Hugo Friedhofer
Sound
Born: May 3, 1901 · San Francisco, California, USA
Died: May 17, 1981 (aged 80)
Biography
Hugo Wilhelm Friedhofer (May 3, 1901 – May 17, 1981) was an American composer and cellist best known for his motion picture scores. Friedhofer was born in San Francisco, California, United States. His father, Paul, was a cellist trained in Dresden, Germany; his mother, Eva König, was born in Germany. Friedhofer began playing cello at the age of 13. After taking lessons in harmony and counterpoint at University of California, Berkeley, he was employed as a cellist for the People's Symphony Orchestra. In 1929, he relocated to Hollywood, where he performed as a musician for Fox Studios productions such as Sunny Side Up (1920) and Grand Canary (1934). Later, he was hired as an orchestrator for Warner Bros. and worked on more than 50 films for the studio. While at Warners he was largely assigned to work with Max Steiner and, because he could speak German, Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Steiner, in particular, relied on Friedhofer's skill in turning his sketches into a full orchestral score. In 1937, Friedhofer composed his first full-length film score, The Adventures of Marco Polo. Though he was still employed as an orchestrator through the 1930s and into the 1940s, he gradually received more assignments as a composer. In 1942, he composed the score for the film Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas. In 1946, Friedhofer was hired to compose the score for the 1946 William Wyler directed film, The Best Years of Our Lives, which earned him an Oscar for Best Original Score at the 1947 Academy Awards, beating Bernard Herrmann, Miklós Rózsa, William Walton and Franz Waxman. A new recording of the score, released in 1979 by Entr'acte Recording Society, was favorably received at the time. Friedhofer was also nominated for other films, including The Bishop's Wife, Joan of Arc, Above and Beyond, Between Heaven and Hell, Boy on a Dolphin, An Affair to Remember, and The Young Lions. Friedhofer, who was greatly admired by his colleagues, was also noted for his caustic, self-deprecating wit. When asked by fellow composer David Raksin as to the progress he was making on his score for Joan of Arc, he replied, "I've just started on the barbecue!". In reply to an interview by Page Cook, the film music critic at Films in Review magazine, who inquired about his place in the pantheon of film musicians, Friedhofer said, "I am just a fake giant among real pygmies." A biographical collection of essays, letters and interviews has been edited by Linda Danly. He died at St. Vincent Hospsital from complications of a fall on May 17, 1981. Description above from the Wikipedia page Hugo Friedhofer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Photos (1)
Self / Appearances (1)
Other Crew (140)
Outlaws
Original Music Composer
Casablanca
Orchestrator
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Orchestrator
Gilda
Original Music Composer
How Green Was My Valley
Orchestrator
The Bishop's Wife
Original Music Composer
The Best Years of Our Lives
Original Music Composer
The Woman in the Window
Music
One-Eyed Jacks
Original Music Composer
Broken Arrow
Original Music Composer
Mildred Pierce
Orchestrator
Hondo
Original Music Composer
Arsenic and Old Lace
Orchestrator
Ace in the Hole
Original Music Composer
Vera Cruz
Original Music Composer
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Orchestrator
The Black Swan
Original Music Composer
The Harder They Fall
Original Music Composer
Jezebel
Orchestrator
The Young Lions
Original Music Composer
Sergeant York
Orchestrator
An Affair to Remember
Original Music Composer
You Only Live Once
Additional Music
Violent Saturday
Original Music Composer
They Drive by Night
Orchestrator
The Rains of Ranchipur
Original Music Composer
Now, Voyager
Music Arranger
Deep in My Heart
Orchestrator
The Cowboy and the Lady
Orchestrator
The Prisoner of Shark Island
Original Music Composer
The Prisoner of Zenda
Orchestrator
Never So Few
Original Music Composer
The Oklahoma Kid
Additional Music
Belle of the Yukon
Original Music Composer
The Sea Wolf
Music Arranger
Lifeboat
Original Music Composer
Between Heaven and Hell
Original Music Composer
Geronimo
Music
China Girl
Original Music Composer
The Sun Also Rises
Music
White Feather
Original Music Composer
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
Original Music Composer
Santa Fe Trail
Orchestrator
The Gang's All Here
Music
The Letter
Orchestrator
Made for Each Other
Music
Dark Victory
Orchestrator
Kid Galahad
Orchestrator
Topper Takes a Trip
Music
A Song Is Born
Original Music Composer
A Song Is Born
Music Director
Watch on the Rhine
Orchestrator
The Lodger
Original Music Composer
Boy on a Dolphin
Original Music Composer
Captain Carey, U.S.A.
Music
Beloved Enemy
Orchestrator
Soldier of Fortune
Music
The Adventures of Marco Polo
Original Music Composer
Juarez
Orchestrator
The Secret Invasion
Original Music Composer
Each Dawn I Die
Orchestrator
The Revolt of Mamie Stover
Original Music Composer
Body and Soul
Original Music Composer
Joan of Arc
Original Music Composer
Just Imagine
Original Music Composer
Why We Fight: Prelude to War
Music
The Barbarian and the Geisha
Original Music Composer
I Married a Monster from Outer Space
Original Music Composer
Private Parts
Original Music Composer
Seven Cities of Gold
Original Music Composer
Peter Ibbetson
Original Music Composer
Tovarich
Orchestrator
Von Richthofen and Brown
Original Music Composer
No Man of Her Own
Original Music Composer
Two Flags West
Original Music Composer
Homicidal
Original Music Composer
Homicidal
Conductor
The Constant Nymph
Orchestrator
This Earth Is Mine
Music
Dangerous Crossing
Additional Music
The Sound of Fury
Music
Edge of Doom
Original Music Composer
Along Came Jones
Original Music Composer
Thunder in the East
Original Music Composer
The Conspirators
Additional Music
Woman Obsessed
Original Music Composer
Lydia Bailey
Music
Skyline
Music
Sealed Verdict
Music
The Trial of Vivienne Ware
Original Music Composer
The Corn Is Green
Music Arranger
The Hurricane
Orchestrator
Wing and a Prayer
Original Music Composer
Virginia City
Orchestrator
Beauty and the Beast
Original Music Composer
The Great Lie
Orchestrator
The Man I Love
Orchestrator
The Dawn Patrol
Orchestrator
The Old Maid
Orchestrator
The Hard Way
Orchestrator
Die Sister, Die!
Original Music Composer
So Dark the Night
Original Music Composer
Crime School
Orchestrator
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
Original Music Composer
In Love and War
Original Music Composer
Dust Be My Destiny
Orchestrator
Three Came Home
Original Music Composer
Cry Danger
Music
One Rainy Afternoon
Orchestrator
Valley of the Giants
Orchestrator
Brewster's Millions
Original Music Composer
Goldie
Music
The Over the Hill Gang
Original Music Composer
The Blue Angel
Music
Four Wives
Orchestrator
Rose of the Rancho
Original Music Composer
Devotion
Orchestrator
Man in the Attic
Original Music Composer
You Can't Get Away with Murder
Orchestrator
Zoo in Budapest
Original Music Composer
The Yellow Ticket
Original Music Composer
Queen for a Day
Music
Way Down East
Original Music Composer
Enchantment
Original Music Composer
Amateur Daddy
Original Music Composer
The Pied Piper
Additional Music
They Came to Blow Up America
Original Music Composer
That Certain Woman
Orchestrator
The Spider
Original Music Composer
The Swordsman
Music
The Marrying Kind
Original Music Composer
Adventures of Casanova
Original Music Composer
Wild Harvest
Original Music Composer
Transatlantic
Original Music Composer
The First Year
Music
After Tomorrow
Original Music Composer
Law of the Harem
Music
Melodía prohibida
Music
Home in Indiana
Original Music Composer
Seven Faces
Original Music Composer