Walter Scharf

Film and television composer Walter Scharf was born August 1, 1910, in New York City; his mother, Bessie Zwerling, was among the most popular comediennes starring in the New York Yiddish Theater. He made his professional debut in 1930 in the orchestra of the George Gershwin musical Girl Crazy, and four years later relocated to Hollywood as the arranger for famed crooner Rudy Valleé. Scharf also tenured as an arranger for Al Jolson and Alice Faye before turning to film work, composing incidental music for a series of pictures without even receiving credit; in 1942, he earned th...