- Saul Chaplin
Infobox actor
name = Saul Chaplin
bgcolour = silver
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birthname = Saul Kaplan
birthdate =February 19 ,1912
birthplace =Brooklyn ,New York , USA flagicon|USA
deathdate =November 15 ,1997 (aged 85)
deathplace =Los Angeles, California , USA
othername =
yearsactive = 1931-1997
spouse = Betty Levin
partner =
children =
parents =
influences =
influenced =
website =
notable role =
academyawards = Best Original Score
1951 "An American in Paris"
1954 "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers "
1961 "West Side Story"
grammyawards = Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media
1962 "West Side Story"Saul Chaplin (
February 19 ,1912 –November 15 ,1997 ) was one ofHollywood 's preeminent composers andmusical director s.He was born Saul Kaplan in
Brooklyn ,New York .He had worked on stage, screen and television since the days ofTin Pan Alley . In film, he won four Oscars for collaborating on the scores and orchestrations of "An American in Paris" (1951), "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1954) and "West Side Story" (1961).Following education at
New York University 's School of Commerce, Chaplin joined theASCAP and started out penning tunes for the theatre,vaudeville and for New York's famous songwriting district, Tin Pan Alley. While in New York, Chaplin teamed withSammy Cahn to compose original songs forVitaphone movie shorts, filmed in Brooklyn byWarner Brothers . During this period the team was sometimes billed only by surname ("Cahn and Chaplin"), in the manner ofRodgers and Hart orGilbert and Sullivan .Cahn and Chaplin relocated to Hollywood and scored two films for
Universal Pictures . Chaplin then moved toColumbia Pictures to score "Cover Girl" and "The Jolson Story ". While on the latter film, Chaplin andAl Jolson penned the million-selling hit tune "The Anniversary Song ". In the late 1940s, Chaplin moved toMGM to work on a long string of films including "On the Town" (1949), "Kiss Me, Kate" (1953), "High Society " (1956) and "Merry Andrew" (1958). For collaborating on such hits as "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen " and "Please Be Kind ", Chaplin was inducted into theSongwriters Hall of Fame in 1985.While he still continued composing, Chaplin became a movie producer in the early '60s and was behind such major features as "West Side Story" (1961), "Can-Can" (1960), "
I Could Go On Singing " (1963), "The Sound of Music" (1965), "STAR!" (1968), "Man of La Mancha" (1972) and "That's Entertainment, Part 2 " (1976). He won Academy Awards for "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers ", "An American in Paris" and "West Side Story" as well as a nomination for "High Society ".He published his autobiography, "
The Golden Age of Movie Musicals and Me " in 1994. Chaplin worked with and was friends with most of the major songwriters and performers of his era, such asCole Porter ,Ira Gershwin ,Al Jolson ,Leonard Bernstein ,Judy Garland ,Gene Kelly ,Phil Silvers ,Julie Andrews ,Frank Sinatra and others. His memoir focused on the behind the scenes aspect of moviemaking.Chaplin was married to
Betty Levin , who worked as script supervisor on "The Sound of Music". In late 1997, the 85-year-old Chaplin suffered a bad fall and on November 15 died as a result of his injuries inCedars-Sinai Medical Center .External links
* [http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibit_home_page.asp?exhibitId=58 Songwriters Hall of Fame page on Saul Chaplin]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6216012 Saul Chaplin's Gravesite]
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