental music), All Women Have Secrets (1939), Everything's on Ice (19 39) (song "Birth of a Snowbird") (uncredited), Fisherman's Wharf (1939), Gracie Allen Murder Case, The (1939), Law of the Pampas (1939), Llano Kid, The (1939), Night of Nights, The (1939), Our Neighbors - The Carters (1939), Range War (1939), Tele vision Spy (1939), Way Down South (1939), Gladiator, The (1938), Army Girl (1938), Bulldog Drummond's Peril (1938) (uncredited), Partners of the Plains (1938) (uncredited), Breaking the Ice (1938), Flirting with Fate (1938), Wells Fargo (1937), Ni ght of Mystery (1937) (uncredited), Waikiki Wedding (1937), Swing High, Swing Low (1937), Maid of Salem (1937), Champagne Waltz (1937), Bulldog Drummond Comes Back (1937) (uncredited), Doctor's Diary, A (1937), Double or Nothing (1937) (uncredited ), Ebb Tide (1937), Make Way for Tomorrow (1937), Vogues (1937), Palm Springs (1936) (incidental music), Heart of the West (1936), Fatal Lady (1936) (uncredited), Folies-Bergère (1935/I) (additional songs).

Miscellaneous crew filmography: Man Alone, A (1955) (musical director), Knock on Wood (1954) (musical director), Stars Are Singing, The (1953) (musical director), Story of Will Rogers, The (1952) (musical director), Riding High (1950) (musical di rector), Samson and Delilah (1949) (songs), Beyond Glory (1948) (musical director), Blue Dahlia, The (1946) (musical director), Out of This World (1945) (musical director), Outlaw, The (1943) (musical director), Riding High (1943) (musical directo r), Road to Morocco (1942) (musical director), Priorities on Parade (1942) (musical director), True to the Army (1942) (musical director), Road to Zanzibar (1941) (musical director), Kiss the Boys Goodbye (1941) (musical director), Those Were th e Days (1940) (musical director), Road to Singapore (1940) (musical director), Rhythm on the River (1940) (musical director), Escape to Paradise (1939) (musical director), Man About Town (1939) (musical director)
Gladiator, The (1938) (musical director), Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus (1938) (musical director), Swing High, Swing Low (1937) (music arranger), Thrill of a Lifetime (1937) (music arranger), Anything Goes (1936) (musical director), Frankie and J ohnny (1936) (musical director).

Actor filmography
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Of Men and Music (1951) .... Himself
Vogues (1937) .... Himself (bandleader)

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Victor holds the records for number of nominations before a win. Randy Newman almost beat him out.

ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS

1938
BREAKING THE ICE
Best Music (Original Score) Nomination

1938
ARMY GIRL
Best Music (Original Score) Nomination

1939
WAY DOWN SOUTH
Best Music (Scoring) Nomination

1939
MAN OF CONQUEST
Best Music (Original Score) Nomination

1939
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
Best Music (Original Score) Nomination

1939
GOLDEN BOY
Best Music (Original Score) Nomination

1940
ARISE, MY LOVE
Best Music (Score) Nomination

1940
NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE
Best Music (Original Score) Nomination

1940
DARK COMMAND
Best Music (Original Score) Nomination

1940
ARIZONA
Best Music (Original Score) Nomination

1941
HOLD BACK THE DAWN
Best Music (Scoring of a Dramatic Picture) Nomination

1942
TAKE A LETTER, DARLING
Best Music (Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) Nomination

1942
SILVER QUEEN
Best Music (Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) Nomination

1942
FLYING TIGERS
Best Music (Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) Nomination

1943
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
Best Music (Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) Nomination

1945
LOVE LETTERS
Best Music (Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) Nomination

1945
LOVE LETTERS
Best Music (Song) Nomination (shared with Edward Heyman)
For the song "Love Letters"

1948
THE EMPEROR WALTZ
Best Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) Nomination

1949
MY FOOLISH HEART
Best Music (Song) Nomination (shared with Ned Washington)
For the song "My Foolish Heart"

1950
SAMSON AND DELILAH (1949)*
Best Music (Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) Nomination

1956
WRITTEN ON THE WIND
Best Music (Song) Nomination (shared with Sammy Cahn)
For the song "Written on the Wind"

1956
AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS
Best Music (Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) Oscar

*NOTE: SAMSON AND DELILAH premiered on October 31, 1949. However, the movie was not issued for general release in the United States until 1950. Because a film's qualification for the Academy Awards depends on the year in which it is commercially r eleased in Los Angeles County, California, SAMSON AND DELILAH's Academy Award nominations were earned at the 1951 ceremony honoring the films of 1950.
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Victor Young died last Saturday. The funeral was today at the Hollywood Cemetery. This cemetery is midway between RKO and Paramount. Crowds of people could not get into the chapel. We stood on the grass and heard the service over loudspeakers . You could hear the warning buzzers from the Paramount lot signalling for quiet during takes. Victor would have approved. A red-haired woman sat on the outskirts of the crowd on a chair provided by one of the cemetery attendants and sobbed thr oughout.

In his wryly illuminating diaries, published as Musician: A Hollywood Journal (Lyle Stuart Inc., 1987), longtime film and TV composer Lyn Murray succinctly chronicled the funeral of one of Hollywood's busiest and most beloved composers whose deat h in November 1956 struck beyond the covey of composers, musicians and orchestrators then working in tinseltown. One easily understands why, too. In his own, ever-infectious way, Victor Young allowed Gabby from Gulliver's Travels to be far mor e endearing than the feisty, pint-sized towncrier had a right to hope; he helped Basil Rathbone shed his persona as the world's greatest crime-solver long enough for movie-goers to really believe him as a cunning Bluebeard in The Mad Doctor; he ma de Ray Milland slightly more passable as a gypsy in Golden Earrings; ensured Joan Crawford seemed tougher than any man alive in Johnny Guitar; and made ghosts seem far more real than ever before in The Uninvited. And even if critics might insis t others in the filmmaking craft had more to do with these feats than Young, the upbeat, engaging composer still ensured that viewers left the theater with a tune dancing between their ears. Today Victor Young's passing neatly symbolizes the en d of an era. By the time of Young's death, fellow film composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold had abandoned film scoring, Max Steiner's best scores were well behind him and Alfred Newman was but a few years from seeing his amazing music department at 2 0th Century-Fox all but dismantled. Within a short but turbulent decade, Hollywood's old studio system would be in shambles and the need for robust romantic film scores of the type Young and his colleagues specialized in would be slim. And yet , it is somehow rassuring to realize that, of all Hollywood's film scoring heavyweights of the 1930s, '40s and '50s, Victor Young might have flourished almost as well in the 1960s and early '70s. Certainly, his greatest admirer, Henry Mancini, wa s able to do well enough in those lean and later years, partially because he, like his mentor Young, was able to navigate his way easily in both light, pop-oriented material as well as tuneful, richly orchestrated film music. In the end, though , Young's own penchant for fine cigars and rich foods and his lifelong habit of overworking -- often agreeing to several projects from two or three studios at a time -- finally finished him. But what an incredible legacy of music he left. Whenev er Hollywood's golden age of film music is discussed today, Victor Young's name surfaces only as a grand afterthought.Several reasons exist for this. For one thing, some of his film scores initially seem to lack the musical ingenuity and titani c individuality of, say, Miklos Rozsa or Erich Wolfgang Korngold. It has been noted, too, that when faced with films he found lackluster or uninspiring, Young occasionally failed to furnish his best (though one is also reminded that colleague Kor ngold eventually gave up film music altogether because, for one thing he tired of the increasing number of substandard films he was asked to score). And there are few stories of Young stubbornly standing up for his principles in the legendary, mu ch-loved manner of Bernard Herrmann or Franz Waxman. What's more, associates have remarked how Young, possibly because of the sheer volume of work he tackled, not only proved somewhat sloppy when composing but also frequently (and happily) left m ost decisions at symphonic coloring to able orchestrators such as Leo Shuken. Perhaps worst of all, he didn't even look like a composer. Anyone working in the busy music departments of Hollywood during that era is quick to remember Victor Young a s a compactly built, cigar-smoking character whose very appearance suggested a Chicago warehouseman more than a distinguished film composer, arranger and recording artist. "Amazing," fellow composer Irving Gertz said of Young on occasion of the r ecording at hand. "The first time I met him was at Columbia and he was coming to the podium to conduct. He was a little guy who looked like a prizefighter with a cigar. I asked somebody who he was. It was Victor Young." (Of course, if one won ders just what a composer of that period was supposed to look like, the public back then might well have suggested stern-looking character actor Victor Francen, who portrayed the stern, temperamental conductor in Tales of Manhattan and stern, temp eramental pianist in The Beast With Five Fingers. And yet Young effortlessly produced something other composers then and now find difficult to serve up -- melody. It's little wonder he found inspiration and kinship in the music of that grea t displaced Russian, Sergei Rachmaninoff, who had himself settled in Los Angeles during Young's career and continued writing in an unashamedly romantic and songful manner. "He was very nice," Hollywood composer Herman Stein said during a lively 1 996 interview, recalling a lunch he enjoyed with Victor Young decades before. "I told him Rachmaninoff was thoroughly underrated as a composer and he said, 'Oh, yes, I agree. He's not just a second-rate Tchaikovsky!' But I think a lot of people h eld that opinion then." Even as scores embraced more brittle hard-edged tones in the 1950s, Young refused to bend to the trends of the times. "He wrote music from the heart," music editor and associate Bill Stinson later remarked of Young. "He h ad so much elody within him. He may have been the best melody writer we ever had in Hollywood." There was little telling what might trigger such melodies. Today his full-blooded scores for such popular, critically successful films as For Whom t he Bells Toll (1943), Samson and Delilah (1949) and Around the World in 80 Days (1956) are frequently cited, yet there is just as much musical merit in less prestigious fare such as Blackbeard the Pirate (1952), bristling with soaring melodies an d memorable battle music and nefarious harmonies. Like the best of Victor Young's music, it is as fully satisfying heard away from the film as it is alongside it. Young's genius as a songwriter, composer and arranger, coupled with his cheerful , pliable personality, certainly won him the respect and affection of many in Hollywood's filmmaking and musical realms. And while such qualities also probably resulted in the overwork that eventually taxed his health and contributed to his deat h at a relatively young age, Young's impact was evident at his jam-packed funeral. No less than Frank Sinatra and Michael Todd showed up to pay tribute to the fallen composer. But perhaps no one in the entertainment business drew so much music f rom Victor Young as Paramount's autocratic director and producer, Cecil B. DeMille, who recognized the exuberance and great appeal of Young's music (as well as Young's amazing industriousness and willingness to tolerate the blunt orders DeMille ro utinely barked to his crew). And so, in 1940, DeMille tapped Young to score Northwest Mounted Police and all manner of spectacle thereafter. Only in 1956 did Young take the highly uncharacteristic move of stepping aside in his long-running colla boration with the demanding (and, whatever else, steadfastly loyal) filmmaker, owing to Young's rapidly declining state of health. Even then, Young did his old boss a supreme favor by recommending to DeMille that a young composer by the name of E lmer Bernstein be tapped for the job -- advice DeMille wisely took. And what a job it was: Composing the score for DeMille's three-and-a-half-hour epic remake The Ten Commandments (1956)
much of it, intentionally or otherwise, showing Young's influence on even the highly individualistic Bernstein. Although Cecil B. DeMille no longer commands the attention he once did as a filmmaker, one cannot deny his presence during the
cinema's first 50 years. Granted, he may have been well on his way to becoming wearily predictable during the final decade of his life, hackneyed in his epics mixing innocuous sex (including a love of leading ladies taking peek-a-boo baths), patr iotism (so that even an army of the truly dead took to the field in The Unconquered) and spectacle (and who has not initially marveled at the parting of the Red Sea in either of his takes on The Ten Commandments). In some ways, DeMille had becom e the P.T. Barnum of Hollywood during his later years, not only tackling all sorts of mammoth, eye-catching spectacle but touting his films with such flamboyance that one felt un-American ignoring DeMille's exhortations that one and all see his la test film. It was only natural then DeMille finally mount a film in a genuine circus, as he did in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). Whatever one thinks of the storyline -- mostly about ambition, jealousy and love among circus stars -- the fil m still has an air of awe about it, with DeMille's cameramen following the high excitement and riveting drama of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus in performance and linking it to their credo that the show must go on -- even afte r a horrible train wreck sets half of the circus animals loose, injures the circus manager and leaves the performers and crew in a quandary over how to make good on their next performance. Victor Young's spirited circus march captures the determi nation and energy behind their drive and the sheer joy at their success, piccolos soaring acrobatically overhead while brass and percussion drive home the point. Even those critics who think some of Young's music is itself a bit too obvious woul d have to concede his upfront talents fit this picture like a glove. Certainly, it's more interesting than most genuine circus marches. One can only begin to appreciate the vast amount of work Young produced when considering his amazing versatil ity. In addition to scoring more than 300 films during the two decades he spent in Hollywood, he also wrote numerous popular songs for some of the best-known singers of the day, proved successful as a recording and radio artist, was peerless whe n it came to arranging, and even found time to compose concert works. When colleagues later remarked that music was a natural part of Young's makeup, they weren't far wrong. Born Aug. 8, 1900, in Chicago, he found music evident throughout the ho use. His father, William Young, was a tenor with the Chicago Opera Company, though he reportedly abandoned his family after the death of Victor's mother. With nowhere else to turn, 10-year-old Victor and his sister Helen went to Poland to be rai sed by elderly grandparents. It was in Warsaw that Victor's musical roots took hold. Thanks to the savings his grandfather had set aside as a tailor, Victor was able to study at the Warsaw Conservatory of Music, devoting much of his attention t o the violin. He must have been an apt pupil. Family tradition has it that Victor's debut as a concert violinist with the Warsaw Philharmonic proved so successful a wealthy music-lover presented him with a 1730 Guarnerius, an instrument Young co ntinued to play upon his return to America. Young's versatility went on parade only after 1914, when his concertizing across Europe was interrupted by World War I. Upon his return to Chicago, he picked up work of all kinds, and in the 1920s he t oured as a concert violinist. However, as his musical gifts became apparent to himself and others, he took a turn toward popular music, quickly finding great success as a songwriter and band leader. A career in radio began in Chicago in the lat e 1920s but eventually moved to New York City. In 1935 he moved to Los Angeles, where he continued his success, forming another ensemble and continuing to air on radio regularly. By this time, he was writing and arranging songs for some of the m ost prominent performers of the day, including Al Jolson and Don Ameche. But even before he began composing film scores for Paramount -- always his home studio,

A remarkably prolific composer, Victor Young wrote songs and underscoring that appeared in hundreds of films which earned him 22 Academy Award nominations during his relatively short career. Although Young died after only twenty years in the busin ess, romance standards like "When I Fall in Love", "Stella By Starlight" and "Love Letters" kept him alive in film credits long past 1956.

The son of a tenor with the Chicago Opera, Young proved a child prodigy, beginning to play the violin at age six. About four years later, following the death of their mother, the young boy and his sister Helen were sent to live with their grandfat her in Poland. Although he was a tailor of meager means, Young's grandfather recognized his charges' musical potential and managed to send them both to study at the Warsaw Conservatory of Music. While still a teenager, Young made his debut as a co ncert violinist at the Warsaw Philharmonic before moving on to tours of Europe and the United States. The classically trained musician proved a remarkably adept composer of popular tunes. His memorable melodies were big hits in his day and live o n as durable standards, songs that remain part of every nightclub singer's repertoire to the present. Young had his first hit with 1928's "Sweet Sue, Just You", and would later find success matching his melodies with evocative scoring, becomin g a prolific and respected film composer.

In 1936 Young began working for Paramount Pictures, first as a musical director and soon as the studio's chief composer and arranger, scoring and arranging nearly 100 feature films there. His ability and versatility were proven with his flawless w ork on such disparate efforts as the large scale Western "Wells Fargo" (1937), the zany Preston Sturges comedy "The Palm Beach Story (1942) and the Raymond Chandler-penned suspenseful drama "The Blue Dahlia" (1946). Young's notable Paramount featu res also include his magnificent scoring of the 1943 war drama "For Whom the Bell Tolls", the atmospheric accompaniment to Fritz Lang's "Ministry of Fear" (1944), his melodic and heart-wrenching music for the moving melodrama "To Each His Own" (19 46) and the unforgettable score for "Shane" (1953). His capabilities as a film composer, and particularly as a memorable theme writer, could often make an otherwise unremarkable movie noteworthy, as was the case with 1945's "Love Letters", largel y uninspired aside from Young's romantic title tune.

Remarkably prolific, the composer's credit appeared in dozens of films for studios other than Paramount. Young did outstanding work at Republic Pictures, his compositions including the dulcet theme for "Rio Grande" (1950), the lilting take on trad itional music for "The Quiet Man" (1952), and the dramatic scoring for the flamboyant Western "Johnny Guitar" (1954). His work for other studios also won him several Oscar nominations, including the original score to Columbia Pictures' "Golden Boy " (1939), and the title songs of both "My Foolish Heart" (RKO, 1950) and "Written on the Wind" (Universal, 1956)--both of which also proved top chart hits.

The composer teamed up with various lyricists during his career, most frequently and most notably with Ned Washington, who put words to Young's classics including "My Foolish Heart" and "Stella by Starlight". Other lyric contributors include Arthu r Freed, writer of "Wells Fargo", and "Love Letters" lyricist Edward Heyman. In addition to his busy film career, the composer won an Emmy Award for his work as musical director of the special "Light's Diamond Jubilee" (1954), a television celebra tion of Edison's invention of the light bulb that aired on the then-four major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Dumont). He was also the musical director of "The Milton Berle Show" (NBC, 1955-56). After his 1956 death, Young finally won an Academy Awar d for that year's sublime score to "Around the World in 80 Days".

  Noted events in his life were:

• Death in week. Saturday

• Jewish Birth Date. 26 Av 5759

• Birth in Week. Sunday

• Yahrtzeit. 6 Kislev 5717

Victor married Margarita Kinel on Apr 20, 1922 in Hollywood, California, United States.² (Margarita Kinel was born on Mar 21, 1893 in Nur, Lomza, Warszawa, Poland,² died in 1960 in Beverly Hills, California, United States ² and was buried in 1960 in Beth Olam (Hollywood Forever), Hollywood, California, United States.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Marriage In Week. Saturday

• Jewish Marriage Date. 24 Nisan 5682