Simon Waronker (March 4, 1915 – June 7, 2005) was an American

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, best known for co-founding Liberty Records.

Biography

Graduating from high school at 13 years old, he won a scholarship to study music in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Waronker began to establish his music career in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, but was forced to return to the United States when

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

members began to threaten

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. From 1939 to 1955, Waronker recorded

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

films. At least one source described this role as an orchestra contractor. He then chose to enter the music industry independently, co-founding Liberty Records and serving as its chairman.''Los Angeles Times'' obituary of Waronker
/ref> The first artist he signed was popular singer Julie London. One of the major acts who recorded on Liberty Records was The Chipmunks, actually

Ross Bagdasarian Ross S. Bagdasarian (; January 27, 1919 – January 16, 1972), known professionally by his stage name David Seville, was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor, best known for creating the cartoon band Alvin and the Chipmu ...

, who recorded as

David Seville David "Dave" Seville is a fictional character, the producer and manager of the fictional singing group ''Alvin and the Chipmunks''. The character was created by Ross Bagdasarian Sr., who had used the name "David Seville" as his stage name prior ...

. Seville named The Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon, and Theodore) after Liberty Records executives Alvin Bennett, Simon Waronker, and Theodore Keep, respectively. In 1963, facing

health problems A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that ar ...

, Waronker sold his interest in Liberty to the electronics firm Avnet. He died in 2005 at age 90 and is buried at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. Record producer Lenny Waronker is Simon's son. Lenny has five children; musicians Joey Waronker and Anna Waronker,

interior designer Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...

Katherine Waronker, Lily Waronker, and Grace Waronker.

References

Reuters news story on death published on Launch Yahoo 9 June 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waronker, Simon 1915 births 2005 deaths Record producers from California American expatriates in France American expatriates in Germany American people of German-Jewish descent Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery Jewish American musicians 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews