Sol Kaplan (April 19, 1919 – November 14, 1990) was an American film and television music composer.

Life and career

Kaplan was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

. He worked as a successful

concert pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...

, including performing at Carnegie Hall in 1941. That same year he composed his first film score. He went on to write music for dozens of films including the 1953 films ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unite ...

'' and ''

Niagara Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...

''. His film career was disrupted during the 1950s when he landed on the

Hollywood Blacklist The Hollywood blacklist was an entertainment industry Blacklisting, blacklist, broader than just Hollywood, put in effect in the mid-20th century in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. The blacklist involved the practice of ...

after being uncooperative in testimony before the

House Committee on Un-American Activities The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

. For ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vario ...

'', Kaplan scored two episodes, " The Enemy Within" and " The Doomsday Machine". Jeff Bond noted: "Although he wrote only two scores for the series, New York composer Sol Kaplan's music was tracked frequently throughout the show's first two seasons".

Appearance before HUAC

Sol Kaplan had scored more than 30 Hollywood films between 1940 and 1953. He was

subpoenaed A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...

(HUAC) after

John Garfield John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle, March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...

mentioned during his testimony that Kaplan was a friend of his. Kaplan had never been publicly identified as a

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

; Garfield denied being a Communist; yet Kaplan was fired from

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, 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 o ...

, where he had been under contract for a year. Kaplan protested that many top studio executives were friends of Garfield, including the man firing him, and he was reinstated on a week-to-week "probation" basis. His testimony took place on April 8, 1953. During it, he challenged the committee to produce his accusers, and invoked the

Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...

in refusing to cooperate. On Kaplan's return to work after his testimony, he was told he might be able to keep his job if he would appear privately before Congressman

Clyde Doyle Clyde Gilman Doyle (July 11, 1887 – March 14, 1963) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States representative from California in the mid-20th century. Biography Clyde Doyle was born in Oakland, Alameda County, Cal ...

. Kaplan refused, and was fired the same day.

Personal life

Kaplan was married to the actress

Frances Heflin Mary Frances Heflin (September 20, 1920 – June 1, 1994) was an American actress. Early years Heflin was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the daughter of Fanny Bleecker (née Shippey) and Dr. Emmett Evan Heflin, a dentist. She was the s ...

(sister of actor

Van Heflin Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin Jr. (December 13, 1908 – July 23, 1971) was an American theatre, radio and film actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. H ...

). Their son is the film director

Jonathan Kaplan Jonathan Kaplan (born November 25, 1947) is an American film producer and director. His film ''The Accused'' (1988) earned actress Jodie Foster an Oscar for Best Actress and was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 39th Berlin Internation ...

; they also had two daughters, Nora Heflin and Mady Kaplan Ahern. Sol Kaplan died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

in 1990 at the age of 71.

Selected filmography

* ''

The Tell-Tale Heart "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is related by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the n ...

'' (1941) * ''

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. B ...

'' (1942) * ''

Hollow Triumph ''Hollow Triumph'' (working title ''The Man Who Murdered Himself'', reissued in the United States as ''The Scar'') is a 1948 American film noir crime film directed by Steve Sekely starring Paul Henreid, Joan Bennett and Leslie Brooks. It was rele ...

'' (1948) * '' Trapped'' (1949) * ''

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First French Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public Capital punishment, executions took pl ...

'' (1949) * '' Port of New York'' (1949) * ''

711 Ocean Drive ''711 Ocean Drive'' is a 1950 American crime film noir directed by Joseph M. Newman and starring Edmond O'Brien, Joanne Dru and Otto Kruger. Plot Telephone technician Mal Granger, with knowledge of telephones and electronics, is hired by gangste ...

'' (1950) * ''

Mister 880 ''Mister 880'' is a 1950 American light-hearted romantic drama film directed by Edmund Goulding and starring Burt Lancaster, Dorothy McGuire and Edmund Gwenn, about an amateurish counterfeiter who counterfeits only one dollar bills, and manages ...

'' (1950) * ''

I'd Climb the Highest Mountain '' I'd Climb the Highest Mountain'' is a 1951 Technicolor religious drama film made by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. It was directed by Henry King and produced by Lamar Trotti from a screenplay by King and Trotti. The story is based ...

'' (1951) * '' Rawhide'' (1951) * '' I Can Get It for Your Wholesale'' (1951) * ''

The House on Telegraph Hill ''House on Telegraph Hill'' is a 1951 American film noir starring Richard Basehart, Valentina Cortese, and William Lundigan, and directed by Robert Wise. The film received an Academy Award nomination for its art direction. Telegraph Hill is a d ...

'' (1951) * ''

The Secret of Convict Lake ''The Secret of Convict Lake'' is a 1951 American Western film directed by Michael Gordon and starring Glenn Ford, Gene Tierney, Ethel Barrymore and Zachary Scott. The film was a critical and commercial success. The story is fiction, based on l ...

'' (1951) * ''

Red Skies of Montana ''Red Skies of Montana'' is a 1952 adventure drama film in which Richard Widmark stars as a smokejumper who attempts to save his crew while being overrun by a forest fire, not only to preserve their lives, but to redeem himself after being the o ...

'' (1952) * ''

Return of the Texan ''Return of the Texan'' is a 1952 American Western film directed by Delmer Daves and starring Dale Robertson and Joanne Dru.Kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern ...

'' (1952) * ''

Diplomatic Courier A diplomatic courier is an official who transports diplomatic bags as sanctioned under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Couriers are granted diplomatic immunity and are thereby protected by the receiving state from arrest and ...

'' (1952) * ''

Way of a Gaucho ''Way of a Gaucho'' is a 1952 American Western drama film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Gene Tierney and Rory Calhoun. It was written by Philip Dunne and based on a novel by Herbert Childs. The film was made by 20th Century Fox an ...

'' (1952) * ''

Something for the Birds ''Something for the Birds'' is a 1952 film directed by Robert Wise and starring Victor Mature and Patricia Neal. Plot Johnnie Adams, an engraver in Washington, uses some of the invitations his firm makes to crash Washington parties. He gets to be ...

'' (1952) * ''

'' (1953) * ''

Treasure of the Golden Condor ''Treasure of the Golden Condor'' is a 1953 American Technicolor adventure film directed by Delmer Daves, starring Cornel Wilde and Constance Smith, and released by Twentieth Century Fox. The film is a remake of the 1942 film '' Son of Fury: Th ...

'' (1953) * ''

Destination Gobi ''Destination Gobi'' is a 1953 American Technicolor World War II film released by 20th Century-Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lo ...

'' (1953) * ''

Salt of the Earth Salt of the earth may refer to: Literature * A metaphor that occurs in the Sermon on the Mount, part of a discourse on salt and light * ''Salt of the Earth'', a book by Pope Benedict XVI Film * ''Salt of the Earth'' (1954 film), an American dr ...

'' (1954) * '' The Burglar'' (1957) * '' Happy Anniversary'' (1959) * ''

Girl of the Night ''Girl of the Night'' is a film drama starring Anne Francis, made in 1960 by . It was based on a best-seller 1958 book by Harold Greenwald, ''The Call Girl''. Plot A taxi driver picks up a woman running through the streets. Her name is Robin ...

'' (1960) * ''

The Victors "The Victors" is the fight song of the University of Michigan. Michigan student Louis Elbel wrote the song in 1898 after the football team's victory over the University of Chicago, which clinched an undefeated season and the Western Conferen ...

'' (1963) * '' The Young Lovers'' (1964) * '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'' (1965) * '' Judith'' (1966) * ''

Winchester '73 ''Winchester '73'' is a 1950 American Western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea and Stephen McNally. Written by Borden Chase and Robert L. Richards, the film is about the journey of a prized r ...

'' (1967) * ''

Shadow on the Land ''Shadow on the Land'', also known as ''United States: It Can't Happen Here'', is a 1968 television film which aired on ABC. It was adapted from the 1935 Sinclair Lewis novel ''It Can't Happen Here'' by Nedrick Young, and directed by Richard C. Sa ...

'' (1968) * ''

Living Free ''Living Free'' is a 1972 British drama film, written by Millard Kaufman and directed by Jack Couffer. It is starred by Nigel Davenport, Susan Hampshire and Geoffrey Keen. This film is a sequel to ''Born Free'' (1966), which was based on the 1 ...

'' (1972) * ''

Lies My Father Told Me ''Lies My Father Told Me'' is a 1975 Canadian drama film made in Montreal, Quebec. It was directed by Ján Kadár and stars Jeffrey Lynas as an orthodox Jewish boy growing up in 1920s Montreal. The film received the Golden Globe Award for Best F ...

'' (1975) * '' Over the Edge'' (1979) * ''

The Golden Gate Murders ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

'' (1979)

References

External links

*
Sol Kaplan's Obituary
at NYTimes.com. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Sol 1919 births 1990 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century American Jews American film score composers Burials at Beth David Cemetery Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) Musicians from Philadelphia