Wizard of Oz Musical

Herbert Stothart was nominated for nine Oscars and won for Best Original Score for his work on the 1939 film of The Wizard of Oz. As a young man, he studied music in Europe and at the University of Wisconsin where he also taught. He worked as a musical director for Arthur Hammerstein and later began writing music for the producer’s nephew Oscar Hammerstein II, including some for the operetta Rose Marie. In 1929 he was signed to a contract by Louis B Mayer and spent the last 20 years of his life at MGM studios working on films including Rose Marie, A Night at the Opera, Anna Karenina, David Copperfield, Madame Curie, Idiot’s Delight, Northwest Passage, Mrs Miniver, Mutiny on the Bounty, National Velvet and What Every Woman Knows.