Victor Young
Victor Young | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Albert Victor Young |
Born | Chicago, Illinois | August 8, 1899
Died | November 10, 1956 Palm Springs, California | (aged 57)
Occupation(s) |
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Instrument(s) | Violin, piano |
Years active | 1920–56 |
Albert Victor Young (August 8, 1899[3]– November 10, 1956)[4][5] was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor.
Biography
Young is commonly said to have been born in
When he graduated from the Warsaw Conservatory, World War I prevented him from returning to the U.S., so he remained in Poland (which was occupied by the Germans), earning his keep by playing with the Philharmonic and in a quartet and a quintet. He also gave lessons. His future wife, Rita Kinel, who met him in late 1918, used to smuggle food to him, for he had neither enough money to buy it nor time to eat it.[7]
He returned to Chicago in 1920 to join the orchestra at Central Park Casino. He then went to Los Angeles to join his Polish fiancée, finding employment first as a fiddler in impresario Sid Grauman's Million Dollar Theatre Orchestra then going on to be appointed concert-master for Paramount-Publix Theatres. After turning to popular music, he worked for a while as violinist-arranger for Ted Fio Rito.[8]
In 1930, Chicago bandleader and radio-star Isham Jones commissioned Young to write a ballad instrumental of Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust", which had been played, up until then, as an up-tempo number. Young slowed it down and played the melody as a gorgeous romantic violin solo[9] which inspired Mitchell Parish to write lyrics for what then became a much-performed love song. Bing Crosby recorded it at least three times: in 1931,[10] 1939,[11] and 1942.[12]
In the mid-1930s, he moved to Hollywood where he concentrated on films, recordings of light music and providing backing for popular singers, including
Records
Young was signed to
In late 1934, Young signed with Decca and continued recording in New York until mid-1936, when he relocated to Los Angeles.
Radio, film and television
On radio, he was the musical director of The Old Gold Don Ameche Show
He received 22
He contributed two tone poems, "White" and "Black", to the 1956 album Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color.
His last scores were for the 1957 films Omar Khayyam, Run of the Arrow and China Gate, which were released after his death. The last was left unfinished at the time of his death and was finished by his long-time friend Max Steiner.
"The Call of the Faraway Hills", which Young had composed for the film Shane, was also used as the theme for the U.S. television series
As an occasional bit player, Young can be glimpsed briefly in The Country Girl (1954) playing a recording studio leader conducting Bing Crosby while he tapes "The Search is Through (You've Got What It Takes).“
Death
Young died on November 10, 1956, in
Broadway
- musical – contributing composer
- Blackbirds of 1933 (1933) – revue – featured songwriter
- Arms and the Girl (1950) – musical – performer for the role of "Son of Liberty"
- Pardon Our French (1950) – revue – composer
- Seventh Heaven (1955) – musical – composer
Awards and nominations
Academy Awards
Year | Film | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1939 | Breaking the Ice
|
Best Original Score | Nominated |
Army Girl | Best Original Score | Nominated | |
1940 | Man of Conquest | Best Original Score | Nominated |
Gulliver's Travels | Best Original Score | Nominated | |
Golden Boy | Best Original Score | Nominated | |
Way Down South | Best Music (Scoring) | Nominated | |
1941 | North West Mounted Police | Best Original Score | Nominated |
Dark Command | Best Original Score | Nominated | |
Arizona | Best Original Score | Nominated | |
Arise, My Love | Best Music, Score | Nominated | |
1942 | Hold Back the Dawn | Best Scoring of a Dramatic Picture | Nominated |
1943 | Take a Letter, Darling | Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture | Nominated |
Silver Queen | Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture | Nominated | |
Flying Tigers | Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture | Nominated | |
1944 | For Whom the Bell Tolls | Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture | Nominated |
1946 | Love Letters | Best Original Song for "Love Letters" (shared with Edward Heyman) | Nominated |
Love Letters | Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture | Nominated | |
1949 | The Emperor Waltz | Best Scoring of a Musical Picture | Nominated |
1950 | My Foolish Heart | Best Original Song for "My Foolish Heart" (shared with Ned Washington) | Nominated |
1951 | Samson and Delilah | Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture | Nominated |
1957 | Around the World in 80 Days | Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture | Won |
Written on the Wind | Best Original Song for "Written on the Wind" (shared with Sammy Cahn) | Nominated |
Golden Globes
Year | Film | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1952 | September Affair | Best Original Score | Won |
1953 | The Quiet Man | Best Original Score | Nominated |
Primetime Emmy Awards
Year | Project | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1955 | Light's Diamond Jubilee | Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Variety Program | Won |
Medic | Best Original Music Composed for TV | Nominated | |
Light's Diamond Jubilee | Best Original Music Composed for TV | Nominated |
References
- ^ "archives.nypl.org -- Victor Young papers". archives.nypl.org. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
- ^ admin (May 24, 2018). "Victor Young Collection". Manhattanville College. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
- ^ a b "Certificate # 19553". Cook County Illinois Birth Certificates – via Familysearch.org.(registration required)
- ^ a b "Victor Young, Composer, Dies of Heart Attack", Oakland Tribune, November 12, 1956.
- ISBN 0028702409.
- ^ Adams, Greg (March 27, 2016). "When Was Victor Young Born?". The Music Weird. Open Publishing. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
- ^ Lola Kinel, Under Five Eagles (1937), chapter 10.
- ^ ISBN 9780199726363
- ^ "1931 Isham Jones - Stardust". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
- ^ "Bing Crosby Victor Young Orchestra - Stardust (1931)". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
- ^ "Stardust ~ Bing Crosby (1939)". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
- ^ "Stardust (1942) - Bing Crosby". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
- ^ "Friday's Highlights" (PDF). Radio and Television Mirror. Vol. 14, no. 3. July 1940. p. 52. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
- ^ ISBN 9780199891474
- ISBN 9780786450190.
- ^ "Brandeis Special Collections". Victor Young Collection. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
External links
- Victor Young Collection of Television Music. UCLA. Performing Arts Special Collections, findaid.oac.cdlib.org.
- Victor Young at IMDb
- Victor Young at the Internet Broadway Database
- Victor Young's Web, victoryoung.czechian.net
- Victor Young Collection at Brandeis University
- Victor Young recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings
- Victor Young Biography Project