Biography
Frank Skinner (December 31, 1897 – October 9, 1968) was an American film composer and arranger.
Skinner was born in Meredosia, Illinois. A graduate of the Chicago Musical College (now known as the Chicago Conservatory of Music), 16-year-old Frank found employment in vaudeville and began playing in local areas with his brother Carl Skinner of Meredosia Illinois on drums. They were billed as the Skinner Brothers dance band. From there they began playing on the steamboats that went up and down the Illinois River. It was during this time that he began writing and arranging music for dance bands. This work brought him to New York, where from 1925 to 1935 he arranged about 2000 popular songs for Robbins Publishing. By the time he left Manhattan for Hollywood, he had written two books on arranging for dance bands.
After a short period at MGM, working on musical settings for The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Skinner was hired by Universal Studios. Over the course of his 30 years there, he composed music for more than 200 films. Although he continued to work on musicals, he quickly mastered the art of dramatic scores, eventually earning five Academy Award nominations (1938–43). He died in Beverly Hills, California, leaving behind his wife Dolly Repine Skinner.
His distinctive approach to scoring horror films, such as Son of Frankenstein (1939) and The Wolf Man (1941), has been characterized as a ‘passion for chromatic lines … mirrored contours … [and] restrained, yet ominously mythical orchestrations’ (Marcello). He gained new recognition in the 1950s for his lush romantic scores, including those for such Douglas Sirk films as Magnificent Obsession (1954) and Written on the Wind (1956). Despite many changes in the film industry, his book Underscore (1950) has survived as an excellent introduction to film music composition.
In 2014, Dallas pre-swing orchestra, The Singapore Slingers released a fifteen-track CD homage to Skinner's arrangements.
Filmography
all 219
Movies 219
Director 1
Producer 1
Saboteur: A Closer Look (2000)
The Ride to Hangman's Tree (1967)
Let's Kill Uncle (1966)
The Appaloosa (1966)
Madame X (1966)
The Wolf Man (1966)
Shenandoah (1965)
The Sword of Ali Baba (1965)
Kitten with a Whip (1964)
Bullet for a Badman (1964)
Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
Tammy and the Doctor (1963)
The Ugly American (1963)
Back Street (1961)
Midnight Lace (1960)
Portrait in Black (1960)
Imitation of Life (1959)
The Restless Years (1958)
The Perfect Furlough (1958)
Kathy O' (1958)
Once Upon a Horse... (1958)
Step Down to Terror (1958)
This Happy Feeling (1958)
The Tarnished Angels (1957)
Interlude (1957)
My Man Godfrey (1957)
Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)
Tammy and the Bachelor (1957)
The Midnight Story (1957)
The Tattered Dress (1957)
Battle Hymn (1957)
Written on the Wind (1956)
Away All Boats (1956)
The Rawhide Years (1956)
Star in the Dust (1956)
Never Say Goodbye (1956)
All That Heaven Allows (1955)
Lady Godiva of Coventry (1955)
One Desire (1955)
Foxfire (1955)
The Shrike (1955)
Revenge of the Creature (1955)
Chief Crazy Horse (1955)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955)
Six Bridges to Cross (1955)
Destry (1954)
Sign of the Pagan (1954)
The Black Shield of Falworth (1954)
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
Saskatchewan (1954)
Taza, Son of Cochise (1954)
The Far Country (1954)
Forbidden (1953)
Back to God's Country (1953)
The Stand at Apache River (1953)
Wings of the Hawk (1953)
The Man from the Alamo (1953)
Thunder Bay (1953)
Desert Legion (1953)
The Mississippi Gambler (1953)
Because of You (1952)
The Black Castle (1952)
The World in His Arms (1952)
It Grows on Trees (1952)
Bonzo Goes to College (1952)
Lost in Alaska (1952)
Sally and Saint Anne (1952)
No Room for the Groom (1952)
Bend of the River (1952)
Week-End with Father (1951)
The Raging Tide (1951)
The Lady Pays Off (1951)
Iron Man (1951)
Bright Victory (1951)
Comin' Round the Mountain (1951)
The Mark of the Renegade (1951)
The Strange Door (1951)
Hollywood Story (1951)
Francis Goes to the Races (1951)
Double Crossbones (1951)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
Bedtime for Bonzo (1951)
Harvey (1950)
Katie Did It (1950)
The Sleeping City (1950)
Shakedown (1950)
The Desert Hawk (1950)
Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950)
Winchester '73 (1950)
Spy Hunt (1950)
Louisa (1950)
Comanche Territory (1950)
One Way Street (1950)
Francis (1950)
Bagdad (1949)
Free For All (1949)
Abandoned (1949)
Red Hot and Blue (1949)
The Gal Who Took the West (1949)
Sword in the Desert (1949)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949)
The Lady Gambles (1949)
Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949)
The Life of Riley (1949)
Tulsa (1949)
The Fighting O'Flynn (1949)
Mexican Hayride (1948)
Family Honeymoon (1948)
For the Love of Mary (1948)
Tap Roots (1948)
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Hazard (1948)
The Naked City (1948)
The Exile (1947)
Ride the Pink Horse (1947)
The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
The Egg and I (1947)
Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (1947)
I'll Be Yours (1947)
Swell Guy (1946)
The Dark Mirror (1946)
Black Angel (1946)
Canyon Passage (1946)
Her Adventurous Night (1946)
The Runaround (1946)
She-Wolf of London (1946)
Night in Paradise (1946)
Frontier Gal (1945)
Pillow of Death (1945)
Strange Confession (1945)
Secret Agent X-9 (1945)
The Jungle Captive (1945)
Here Come the Co-eds (1945)
The Suspect (1945)
Destiny (1944)
The Mummy's Curse (1944)
Hi, Beautiful (1944)
House of Frankenstein (1944)
In Society (1944)
Reckless Age (1944)
The Mummy's Ghost (1944)
South of Dixie (1944)
Jungle Woman (1944)
Phantom Lady (1944)
Gung Ho! (1943)
Crazy House (1943)
Fired Wife (1943)
We've Never Been Licked (1943)
Hers to Hold (1943)
Two Tickets to London (1943)
All by Myself (1943)
Captive Wild Woman (1943)
White Savage (1943)
Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)
It Ain't Hay (1943)
Keep 'Em Slugging (1943)
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943)
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942)
Arabian Nights (1942)
Mug Town (1942)
Nightmare (1942)
Who Done It? (1942)
The Mummy's Tomb (1942)
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)
Invisible Agent (1942)
There's One Born Every Minute (1942)
Lady in a Jam (1942)
Eagle Squadron (1942)
Tough as They Come (1942)
Saboteur (1942)
Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942)
Jail House Blues (1942)
Hellzapoppin' (1941)
The Wolf Man (1941)
Keep 'Em Flying (1941)
Appointment for Love (1941)
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941)
Moonlight in Hawaii (1941)
Hold That Ghost (1941)
The Flame of New Orleans (1941)
Riders of Death Valley (1941)
In the Navy (1941)
The Black Cat (1941)
The Lady from Cheyenne (1941)
Horror Island (1941)
Man-Made Monster (1941)
Nice Girl? (1941)
Back Street (1941)
The Invisible Woman (1940)
One Night in the Tropics (1940)
Seven Sinners (1940)
The Mummy's Hand (1940)
Hired Wife (1940)
When the Daltons Rode (1940)
South to Karanga (1940)
La Conga Nights (1940)
The House of the Seven Gables (1940)
It's a Date (1940)
Black Friday (1940)
My Little Chickadee (1940)
Green Hell (1940)
The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
The Big Guy (1939)
Charlie McCarthy, Detective (1939)
Destry Rides Again (1939)
Tower of London (1939)
One Hour To Live (1939)
First Love (1939)
The House of Fear (1939)
The Sun Never Sets (1939)
Ex-Champ (1939)
Big Town Czar (1939)
Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939)
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
That Certain Age (1938)
The Rage of Paris (1938)
Wives Under Suspicion (1938)
Mad About Music (1938)
One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937)
Ratings
Information
Known ForSound
GenderMale
Birthday1897-12-31
Deathday1968-10-08 (70 years old)
Birth PlaceMeredosia, United States of America
CitizenshipsUnited States of America
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