
George Stoll
Personal Info
Known for
Sound
Gender
Male
Birthday
1905-05-07
Day of Death
1985-01-18 (79 years old)
Place of Birth
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
George Stoll
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Georgie Stoll (7 May 1905 in Minneapolis, MN – 18 January 1985 in Monterey, CA) was a musical director, conductor, composer and jazz violinist, associated with the Golden Age of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals and performers from the 1940s to 1960s. Born George Martin Stoll, he was also later credited as George E. Stoll (sometimes without the middle initial).
Stoll made his musical debut as a boy violin prodigy, gaining nationwide fame. He toured North America as a jazz violinist on the Fanchon and Marco Vaudeville circuit and was part of the Jazzmania Quintet, appearing with Edythe Flynn in an early 1927 sound short. In San Diego, he became an orchestra and trio leader (his Rhythm Aces) and started to feature with Jack Oakie on radio programs, such as Camel Cigarette and NBC's Shell Oil Program. In 1934, Bing Crosby selected Stoll as his musical director for the second series of the CBS Woodbury radio programs Bing Crosby Entertains. For Decca, Georgie Stoll and His Orchestra accompanied Crosby and Louis Armstrong in the successful 1936 recordings of Pennies from Heaven. Stoll and his orchestra appeared on screen the same year in MGM's Swing Banditry.
In 1937, he joined the MGM music department and was the musical director (frequently conductor too) for titles such as Honolulu, Ice Follies of 1939 and the Rooney-Garland hit Babes in Arms. He conducted the stage band which toured with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney upon the release of The Wizard of Oz. He was given a single "Ruby Slipper" by Judy Garland upon completion of the Wizard of Oz (where he orchestrated the tornado and Wicked Witch's Castle escape scenes with George Bassman). At the studio Stoll worked frequently with the director Edward Buzzell and producers Arthur Freed, Roger Edens and Joe Pasternak. He was also a favorite pinochle-playing buddy of studio head Louis B. Mayer.
Stoll kept his connection with the jazz world and visited clubs looking for rising talent. He recruited one of the first black arrangers at MGM, Calvin Jackson with whom he worked on the original music for his 1945 Oscar-winning score for the Kelly-Sinatra Anchors Aweigh. Stoll also encouraged the teenaged André Previn and used him to write many arrangements.
In 1943, he conducted Garland through the first two of her Decca original cast albums from her popular movies, such as Girl Crazy and Meet Me in St. Louis, which included the hit single The Trolley Song (#3 on Billboard's Best Selling charts). His other recordings were quite eclectic: spanning the popular (often with harmonica virtuosoes Leo Diamond or Larry Adler), easy listening orchestral (e.g. MGM's Hollywood Melodies album) to the postwar American sessions of the tenor Lauritz Melchior.
His career got a final innings boost when Pasternak hired him and his old colleague George Sidney to work with Elvis Presley on some of his later and better pictures (e.g. Viva Las Vegas and Spinout). After 9 Oscar nominations (last in 1962 for Billy Rose's Jumbo), Stoll retired upon completing the original music for the Ann-Margret vehicle Made in Paris.
In October 2009, Stoll's Amati violin was sold by Tarisio Auctions for $620,000, the current world record for a Nicolo Amati sold at auction.
Known For
Acting
(1936)
Swing Banditry
as Orchestra Leader
Crew
(1966)
Spinout
Original Music Composer
(1966)
Made in Paris
Original Music Composer
(1965)
(1965)
Girl Happy
Original Music Composer
(1964)
Viva Las Vegas
Original Music Composer
(1963)
The Courtship of Eddie's Father
Conductor, Original Music Composer
(1962)
The Horizontal Lieutenant
Original Music Composer
(1962)
Billy Rose's Jumbo
Music Supervisor, Conductor
(1960)
Where the Boys Are
Original Music Composer
(1959)
For the First Time
Original Music Composer
(1957)
Ten Thousand Bedrooms
Music Supervisor
(1956)
The Opposite Sex
Songs, Music Supervisor, Original Music Composer
(1955)
Love Me or Leave Me
Music Supervisor
(1955)
Hit the Deck
Original Music Composer
(1954)
Rose Marie
Songs
(1954)
Athena
Original Music Composer
(1954)
The Student Prince
Original Music Composer
(1953)
Easy to Love
Music Director
(1953)
I Love Melvin
Music Director
(1953)
Dangerous When Wet
Music Director
(1952)
Skirts Ahoy!
Music Director, Original Music Composer
(1952)
Glory Alley
Music Director
(1951)
Father's Little Dividend
Conductor
(1950)
Duchess of Idaho
Music Director
(1950)
Two Weeks with Love
Music Director
(1949)
Neptune's Daughter
Original Music Composer
(1949)
In the Good Old Summertime
Original Music Composer
(1948)
The Kissing Bandit
Music Director
(1948)
A Date with Judy
Music Director
(1945)
Anchors Aweigh
Music Director
(1945)
Thrill of a Romance
Music Director, Music, Songs
(1944)
Meet Me in St. Louis
Music Director, Additional Music
(1943)
Presenting Lily Mars
Original Music Composer
(1943)
Cabin in the Sky
Original Music Composer
(1943)
Swing Fever
Music Director
(1942)
Ship Ahoy
Original Music Composer
(1942)
Panama Hattie
Music Director
(1941)
Lady Be Good
Music Director
(1941)
The Big Store
Music
(1941)
Road Show
Original Music Composer
(1941)
Ziegfeld Girl
Additional Music, Music Director
(1940)
Andy Hardy Meets Debutante
Conductor
(1940)
Go West
Original Music Composer
(1940)
Little Nellie Kelly
Music Director
(1939)
Babes in Arms
Original Music Composer, Music Director
(1939)
The Ice Follies of 1939
Music Director
(1937)
On Such a Night
Music Director
(1937)
Outcast
Music Director
(1936)
Go West Young Man
Original Music Composer