Morris Stoloff

Morris Stoloff
Los Angeles Times

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Morris Stoloff
Music: South side of the 6700 block of Hollywood Boulevard
Classical Musician | Composer | Orchestra Leader
Born Aug. 1, 1898 in Philadelphia, PA
Died April 16, 1980 in Motion Picture and Television Country House, CA

Morris Stoloff determined the musical treatment in dozens of Columbia Pictures' most successful productions for nearly three decades.

One of the last of Hollywood's musicologists from the golden days of film, Stoloff was nominated 17 times for an Academy Award for musical scoring and won three: "Cover Girl" (1944), "The Jolson Story" (1946) and "Song Without End" (1960).

He told friends that "The Jolson Story" provided his greatest challenge and involved not only the scoring of the film itself but hours of research into the musical productions during Al Jolson's years on Broadway. Stoloff estimated he spent more than 1,500 hours working on the film — more than the director himself.

Stoloff was a child prodigy on violin. While in his early 20s, he became first violinist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and by 1928 had become concertmaster of the Paramount studio orchestra, a move that coincided with the advent of sound pictures.

Among his awards and nominations, in 1957 he received the Billboard and Downbeat awards for his space age pop "Moonglow," the theme from "Picnic."

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    Academy Awards

    Year Category Work
    1938 Best Score Girls School Nomination*
    1941 Best Scoring of a Musical Picture You'll Never Get Rich Nomination
    1941 Best Scoring of a Dramatic Picture Ladies in Retirement Nomination*
    1942 Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture The Talk of the Town Nomination*
    1943 Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture The Commandos Strike at Dawn Nomination*
    1943 Best Scoring of a Musical Picture Something to Shout About Nomination
    1944 Best Scoring of a Musical Picture Cover Girl Win*
    1944 Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Address Unknown Nomination*
    1945 Best Scoring of a Musical Picture Tonight and Every Night Nomination*
    1945 Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture A Song to Remember Nomination*
    1946 Best Scoring of a Musical Picture The Jolson Story Win
    1949 Best Scoring of a Musical Picture Jolson Sings Again Nomination*
    1953 Best Scoring of a Musical Picture The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. Nomination*
    1953 Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture From Here to Eternity Nomination*
    1956 Best Scoring of a Musical Picture The Eddy Duchin Story Nomination*
    1960 Best Scoring of a Musical Picture Song Without End Win*
    1961 Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Fanny Nomination*
    * A joint nomination shared with other people.

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