Samuel J. Hoffman (July 23, 1903 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

– December 6, 1967 in

Los Angeles 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' ...

) was a notable

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

ist. At age 14, began playing the

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 regular ...

professionally in

. Under the stage name Hal Hope, he led nightclub and society bands. By 1936, he had taken up the

and begun featuring it in publicity for his engagements. In 1941, Hoffman moved to Los Angeles, where he established a medical practice and had little time for musical activity. But as the only theremin player in Local 47 of the Musicians Union, he got the call in 1945 when composer Miklos Rozsa decided he wanted to use a theremin in the score to '' Spellbound.'' Hoffman began performing under his real name; he was customarily referred to as "Doctor" because he was also a

podiatrist A podiatrist ( ) is a medical professional devoted to the treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle, and related structures of the leg. The term originated in North America but has now become the accepted term in the English-speaking world for ...

. All Music bio/ref> In the wake of the film's success, he was asked to play on many more soundtracks; for instance, ''

The Day the Earth Stood Still ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' (a.k.a. ''Farewell to the Master'' and ''Journey to the World'') is a 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Renn ...

'' (1951). He was in demand for horror movie and sci fi soundtracks through the end of the 1950s. In the late 1940s, he recorded three 10” studio albums with bandleaders Les Baxter and

Billy May Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for ''The Green Hornet'' (1966), ''The Mod Squad'' (1968), ''Batman'' (with '' Batgirl'' them ...

. These were forerunners to exotica; they also influenced Sun Ra, who recorded a composition from Perfume Set to Music on his first LP, ''

Jazz by Sun Ra ''Jazz By Sun Ra'' (later titled ''Sun Song'') is the debut album by Sun Ra. The record label for the first pressing says "07-12-56", presumably when it was recorded. The LP originally appeared on Tom Wilson's short-lived ''Transition Records''. ...

.'' One of Hoffman's last recordings, made in 1967, was '' Safe as Milk'' by

Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band The Magic Band was the backing band of American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Captain Beefheart between 1967 and 1982. The rotating lineup featured dozens of performers, many of whom became known by nicknames given to them by Beefhe ...

, where he appeared on two tracks.

Death

Hoffman died of a heart attack on December 6, 1967.

Discography

*''

Music Out of the Moon ''Music Out of the Moon: Music Unusual Featuring the Theremin - Themes by Harry Revel'' (Capitol CC-47) is an album consisting of six songs on three 10-inch, 78 rpm records by bandleader Les Baxter and composer Harry Revel with theremin player D ...

'' (1947) *'' Perfume Set to Music'' (1948) *''

Music for Peace of Mind 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 aspect o ...

'' (1949) These albums are compiled and remastered in ''Waves in the Ether: The Magical World of the Theremin (2004).''

Filmography

*'' Spellbound'' (1945) *''

The Lost Weekend ''The Lost Weekend'' is a 1945 American drama film noir directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Ray Milland and Jane Wyman. It was based on Charles R. Jackson's The Lost Weekend (novel), 1944 novel about an Alcoholism, alcoholic writer. The film ...

'' (1945) *'' The Spiral Staircase'' (1945) *'' The Red House'' (1947) *'' The Pretender'' (1947) *''

Road to Rio ''Road to Rio'' is a 1947 American semimusical comedy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour. Written by Edmund Beloin and Jack Rose, the film is about two inept vaudevillians who stow away on ...

'' (1947) *'' Raw Deal'' (1948) *''Let's Live a Little'' (1948) *''

Impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Impac ...

'' (1949) *''

She Shoulda Said No! ''She Shoulda Said No!'' (also known as ''Wild Weed''; ''The Devil's Weed''; ''Marijuana, the Devil's Weed''; and ''The Story of Lila Leeds and Her Exposé of the Marijuana Racket'') is a 1949 exploitation film that follows in the spirit of moral ...

'' (1949) *''Oriental Evil'' (1950) *''

Rocketship X-M ''Rocketship X-M'' (a.k.a. ''Expedition Moon'' and originally ''Rocketship Expedition Moon'') is a 1950 American black-and-white science fiction film from Lippert Pictures, the first outer space adventure of the post-World War II era. The film w ...

'' (1950) *'' Fancy Pants'' (1950) *''Let's Dance'' (1950) *''

The Thing from Another World ''The Thing from Another World'', sometimes referred to as just ''The Thing'', is a 1951 American black-and-white science fiction-horror film, directed by Christian Nyby, produced by Edward Lasker for Howard Hawks' Winchester Pictures Corporat ...

'' (1951) *''

Phantom from Space ''Phantom from Space'' is a 1953 independently made American black-and-white science fiction film produced and directed by W. Lee Wilder that stars Ted Cooper, Noreen Nash, Dick Sands, and Burt Wenland. The original screenplay was written by ...

'' (1953) *''

It Came from Outer Space ''It Came from Outer Space'' is a 1953 American science fiction horror film, the first in the 3D process from Universal-International. It was produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold. The film stars Richard Carlson and Barbar ...

'' (1953) *''

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T ''The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.'' is a 1953 American musical fantasy film about a boy who dreams himself into a fantasy world ruled by a diabolical piano teacher enslaving children to practice piano forever. It was the only feature film written by ...

.'' (1953) *'' Project Moon Base'' (1953) *''

The Mad Magician ''The Mad Magician'' is a 1954 American horror film in 3D, directed by John Brahm starring Vincent Price, Mary Murphy and Eva Gabor. It was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures, with a release in 3-D to build on the craze started by fi ...

'' (1954) *''

Day the World Ended ''Day the World Ended'' is a 1955 independently made black-and-white post-apocalyptic science fiction film, produced and directed by Roger Corman, that stars Richard Denning, Lori Nelson, Adele Jergens, Paul Birch and Mike Connors. Chet H ...

'' (1955) *''Please Murder Me'' (1956) *''

The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

'' (1956) *''

Our Mr. Sun ''Our Mr. Sun'' is a 1956 one-hour American television film in Technicolor written, produced, and directed by Frank Capra. It is a documentary that explains how the Sun works and how it also plays a huge part in human life. It was first broa ...

'' (1956) *''Voodoo Island'' (1957) *''

The Delicate Delinquent ''The Delicate Delinquent'' is an American VistaVision comedy film starring Jerry Lewis, released on June 6, 1957 by Paramount Pictures. It was the first film to star Lewis without his longtime partner Dean Martin and marked Lewis' debut as a pro ...

'' (1957) *'' Earth vs. the Spider'' (1958) *'' Billy the Kid versus Dracula'' (1966)

References

External links

*
Dr Samuel Hoffman Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Samuel J. Theremin players American podiatrists 1903 births 1967 deaths 20th-century American musicians Songwriters from New York (state)