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{{short description|American conductor, composer, and jazz musician (1905–1985)}}
'''Georgie Stoll''' (May 7, 1905 – January 18, 1985) was a [[musical director]], [[Conducting|conductor]], [[composer]] and [[jazz violin]]ist, 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).

'''Georgie Stoll''' (born '''George Martin Stoll;''' May 7, 1905 – January 18, 1985) was a [[musical director]], [[Conducting|conductor]], Academy Award-winning [[composer]], and [[jazz violin]]ist, associated with the Golden Age of [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] musicals and performers from the 1940s to 1960s. He was also later credited as '''George E. Stoll''' (sometimes without the middle initial).


==Violin prodigy==
==Violin prodigy==
Stoll was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and made his musical debut as a boy violin prodigy, gaining nationwide fame.<ref>''Times Herald'' (Olean, NY), 7 April 1938.</ref> 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)<ref>''The Oakland Tribune'', 28 November 1927; ''Ogden Standard Examiner'' (Ogden, Utah), 12 July 1929.</ref> and started to feature with [[Jack Oakie]] on radio programs, such as ''[[Camel (cigarette)|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]].<ref>Larry Crosby (2005), ''Bing'', Kessinger Publishing, p. 202</ref> For [[Decca Records|Decca]], Georgie Stoll and His Orchestra accompanied Crosby and [[Louis Armstrong]] in the successful 1936 recordings of ''[[Pennies from Heaven (1936 film)|Pennies from Heaven]]''. Stoll and his orchestra appeared on screen the same year in MGM's ''Swing Banditry''.
Stoll was born in [[Minneapolis]], Minnesota, and made his musical debut as a boy violin prodigy, gaining nationwide fame.<ref>''Times Herald'' (Olean, NY), 7 April 1938.</ref> 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)<ref>''The Oakland Tribune'', 28 November 1927; ''Ogden Standard Examiner'' (Ogden, Utah), 12 July 1929.</ref> and started to feature with [[Jack Oakie]] on radio programs, such as ''[[Camel (cigarette)|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]].<ref>Larry Crosby (2005), ''Bing'', Kessinger Publishing, p. 202</ref> For [[Decca Records|Decca]], Georgie Stoll and His Orchestra accompanied Crosby and [[Louis Armstrong]] in the successful 1936 recordings of ''[[Pennies from Heaven (1936 film)|Pennies from Heaven]]''. Stoll and his orchestra appeared on screen the same year in MGM's ''Swing Banditry''.


==Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical director==
==Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical director==
In 1937, he joined the MGM music department and was the musical director (frequently conductor too) for titles such as ''[[Honolulu (film)|Honolulu]]'', ''[[Ice Follies of 1939]]'' and the Rooney-Garland hit ''[[Babes in Arms (film)|Babes in Arms]]''.<ref>Lawrence B. Thomas (1972), ''The MGM Years'', Columbia House, p. 123.</ref> He conducted the stage band which toured with [[Judy Garland]] and [[Mickey Rooney]] upon the release of ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]''.<ref>Arthur Rollini, ''Thirty Years with the Big Bands'', pp. 72-73.</ref> 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 of the West|Wicked Witch]]'s Castle escape scenes with [[George Bassman]]).<ref>Nicholas McNeil</ref> 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]].<ref>Christopher Finch (1979), ''Gone Hollywood'', p. 342.</ref>
In 1937, Stoll joined the [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] music department and was the musical director (frequently conductor too) for titles such as ''[[Honolulu (film)|Honolulu]]'', ''[[Ice Follies of 1939]]'' and the Rooney-Garland hit ''[[Babes in Arms (film)|Babes in Arms]]''.<ref>Lawrence B. Thomas (1972), ''The MGM Years'', Columbia House, p. 123.</ref> He conducted the stage band which toured with [[Judy Garland]] and [[Mickey Rooney]] upon the release of ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]''.<ref>Arthur Rollini, ''Thirty Years with the Big Bands'', pp. 72-73.</ref> 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 of the West|Wicked Witch]]'s Castle escape scenes with [[George Bassman]]).<ref>Nicholas McNeil</ref>


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]].<ref>Christopher Finch (1979), ''Gone Hollywood'', p. 342.</ref>
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 [[Gene Kelly|Kelly]]-[[Frank Sinatra|Sinatra]] ''[[Anchors Aweigh (film)|Anchors Aweigh]]''.<ref>Clora Bryant & Steven Isoardi (1999), ''Central Avenue Sounds: Jazz in Los Angeles'', University of California Press, p. 68.</ref> Stoll also encouraged the teenaged [[André Previn]] and used him to write many arrangements.<ref>Gene Lees (2006), ''Portrait of Johnny: The Life of John Herndon Mercer'', Hal Leonard Publishing Corp. p. 300.</ref>


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 (pianist)|Calvin Jackson]] with whom he worked on the original music for his 1945 Oscar-winning score for the [[Gene Kelly|Kelly]]-[[Frank Sinatra|Sinatra]] ''[[Anchors Aweigh (film)|Anchors Aweigh]]''.<ref>Clora Bryant & Steven Isoardi (1999), ''Central Avenue Sounds: Jazz in Los Angeles'', University of California Press, p. 68.</ref> Stoll also encouraged the teenaged [[André Previn]] and used him to write many arrangements.<ref>Gene Lees (2006), ''Portrait of Johnny: The Life of John Herndon Mercer'', Hal Leonard Publishing Corp. p. 300.</ref>
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 (magazine)|Billboard]]'s'' Best Selling charts).<ref>Ron O'Brien (1996), "Liner Notes", p. 7, to MCA Records/Decca CD, ''Judy Garland: The Complete Decca Original Cast Recordings'', 1996 (MCAD-11491).</ref> 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]].<ref>''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', vol. 60 no. 2, 10 January 1948, p. 30.</ref>

In 1943, Stoll conducted Garland through the first two of her original cast albums for [[Decca Records]] 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 (magazine)|Billboard]]'s'' Best Selling charts).<ref>Ron O'Brien (1996), "Liner Notes", p. 7, to MCA Records/Decca CD, ''Judy Garland: The Complete Decca Original Cast Recordings'', 1996 (MCAD-11491).</ref> 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]].<ref>''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', vol. 60 no. 2, 10 January 1948, p. 30.</ref>


==Later career==
==Later career==
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 (film)|Spinout]]''). After 9 Oscar nominations (last in 1962 for ''[[Billy Rose's Jumbo (film)|Billy Rose's Jumbo]]''), Stoll retired upon completing the original music for the [[Ann-Margret]] vehicle ''[[Made in Paris]]''. Stoll died, aged 79, in Monterey, California.
Stoll's career received a 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 (film)|Spinout]]''). He also composed the underscore for the 1960 [[Spring break]] romp ''[[Where the Boys Are]]'' and another [[Connie Francis]] [[Looking for Love (film)|followup]].


After 9 Oscar nominations (last in 1962 for ''[[Billy Rose's Jumbo (film)|Billy Rose's Jumbo]]''), Stoll retired upon completing the original music for the [[Ann-Margret]] vehicle ''[[Made in Paris]]''. Stoll died, aged 79, in Monterey, California.
In September 2001, Stoll's [[Academy Award for Best Original Music Score|Best Score Oscar]] was offered in an estate sale at the [[Butterfields]] auction house. The actor [[Kevin Spacey]] later revealed that he anonymously secured it for $156,875 and subsequently returned it to the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|Academy]].<ref>Emanuel Levy (2003), ''All About Oscar'', Continuum Int'l Publishing, p. 29.</ref>


In September 2001, Stoll's [[Academy Award for Best Original Music Score|Best Score Oscar]] was offered in an estate sale at the [[Butterfields]] auction house. The actor [[Kevin Spacey]] later revealed that he anonymously secured it for $156,875 and subsequently returned it to the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|Academy]].<ref>Emanuel Levy (2003), ''All About Oscar'', Continuum Int'l Publishing, p. 29.</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cozio.com/Instrument.aspx?id=13187 |title=violin by Nicolò Amati, 1648c (Georgie Stoll) |publisher=Cozio.com |access-date=2012-03-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320094752/http://cozio.com/Instrument.aspx?id=13187 |archive-date=2012-03-20 }}</ref>

In October 2009, Stoll's Amati violin was sold by [[Tarisio Auctions]] for $620,000, the world record {{asof|2012|lc=y}} for a [[Nicolo Amati]] sold at auction.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cozio.com/Instrument.aspx?id=13187 |title=violin by Nicolò Amati, 1648c (Georgie Stoll) |publisher=Cozio.com |access-date=2012-03-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320094752/http://cozio.com/Instrument.aspx?id=13187 |archive-date=2012-03-20 }}</ref>


==References==
==References==
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*[http://www.allmovie.com/artist/george-stoll-112875 All Movie Guide bio entry]
*[http://www.allmovie.com/artist/george-stoll-112875 All Movie Guide bio entry]
*{{IMDb name|0006303}}
*{{IMDb name|0006303}}
*[http://www.worldcat.org OCLC World Library Catalog]
* {{YouTube|yLhExserrbQ|Historic Vitaphone Recording}} - Jazzmania Quintet, with Georgie Stoll on [[Stroh violin]], playing ''[[I Ain't Got Nobody]]''


{{AcademyAwardBestOriginalScore 1941-1960}}
{{AcademyAwardBestOriginalScore 1941-1960}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoll, Georgie}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoll, Georgie}}

[[Category:American male composers]]
[[Category:American film score composers]]
[[Category:Male film score composers]]
[[Category:Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:Music directors]]
[[Category:American music arrangers]]
[[Category:American male conductors (music)]]
[[Category:American jazz violinists]]
[[Category:American male violinists]]
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century violinists]]
[[Category:20th-century American composers]]
[[Category:20th-century American composers]]
[[Category:20th-century American conductors (music)]]
[[Category:20th-century American conductors (music)]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American violinists]]
[[Category:American film score composers]]
[[Category:American jazz violinists]]
[[Category:American male conductors (music)]]
[[Category:American male film score composers]]
[[Category:American male jazz musicians]]
[[Category:American male jazz musicians]]
[[Category:American male violinists]]
[[Category:American music arrangers]]
[[Category:Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:Music directors]]

Latest revision as of 05:37, 20 March 2024

Georgie Stoll (born George Martin Stoll; May 7, 1905 – January 18, 1985) was a musical director, conductor, Academy Award-winning composer, and jazz violinist, associated with the Golden Age of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals and performers from the 1940s to 1960s. He was also later credited as George E. Stoll (sometimes without the middle initial).

Violin prodigy

[edit]

Stoll was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and made his musical debut as a boy violin prodigy, gaining nationwide fame.[1] 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)[2] 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.[3] 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.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical director

[edit]

In 1937, Stoll joined the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 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.[4] He conducted the stage band which toured with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney upon the release of The Wizard of Oz.[5] 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).[6]

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.[7]

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.[8] Stoll also encouraged the teenaged André Previn and used him to write many arrangements.[9]

In 1943, Stoll conducted Garland through the first two of her original cast albums for Decca Records 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).[10] 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.[11]

Later career

[edit]

Stoll's career received a 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). He also composed the underscore for the 1960 Spring break romp Where the Boys Are and another Connie Francis followup.

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. Stoll died, aged 79, in Monterey, California.

In September 2001, Stoll's Best Score Oscar was offered in an estate sale at the Butterfields auction house. The actor Kevin Spacey later revealed that he anonymously secured it for $156,875 and subsequently returned it to the Academy.[12]

In October 2009, Stoll's Amati violin was sold by Tarisio Auctions for $620,000, the world record as of 2012 for a Nicolo Amati sold at auction.[13]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Times Herald (Olean, NY), 7 April 1938.
  2. ^ The Oakland Tribune, 28 November 1927; Ogden Standard Examiner (Ogden, Utah), 12 July 1929.
  3. ^ Larry Crosby (2005), Bing, Kessinger Publishing, p. 202
  4. ^ Lawrence B. Thomas (1972), The MGM Years, Columbia House, p. 123.
  5. ^ Arthur Rollini, Thirty Years with the Big Bands, pp. 72-73.
  6. ^ Nicholas McNeil
  7. ^ Christopher Finch (1979), Gone Hollywood, p. 342.
  8. ^ Clora Bryant & Steven Isoardi (1999), Central Avenue Sounds: Jazz in Los Angeles, University of California Press, p. 68.
  9. ^ Gene Lees (2006), Portrait of Johnny: The Life of John Herndon Mercer, Hal Leonard Publishing Corp. p. 300.
  10. ^ Ron O'Brien (1996), "Liner Notes", p. 7, to MCA Records/Decca CD, Judy Garland: The Complete Decca Original Cast Recordings, 1996 (MCAD-11491).
  11. ^ Billboard, vol. 60 no. 2, 10 January 1948, p. 30.
  12. ^ Emanuel Levy (2003), All About Oscar, Continuum Int'l Publishing, p. 29.
  13. ^ "violin by Nicolò Amati, 1648c (Georgie Stoll)". Cozio.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
[edit]