Lennie Hayton
| Lennie Hayton | |
|---|---|
| Born | Leonard George Hayton February 14, 1908[1] New York City, New York |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.[2] Palm Springs, California |
| Resting place | Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, California |
| Occupation | Arranger |
| Years active | 1928–1970 |
| Spouse(s) | Helen Maude Gifford (Bubs Gelderman) (1935–1943; her death) Lena Horne (1947–1971; his death) |
Leonard George "Lennie" Hayton (February 14, 1908 – April 24, 1971) was an American composer, conductor and arranger. His trademark was the wearing of a captain’s hat, which he always wore at a rakish angle.
Life and career
Hayton was born in New York City, New York, to a Jewish family. He was initially a pianist in jazz groups led by Frankie Trumbauer, Bix Beiderbecke, Red Nichols, Joe Venuti and others. He also played with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.[3] Hayton composed "Apple Blossoms" with Joe Venuti, Frankie Trumbauer, and Eddie Lang. His other compositions included "Flying Fingers", "The Stage is Set", "Mood Hollywood" with Jimmy Dorsey, and "Midnight Mood". Hayton also co-arranged the Hoagy Carmichael composition "Stardust" with Artie Shaw, for Shaw's recording of it in 1940, for Bluebird records.[4]
He became a musical director for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1940 and guided it through its prime years as forerunner of the movie musical. Up until his retirement from the post in 1953, he racked up four Academy Award nominations: for the Judy Garland musicals The Harvey Girls (1946) and The Pirate (1948). Hayton won the Academy Award for music for On the Town with Roger Edens in 1950.[3] Lennie Hayton also arranged the music for Singin' in the Rain in 1952.[3] Hayton notched up two more nominations—one in 1968 for the unsuccessful Julie Andrews musical Star! and his last the following year for the Barbra Streisand vehicle Hello, Dolly! co-composed with Lionel Newman, which brought him his second and final Oscar. In 1970, Hayton arranged Frank Sinatra's first attempt at the George Harrison composition Something.[5] However, Sinatra later began using a Nelson Riddle arrangement of the song in concert performances and in 1979 he put the Riddle version on record.[citation needed]
Lennie Hayton's first marriage was to Helen Maude Gifford, also named Bubs Gelderman, who died in 1943.[3] Lennie Hayton met Lena Horne when both were under contract to MGM and married her in December 1947 in Paris.[6] Throughout the marriage, Hayton also acted as Horne’s music director. Facing the stresses and pressures of an interracial relationship, which was still relatively rare in that time period,[7] Hayton and Horne had a tumultuous marriage. She later admitted in a 1980 Ebony interview she had married Hayton primarily to advance her career, and cross the "color-line" in show business, but had learned to love him very much.[8] Unfortunately Horne and Hayton were separated for most of the sixties. Always a heavy drinker and smoker,[9] Hayton died of heart disease while separated from Horne, in Palm Springs, California in 1971.[10] He was buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, California.[11]
References
- ↑ Solid! Lennie Hayton
- ↑ Solid! Lennie Hayton
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lennie Hayton IMDb
- ↑ [1] Artie Shaw: Stardust
- ↑ Sinatra Clover Online
- ↑ Obituary of Horne
- ↑ Vh1 biography
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Gavin 383–384
- ↑ Lennie Hayton at Find a Grave
External links
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- Articles with unsourced statements from August 2010
- 1908 births
- 1971 deaths
- American male composers
- American film score composers
- Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners
- American music arrangers
- Jewish American musicians
- Jewish American composers
- Place of birth missing
- 20th-century classical musicians
- 20th-century composers
- 20th-century American musicians
