Hugo Friedhofer
- Known for
- Sound
- Born
- May 3, 1901
- Died
- May 17, 1981 (aged 80)
- Birthplace
- San Francisco, California, USA
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.
Known For
Filmography
Die Sister, Die!
Movie · Original Music Composer
Private Parts
Movie · Original Music Composer
Von Richthofen and Brown
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Over the Hill Gang
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Secret Invasion
Movie · Original Music Composer
Geronimo
Movie · Music
Beauty and the Beast
Movie · Original Music Composer
Homicidal
Movie · Original Music Composer, Conductor
One-Eyed Jacks
Movie · Original Music Composer
Outlaws
TV · Original Music Composer · 1 ep
Never So Few
Movie · Original Music Composer
Woman Obsessed
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Blue Angel
Movie · Music
This Earth Is Mine
Movie · Music
The Young Lions
Movie · Original Music Composer
I Married a Monster from Outer Space
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Barbarian and the Geisha
Movie · Original Music Composer
In Love and War
Movie · Original Music Composer
An Affair to Remember
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Sun Also Rises
Movie · Music
Boy on a Dolphin
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Harder They Fall
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Revolt of Mamie Stover
Movie · Original Music Composer
Between Heaven and Hell
Movie · Original Music Composer
Violent Saturday
Movie · Original Music Composer
White Feather
Movie · Original Music Composer
Seven Cities of Gold
Movie · Original Music Composer
Soldier of Fortune
Movie · Music
The Rains of Ranchipur
Movie · Original Music Composer
Vera Cruz
Movie · Original Music Composer
Deep in My Heart
Movie · Orchestrator
Hondo
Movie · Original Music Composer
Man in the Attic
Movie · Original Music Composer
Plunder of the Sun
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
Movie · Original Music Composer
Lydia Bailey
Movie · Music
The Marrying Kind
Movie · Original Music Composer
Thunder in the East
Movie · Original Music Composer
Ace in the Hole
Movie · Original Music Composer
Queen for a Day
Movie · Music
Cry Danger
Movie · Music
The Sound of Fury
Movie · Music
No Man of Her Own
Movie · Original Music Composer
Edge of Doom
Movie · Original Music Composer
Two Flags West
Movie · Original Music Composer
Three Came Home
Movie · Original Music Composer
Captain Carey, U.S.A.
Movie · Music
Broken Arrow
Movie · Original Music Composer
Sealed Verdict
Movie · Music
The Swordsman
Movie · Music
Joan of Arc
Movie · Original Music Composer
Adventures of Casanova
Movie · Original Music Composer
A Song Is Born
Movie · Original Music Composer, Music Director
Enchantment
Movie · Original Music Composer
Body and Soul
Movie · Original Music Composer
Wild Harvest
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Bishop's Wife
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Beast with Five Fingers
Movie · Music Arranger
The Best Years of Our Lives
Movie · Original Music Composer
Gilda
Movie · Original Music Composer
So Dark the Night
Movie · Original Music Composer
Devotion
Movie · Orchestrator
The Man I Love
Movie · Orchestrator
Along Came Jones
Movie · Original Music Composer
Brewster's Millions
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Corn Is Green
Movie · Music Arranger
Mildred Pierce
Movie · Orchestrator
The Lodger
Movie · Original Music Composer
Belle of the Yukon
Movie · Original Music Composer
Arsenic and Old Lace
Movie · Orchestrator
The Woman in the Window
Movie · Music
Home in Indiana
Movie · Original Music Composer
Wing and a Prayer
Movie · Original Music Composer
Lifeboat
Movie · Original Music Composer
They Came to Blow Up America
Movie · Original Music Composer
Casablanca
Movie · Orchestrator
The Constant Nymph
Movie · Orchestrator
The Hard Way
Movie · Orchestrator
The Gang's All Here
Movie · Music
Watch on the Rhine
Movie · Orchestrator
The Black Swan
Movie · Original Music Composer
Now, Voyager
Movie · Music Arranger
China Girl
Movie · Original Music Composer
Why We Fight: Prelude to War
Movie · Music
The Sea Wolf
Movie · Music Arranger
The Great Lie
Movie · Orchestrator
Sergeant York
Movie · Orchestrator
How Green Was My Valley
Movie · Orchestrator
The Letter
Movie · Orchestrator
Virginia City
Movie · Orchestrator
They Drive by Night
Movie · Orchestrator
Santa Fe Trail
Movie · Orchestrator
Juarez
Movie · Orchestrator
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Movie · Orchestrator
Dark Victory
Movie · Orchestrator
Made for Each Other
Movie · Music
Four Wives
Movie · Orchestrator
The Old Maid
Movie · Orchestrator
Dust Be My Destiny
Movie · Orchestrator
Each Dawn I Die
Movie · Orchestrator
You Can't Get Away with Murder
Movie · Orchestrator
Topper Takes a Trip
Movie · Music
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Movie · Orchestrator
The Dawn Patrol
Movie · Orchestrator
Jezebel
Movie · Orchestrator
Crime School
Movie · Orchestrator
The Cowboy and the Lady
Movie · Orchestrator
Valley of the Giants
Movie · Orchestrator
The Adventures of Marco Polo
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Hurricane
Movie · Orchestrator
The Prisoner of Zenda
Movie · Orchestrator
Tovarich
Movie · Orchestrator
That Certain Woman
Movie · Orchestrator
Kid Galahad
Movie · Orchestrator
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
Movie · Original Music Composer
Rose of the Rancho
Movie · Original Music Composer
One Rainy Afternoon
Movie · Orchestrator
Beloved Enemy
Movie · Orchestrator
The Prisoner of Shark Island
Movie · Original Music Composer
Peter Ibbetson
Movie · Original Music Composer
Way Down East
Movie · Original Music Composer
Zoo in Budapest
Movie · Original Music Composer
Melodía prohibida
Movie · Music
Amateur Daddy
Movie · Original Music Composer
After Tomorrow
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Trial of Vivienne Ware
Movie · Original Music Composer
The First Year
Movie · Music
Goldie
Movie · Music
Transatlantic
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Spider
Movie · Original Music Composer
The Yellow Ticket
Movie · Original Music Composer
Skyline
Movie · Music
Law of the Harem
Movie · Music
Just Imagine
Movie · Original Music Composer
Seven Faces
Movie · Original Music Composer