George Bassman

George Bassman

Known for: Sound
Biography: 1914-02-07
Deathday: 1997-06-26 (83 years old)

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Biography

George Bassman (February 7, 1914 – June 26, 1997) was an American composer and arranger. Born in New York City to a Ukrainian- and Lithuanian-Jewish émigré couple, Bassman was later raised in Boston and began studying music at the Boston Conservatory while still a boy.

He studied orchestration and composition formally, but in his teens he left home against his father's wishes to play piano in an itinerant jazz group, and subsequently worked as an arranger for Fletcher Henderson in New York.

Through that gig, he became part of the burgeoning swing/big band scene and was soon writing songs as well. Bassman peaked in that career when he and Ned Washington wrote "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" for the bandleader Tommy Dorsey. Bassman also worked in radio as an arranger for Andre Kostelanetz, and made the move to Hollywood in the mid 1930s.

Among his earliest film jobs was orchestrating the Gershwin songs in the Fred Astaire movie A Damsel in Distress at RKO. He later went to work at MGM, where he composed music for the Marx Brothers vehicles A Day at the Races, Go West, and The Big Store, as well as writing or arranging music for such musicals as Lady Be Good and Cabin in the Sky. He also worked on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's 1939 musical The Wizard of Oz (for which he orchestrated the background music used in the tornado scene, poppy-field scene and many of the Emerald City sequences), Babes in Arms, and For Me and My Gal. During his work at MGM, he returned to RKO to supervise the adaptation of the Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart musical Too Many Girls to the big screen. He also worked on dramas, including Vincente Minnelli's The Clock and Tay Garnett's The Postman Always Rings Twice.

Bassman's career was interrupted in the midst of the Red Scare, however, when he admitted in testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee that he had been a member of the Communist party (it was virtually a family legacy, his mother apparently having been a dedicated Communist in the 1910s, when it had a very different meaning than it did in the 1950s).

Bassman left Hollywood after the studios closed their doors to him and returned to New York where he found the theater still open to him. He was engaged to orchestrate the show Guys and Dolls (with Ted Royal), and also composed music for various shows and revues. Although Hollywood was closed to him, Bassman was able to work in television in its early days, as a composer for various live shows and also as a conductor; he eventually composed the music for the live television anthology series Producers' Showcase as well. He also quietly kept his hand in movies, where independent producers were willing to hire him. Among his best scores during this period was his music for The Joe Louis Story (1955); he also got hired to write some music for the Hollywood movie Marty (1955), and Columbia hired him in 1958 to score Middle of the Night.

Bassman had seemingly beaten the blacklist, and without too much inconvenience, but then his professional luck ran out, oddly enough upon his return to MGM for the first time in more than a decade. He clashed with the makers (including director Sam Peckinpah) of what could have been a triumphant comeback, on Ride the High Country (1962). He closed out his film career with Mail Order Bride (1964), and saw several of his scores (including one for Bonnie and Clyde) rejected.

In 1961 he arranged all the music for Mitzi Gaynor's very first nightclub act which debuted at The Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.

Late in his career, he re-orchestrated the 1922 one-act jazz opera by George Gershwin and Buddy DeSylva, Blue Monday. This version has been recorded.In the late 1960s, he acquired ownership of and operated the Savoy Club, a contract bridge club located on Sunset Strip catering to Hollywood personalities and local bridge professionals.

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Filmography

all 47

Movies 47

Director 1

Composer
Mail Order Bride

Mail Order Bride (1964)

Movie
Composer
Ride the High Country

Ride the High Country (1962)

Movie
6
Composer
Middle of the Night

Middle of the Night (1959)

Movie
6
Original Music Composer / Conductor
Mayerling

Mayerling (1957)

Movie
Additional Music / Conductor
Marty

Marty (1955)

Movie
5
Composer
Canyon Crossroads

Canyon Crossroads (1955)

Movie
Composer
Louisiana Territory

Louisiana Territory (1953)

Movie
Composer
The Joe Louis Story

The Joe Louis Story (1953)

Movie
Composer
Marty

Marty (1953)

Movie
Additional Music
Adam's Rib

Adam's Rib (1949)

Movie
6.13
Composer
The Romance of Rosy Ridge

The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947)

Movie
Composer
Little Mister Jim

Little Mister Jim (1947)

Movie
Composer
The Arnelo Affair

The Arnelo Affair (1947)

Movie
Composer
Two Smart People

Two Smart People (1946)

Movie
Composer
The Postman Always Rings Twice

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

Movie
1
Composer
A Letter for Evie

A Letter for Evie (1946)

Movie
Original Music Composer / Music Director
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood (1945)

Movie
Original Music Composer
The Clock

The Clock (1945)

Movie
Composer
Main Street After Dark

Main Street After Dark (1945)

Movie
Composer
The Canterville Ghost

The Canterville Ghost (1944)

Movie
Composer
Whistling in Brooklyn

Whistling in Brooklyn (1943)

Movie
Composer
Young Ideas

Young Ideas (1943)

Movie
Music
Cabin in the Sky

Cabin in the Sky (1943)

Movie
Orchestrator
For Me and My Gal

For Me and My Gal (1942)

Movie
Orchestrator / Vocals
Panama Hattie

Panama Hattie (1942)

Movie
Original Music Composer
Ship Ahoy

Ship Ahoy (1942)

Movie
Orchestrator
Lady Be Good

Lady Be Good (1941)

Movie
Music
The Big Store

The Big Store (1941)

Movie
3.5
Additional Music
Ziegfeld Girl

Ziegfeld Girl (1941)

Movie
Original Music Composer
Go West

Go West (1940)

Movie
1
Original Music Composer
Blondie Brings Up Baby

Blondie Brings Up Baby (1939)

Movie
Original Music Composer / Music Arranger
Babes in Arms

Babes in Arms (1939)

Movie
Orchestrator
The Women

The Women (1939)

Movie
Orchestrator
Stronger Than Desire

Stronger Than Desire (1939)

Movie
Orchestrator
It's a Wonderful World

It's a Wonderful World (1939)

Movie
Additional Music
The Ice Follies of 1939

The Ice Follies of 1939 (1939)

Movie
Orchestrator
Grid Rules

Grid Rules (1938)

Movie
Orchestrator
The Forgotten Step

The Forgotten Step (1938)

Movie
Orchestrator
That Mothers Might Live

That Mothers Might Live (1938)

Movie
Orchestrator
Everybody Sing

Everybody Sing (1938)

Movie
Music Arranger
A Damsel in Distress

A Damsel in Distress (1937)

Movie
Orchestrator
Conquest

Conquest (1937)

Movie
4
Orchestrator
Double Wedding

Double Wedding (1937)

Movie
Music
The Little Maestro

The Little Maestro (1937)

Movie
Orchestrator
Wanted - A Master

Wanted - A Master (1936)

Movie
Orchestrator
Libeled Lady

Libeled Lady (1936)

Movie
6.33
Music
Swing Banditry

Swing Banditry (1936)

Movie

Ratings

Average 5.97
Based on 170 Thousand movie and tv ratings over time
1936
1939
1943
1941
1964
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Information

Known For
Sound

Gender
Male

Birthday
1914-02-07

Deathday
1997-06-26 (83 years old)

Birth Place
New York City, United States of America

Citizenships
United States of America


This article uses material from Wikipedia.
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