Robert E. Dolan

Robert Emmett "Bobby" Dolan (August 3, 1908 – September 26, 1972) was a Broadway conductor, composer and arranger beginning in the 1920s. He moved on to radio in the 1930s, and then went to Hollywood in the early 1940s as a musical director for Paramount. He scored, arranged, and conducted many musical and dramatic films in the 1940s and 1950s and produced three musicals. At the end of his career, he returned to the stage – the place where he began.

Robert E. Dolan was born in Hartford, Connecticut the eldest of 12 children. He studied piano with his mother and was educated in Montreal. He received further musical education at Loyola College (Montreal), later studying extensively with Mortimer Wilson, Joseph Schillinger and Ernst Toch. Dolan started out playing piano for honky-tonk dance bands and musical comedy bands, and in the 1920s began working as a musician, composer, conductor, and musical director in the theater. Some of the Broadway shows he contributed to were "Leave It To Me", "Louisiana Purchase", "Of Thee I Sing" and "Ziegfeld Follies".

In the 1930s, he began work as a composer, conductor and music director in radio. He became music director for MGM in 1941 and then moved on to Paramount, where he was music director for 16 Bing Crosby pictures. He also served as composer and arranger for Ginger Rogers and Betty Hutton; and scored about 60 movies. At the end of his Paramount stay, he was promoted to producer for "White Christmas" (1954), "The Girl Rush" (1955) and "Anything Goes" (1956). He joined ASCAP in 1946 often collaborating with Johnny Mercer and Walter O'Keefe in popular-song compositions. Dolan later worked in television; his work included specials and documentaries. He was a prominent member of Columbia University's music faculty, where he taught orchestration, conducting, and a film score class (based on his book, "Music in Modern Media").

Dolan married and divorced two actresses and had one son with each. His first wife was Vilma Ebsen, the sister of Buddy Ebsen. They were married on June 24, 1933 and divorced in January 1948. Their son's name is Robert Dolan. His second wife was Nan Martin. They were married on March 17, 1948. Their son's name is Casey Martin Dolan.

Dolan died in Los Angeles on September 26, 1972. Funeral services were held there and at Columbia University in New York.

Filmography

*1941 "Birth of the Blues" - Music Composer
*1942 "Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour" - Music Composer
*1942 "Star Spangled Rhythm" - Music Composer, Music Director
*1942 "Once Upon a Honeymoon" - Music Composer
*1942 "The Major and the Minor" - Music Composer
*1942 "Holiday Inn" - Music Director
*1943 "Happy Go Lucky" - Music Director
*1943 "Dixie" - Music Director
*1943 "Let's Face It" - Music Director
*1944 "Going My Way" - Music Director
*1944 "Standing Room Only" - Music Composer
*1944 "Lady in the Dark" - Music Composer, Music Director
*1944 "I Love a Soldier" - Music Composer
*1944 "Here Come the Waves" - Music Composer
*1945 "Bring On the Girls" - Music Director
*1945 "The Stork Club" - Music Director
*1945 "Salty O'Rourke" - Music Composer
*1945 "Road to Utopia" - Music Director
*1945 "Duffy's Tavern" - Music Composer, Music Director
*1945 "Murder, He Says" - Music Composer
*1945 "The Bells of St. Mary's" - Music Composer
*1945 "Incendiary Blonde" - Music Director
*1946 "Blue Skies" - Music Director
*1946 "Cross My Heart" - Music Composer
*1946 "Monsieur Beaucaire" - Music Composer, Music Director
*1947 "Welcome Stranger" - Music Composer
*1947 "The Trouble with Women" - Music Composer
*1947 "Road to Rio" - Music Director
*1947 "Dear Ruth" - Music Composer
*1947 "The Perils of Pauline" - Music Composer
*1947 "My Favorite Brunette" - Music Composer, Music Director
*1948 "Good Sam" - Music Composer
*1948 "Saigon" - Music Composer, Music Director
*1948 "My Own True Love" - Music Composer
*1948 "Mr. Peabody And the Mermaid" - Music Composer
*1949 "The Great Gatsby" - Music Composer
*1949 "Top O' the Morning" - Music Director
*1949 "Sorrowful Jones" - Music Composer
*1950 "Let's Dance" - Music Director
*1952 "My Son John" - Music Composer
*1952 "Aaron Slick From Punkin Crick" - Music Director
*1954 "White Christmas" - Producer
*1956 "Anything Goes" - Producer
*1957 "The Three Faces of Eve" - Music Composer
*1959 "The Man Who Understood Women" - Music Composer

Broadway credits

* "May Wine" - Musical Director - December 6, 1935 – January 6, 1936
* "Forbidden Melody" -Musical Director - November 2, 1936 – November 28, 1936
* "Hooray for What!" - Musical Director - December 1, 1937 – May 21, 1938
* "Leave It To Me" - Musical Director - November 9, 1938 – July 15, 1939
* "Very Warm for May" - Musical Director, Conductor - November 17, 1939 – January 6, 1940
* "Louisiana Purchase" - Musical Director - May 28, 1940 – June 14, 1941
* "Texas Li'l Darlin" - Composer - November 25, 1949 – September 9, 1950
* "Not for Children" - Composer - February 13, 1951 – February 17, 1951
* "Juno" - Musical Director - March 9, 1959 – March 21, 1959
* "A Loss of Roses" - Musical Editor - November 28, 1959 – December 19, 1959
* "Foxy" - Composer - February 16, 1964 – April 18, 1964
* "Coco" -Musical Director - December 18, 1969 – October 3, 1970

Other credits

*1954 "Creature from the Black Lagoon" - Composer (one cue from "Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid" re-used)
*1955 "The Girl Rush" - Producer
* "Of Thee I Sing"
* "Ziegfeld Follies"
* "Good News"
* "Follow Through"
* "Flying Colors"
* "Strike Me Pink"
* "Hot-Cha"
* "La Rose De France" (Paris)
* "Your Heart Will Tell You So" (song)
* "At Last I'm in Love" (song)
* "Little by Little" (song)
* "Hullabaloo" (song)
* "Song of the Highwayman" (song)
* "You" (song)
* "Out of the Past" (song)
* "I Love You" (song)
* "And So to Bed" (song)
* "Glamour Waltz" (song)
* "Big Movie Show in the Sky" (song)
* "A Month of Sundays" (song)
* "Talk to Me, Baby" (song)

Oscar nominations

"All 8 Nominations were for Music Scoring Awards (Scoring of a Musical Picture)":
*1941 "Birth of the Blues"
*1942 "Holiday Inn"
*1943 "Star Spangled Rhythm"
*1944 "Lady in the Dark"
*1945 "The Bells of St. Mary's"
*1945 "Incendiary Blonde"
*1946 "Blue Skies"
*1947 "Road to Rio"

References

*(last accessed May 17, 2006)
* [http://www.mmmrecordings.com/Composers/Dolan/dolan.html MMM Recordings Dolan bio] (last accessed May 17, 2006)