Heinz Roemheld

Last updated
Heinz Roemheld
Born
Heinrich Erich Roemheld

(1901-05-01)May 1, 1901
DiedFebruary 11, 1985(1985-02-11) (aged 83)
Education Milwaukee College of Music
OccupationComposer
Spouse
Emeline Defnet
(divorced)
Children2
Parent(s)Heinrich Roemheld (father)
Fanny Rauterberg Roemheld (mother)

Heinz Roemheld (May 1, 1901 – February 11, 1985) was an American composer.

Contents

Early life and career

Born Heinz Eric Roemheld in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he was one of four children of German immigrant Heinrich Roemheld and his wife Fanny Rauterberg Roemheld. Heinrich was a pharmacist, but all the members of the family were musical. His brother Edgar Roemheld (1898-1964) became a conductor. His sister Irmgard Roemheld (1904-1995) became a well-known Milwaukee music teacher and radio broadcaster.

Roemheld was a child prodigy who began playing the piano at four. He graduated from the Milwaukee College of Music at 19 and performed in theaters to earn money to study piano in Europe. In 1920, he went to Berlin, where he studied with Hugo Kaun, Ferruccio Busoni, and Egon Petri. While there, he appeared in concert with the Berlin Philharmonic. [1]

When he returned to America, Roemheld became involved in music for silent movies, both as a pianist and conductor. In 1925, he was sent back to Berlin as head of Universal Pictures theaters there but had to leave in 1929 due to the rise of Nazism.[ citation needed ]

Back in America, Roemheld moved to Los Angeles and became a prominent cinema composer. He scored some scenes in Gone with the Wind , including the burning of Atlanta, although he was not credited on-screen. In 1942, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Music Score for Yankee Doodle Dandy . Among the more than 400 other films for which he composed music were Gentleman Jim , The Lady From Shanghai , The Invisible Man , and Shine On, Harvest Moon .[ citation needed ]

After World War II, Roemheld returned to Germany to become Chief of the Film, Theatre, and Music Section of the Information Central Division of The American Armies in Europe. He continued writing for several major film studios until the late 1950s and, after briefly working in television, he retired in 1964 to concentrate on classical composition. He is best known for the song "Ruby" from the movie Ruby Gentry (1952), which has become a standard.

Personal life

He married a former Miss Milwaukee, Emeline Defnet (1901-1980), from whom he was later divorced. They had two daughters, Mary Lou Roemheld, who was married for years to game show host Jack Narz, and Ann Roemheld, who married game show host Bill Cullen. [2]

Death

Roemheld died on February 11, 1985, at a convalescent home in Huntington Beach after contracting pneumonia three weeks earlier. [2]

Partial filmography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Meeker</span> American actor (1904–1984)

George Meeker was an American character film and Broadway actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley Andrews</span> American actor (1891–1969)

Stanley Martin Andrews was an American actor perhaps best known as the voice of Daddy Warbucks on the radio program Little Orphan Annie and later as "The Old Ranger", the first host of the syndicated western anthology television series, Death Valley Days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lester Matthews</span> English actor (1900–1975)

Arthur Lester Matthews was an English actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Wolfe</span> American actor (1896–1992)

Ian Marcus Wolfe was an American character actor with around 400 film and television credits. Until 1934, he worked in the theatre. That year, he appeared in his first film role and later television, as a character actor. His career lasted seven decades and included many films and TV series; his last screen credit was in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley Blystone</span> American actor (1894–1956)

William Stanley Blystone was an American film actor who made more than 500 films appearances from 1924 to 1956. He was sometimes billed as William Blystone or William Stanley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Sawyer</span> Canadian actor (1906–1982)

Joe Sawyer was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1927 and 1962, and was sometimes billed under his birth name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Hicks</span> American actor (1895–1957)

Edward Russell Hicks was an American film character actor. Hicks was born in 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland. During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army in France. He later became a lieutenant colonel in the California State Guard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thurston Hall</span> American actor (1882–1958)

Ernest Thurston Hall was an American film, stage and television actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Flavin</span> American actor (1906–1976)

James William Flavin Jr. was an American character actor whose stage, film, and television career lasted some forty years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Mower</span> American actor (1890–1965)

Jack Mower was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 520 films between 1914 and 1965. He was born in Honolulu and died in Hollywood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Gargan</span> American actor (died 1964)

Edward Gargan was an American film and television actor.

George Magrill was an American film actor who appeared in more than 320 films between 1923 and 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Cording</span> English-American actor (1891–1954)

Hector William "Harry" Cording was an English-American actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his roles in the films The Black Cat (1934) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Wessel</span> American actor (1913–1965)

Richard Michael Wessel was an American film actor who appeared in more than 270 films between 1935 and 1966. He is best remembered for his only leading role, a chilling portrayal of strangler Harry "Cueball" Lake in Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946), and for his appearances as comic villains opposite The Three Stooges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Selmer Jackson</span> American actor (1888–1971)

Selmer Adolf Jackson was an American stage film and television actor. He appeared in nearly 400 films between 1921 and 1963. His name was sometimes spelled Selmar Jackson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Bildt</span> German actor (1885–1957)

Paul Hermann Bildt was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1910 and 1956. He was born in Berlin and died in Zehlendorf, West Berlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Newell (actor)</span> American actor

William M. Newell was an American film actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Stanton (actor)</span> American character actor (1884–1955)

Paul Stanton was an American character actor and bit-part player in American films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Keane (actor)</span> American actor (1884–1959)

Edward Keane was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 300 films between 1921 and 1955.

Herbert Heywood was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1915 and 1950.

References

  1. Heinz Roemheld at AllMusic "Milwaukee-born Heinz Roemheld followed a circuitous route to a career as a film composer. At age four, he was identified as a piano prodigy; he later studied with Ferruccio Busoni and Egon Petri in Berlin and performed as a guest soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic at 23."
  2. 1 2 "Obituary". Chicago Tribune . February 13, 1985. Retrieved May 1, 2019.