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.
Herbert Stothart
May 19th, 2017