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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