Saul Chaplin (February 19, 1912 – November 15, 1997) was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and musical director. He was born Saul Kaplan in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. He had worked on stage, screen and television since the days of

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...

. In film, he won three

Oscars The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence i ...

for collaborating on the scores and orchestrations of '' An American in Paris'' (

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

), '' Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' (

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

) and ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

'' ( 1961).

Biography

Born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family, Chaplin graduated with a B.A. in accounting from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

's School of Commerce. After school, Chaplin joined the ASCAP and started out penning tunes for the theatre,

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

and for New York's famous songwriting district, Tin Pan Alley. While in New York, Chaplin teamed with Sammy Cahn to compose original songs for

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National Pictures, First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone is the last major analog sound-on-disc sys ...

movie shorts, filmed in Brooklyn by Warner Brothers. During this period the team was sometimes billed only by surname ("Cahn and Chaplin"), in the manner of Rodgers and Hart or Gilbert and Sullivan. Cahn and Chaplin relocated to Hollywood and scored two films for

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

. Chaplin then moved to

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 ...

to score '' Cover Girl'' and '' The Jolson Story''. While on the latter film, Chaplin and Al Jolson penned the million-selling hit tune '' The Anniversary Song''. In the late

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

s, Chaplin moved to

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

to work on a long string of films including '' On the Town'' (

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

), '' Kiss Me Kate'' (

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

), '' High Society'' (

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

) and '' Merry Andrew'' ( 1958). For collaborating on such hits as '' Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen'' and '' Please Be Kind'', Chaplin was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985. He won Academy Awards for his work on the scores of '' Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'', '' An American in Paris'' and ''

'' as well as nominations for '' Kiss Me Kate'' and '' High Society''. While continuing as a film music supervisor, Chaplin became an associate producer in the early '60s and worked on such major features as '' Can-Can'' (1960), ''

'' ( 1961), '' I Could Go On Singing'' (

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

), ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

'' (

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

), '' STAR!'' ( 1968), '' Man of La Mancha'' (

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

) and '' That's Entertainment, Part 2'' (

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

). He published his autobiography, ''The Golden Age of Movie Musicals and Me'', in 1994. He had worked with and was friends with most of the major songwriters and performers of his era, such as

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the ...

, Al Jolson,

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

, Judy Garland,

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

Phil Silvers Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly 60 years. He achieved major popularity w ...

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over eight decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

and others. His memoir focused on the behind the scenes aspect of moviemaking.

Marriages

Chaplin married Ethel Schwartz and had one child, a daughter Judith (who married Harold Prince); the couple divorced in 1950. In 1968, Chaplin married Betty Levin, who had worked as script supervisor on ''

''.

Death

In late 1997, the 85-year-old Chaplin suffered a bad fall and on November 15 died in

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...

as a result of his injuries.

Selected filmography

as Composer: * '' Argentine Nights'' (1940) * '' Rookies on Parade'' (1941) * '' Go West, Young Lady'' (1941) * '' Time Out for Rhythm'' (1941) * '' Sing for Your Supper'' (1941) * '' Blondie Goes to College'' (1942) * '' Blondie's Blessed Event'' (1942) * '' Honolulu Lu'' (1942) * '' Redhead from Manhattan'' (1943) * '' Crazy House'' (1943) * '' Cowboy Canteen'' (1944) * '' Ever Since Venus'' (1944) * '' Kansas City Kitty'' (1944) * '' She's a Sweetheart'' (1944) * '' Louisiana Hayride'' (1944) * '' Meet Me on Broadway'' (1946) * '' Two Blondes and a Redhead'' (1947) * '' The Jolson Story'' (1947) * '' The Countess of Monte Cristo'' (1948) * '' Everything I Have Is Yours'' (1952) as Arranger: * '' On the Town'' (1949) * '' Summer Stock'' (1950) * '' An American in Paris'' (1951) * '' Lovely to Look At'' (1952) * '' Give a Girl a Break'' (1953) * '' Kiss Me Kate'' (1953) * '' Jupiter's Darling'' (1953) * '' Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' (1954) * '' Interrupted Melody'' (1955) * '' High Society'' (1956) as Associate Producer: * '' Les Girls'' (1957) * '' Merry Andrew'' (1958) * '' Can-Can'' (1960) * ''

'' (1961) * '' I Could Go On Singing'' (1963) * ''

'' (1965) * '' Star!'' (1968) * '' Man of La Mancha'' (1972) * ''

That's Entertainment, Part II ''That's Entertainment, Part II'' is a 1976 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a sequel to ''That's Entertainment!'' (1974).''Variety Film Reviews, Variety'' film review; May 5, 1976, page 18. Like the previous film, '' ...

'' (1976)

References

External links

* *
Songwriters Hall of Fame page on Saul Chaplin
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaplin, Saul 1912 births 1997 deaths American film score composers American male film score composers Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Songwriters from New York (state) Musicians from Brooklyn American vaudeville performers Grammy Award winners Accidental deaths in California Accidental deaths from falls Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery 20th-century American classical musicians 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians Jewish American film score composers 20th-century American Jews American male songwriters 20th-century American songwriters