Clarence E. Wheeler (September 27, 1885 – December 28, 1966) was an American musician and composer. He created the music for many of ''

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studios, Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures sinc ...

'' series cartoons under

Walter Lantz Productions Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio. It was in operation from 1928 to 1949 and then from 1950 to 1972, and was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Pictures. The studio was originally formed as Universal Carto ...

along with films in the 1950s.

Biography

Wheeler was born in Walnut, Kansas. He formed an orchestra that appeared on the radio in Chicago in the 1930s, playing on ''The Terminix All-Star Program'' in May 1933 on WBBM. He was music director of the station from 1935 to 1938 and was replaced by Caesar Petrillo, brother of future

American Federation of Musicians The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM/AFofM) is a 501(c)(5) trade union, labor union representing professional instrumental musicians in the United States and Canada. The AFM, which has its headquarters in N ...

boss

James Petrillo James Caesar Petrillo (March 16, 1892 – October 23, 1984) was the leader of the American Federation of Musicians, a trade union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada. Biography Petrillo was born in Chicago, Illinois, United ...

. He arrived in Hollywood that year and began writing music published by

Alberto Colombo Alberto Colombo may refer to: * Alberto Colombo (racing driver) (1946–2024), Italian racing driver * Alberto Colombo (composer) Alberto Colombo (November 27, 1888 – March 24, 1954) was an American film composer and music director. He was n ...

. Among his compositions were ''Cinemaland Parade'', ''Silhouette in Rhythm'', ''Sing For Our Fallen Brave''., ''There Must Be a Way'', ''Hey There, Mr. Labor'', ''That Night in Donegal'', ''Tiny Little Big Shot'', ''Hello Broadway, London Calling'', the last four with James J. May. He soon went into scoring short films. His first credit was in the 1941

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

release ''The Carpenters'', directed by former Warner Bros. animator Paul Fennell, where radio commentator

Raymond Gram Swing Raymond Gram Swing (March 25, 1887 – December 22, 1968) was an American print and broadcast journalist. He was one of the most influential news commentators of his era, heard by people worldwide as a leading American voice from Britain durin ...

reviewed the history of the invasion of Poland. He was hired in 1944 by

George Pal George Pal (born György Pál Marczincsak; ; February 1, 1908 – May 2, 1980) was a Hungarian-American animator, film director and producer, principally associated with the fantasy and science-fiction genres. He became an American citizen after ...

to provide the scores for his

Puppetoons ''Puppetoons'' is a series of animated puppet films made in Europe (1930s) and in the United States (1940s) by George Pal. They were made using replacement animation: using a series of different hand-carved wooden puppets (or puppet heads or limbs ...

and live-action shorts such as ''This is Oil'' (1949), released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. Wheeler also worked on features, providing orchestrations for

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was na ...

's teen star vehicle, ''

Miss Annie Rooney '' Miss Annie Rooney '' is a 1942 American drama film directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring Shirley Temple and Dickie Moore. The screenplay by George Bruce has some similarities to the silent film '' Little Annie Rooney'', starring Mary Pickfo ...

'' (1942), the all-star extravaganza ''

Tales of Manhattan ''Tales of Manhattan'' is a 1942 American anthology film directed by Julien Duvivier. Thirteen writers, including Ben Hecht, Alan Campbell, Ferenc Molnár, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Donald Ogden Stewart, worked on the six stories in this film ...

'' (1942), and a number of the '' Blondie'' movies released by Columbia in the 1940s. Wheeler also scored for early television programs, being hired by

Jerry Fairbanks Gerald Bertram Fairbanks (November 1, 1904, San Francisco - June 21, 1995, Santa Barbara, California) was a producer and director in the Hollywood motion picture and television industry. Biography Fairbanks survived the 1906 San Francisco earthq ...

to write music for the series ''Public Prosecutor'' in 1948. That same year Wheeler also created the original opening and closing theme for the animated series ''

Crusader Rabbit ''Crusader Rabbit'' is an American animated cartoon series created by Alexander Anderson and Jay Ward, and the first of its kind to be produced specifically for television. Its main characters were Crusader Rabbit and his sidekick Ragland T. T ...

'', adapting and arranging the folk melodies The Trail to Mexico (known on cue sheets as "Rabbit Fanfare") and

Ten Little Indians "Ten Little Indians" is an American children's Counting-out game, counting out rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 12976. In 1868, songwriter Septimus Winner adapted it as a song, then calledTen Little Injuns, for a minstrel show. Lyr ...

(known as "Main Title Rabbit"). Some of Wheeler's film music was recompiled as stock music and leased to television producers, for airing on programs such as '' Topper'', ''

The Untouchables Untouchable or Untouchables may refer to: People * Untouchability, the practice of socially ostracizing a minority group of very low social status * Untouchables, word for the Dalits or Scheduled Castes of India * Untouchables (law enforcement), ...

'', ''

Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman in the American West, including Dodge City, Kansas, Dodge City, Wichita, Kansas, Wichita, and Tombstone, Arizona, Tombstone. Earp was involved in the gunfight ...

'' and ''

Gumby Gumby and Pokey figures ''Gumby'' is an American cartoon character and associated media franchise created by Art Clokey. He is a blocky green humanoid made of clay. Gumby stars in two television series, '' Gumby: The Movie'', and other medi ...

.'' His first animated cartoon score was ''The 3 Minnies: Sota, Tonka and Ha-Ha!'' (1949), distributed by

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures. Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation, an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles, California ...

. When Walter Lantz re-opened his studio in 1950 he hired Wheeler to score all his cartoons, almost 140 in total, beginning with '' Puny Express'' through ''The Nautical Nut'', which was released in 1967 after Wheeler's death.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Clarence 20th-century American composers 1885 births 1966 deaths Animation composers Walter Lantz Productions people