Composer. For 30 years he was one of Universal Studios' top staff musicians. He received six Academy Award nominations, alone or in collaboration, for "It Started with Eve" (1941), "The Amazing Mrs. Holliday" (1943), "The Merry Monahans" (1944), "Christmas Holiday" (1944), "Can't Help Singing" (1944), and "This Love of Ours" (1945). But his fame today rests on his horror and sci-fi scores. Salter was born in Vienna and studied at the Academy of Music there. He was a frequent guest conductor at the Vienna Volksoper and Berlin State Opera before entering films with the UFA studio in 1929. Forced to flee Hitler's Germany, he arrived in the United States in 1937 and was quickly hired by Universal, where he remained for the rest of his career. Salter wrote atmospheric and occasionally inspired scores for some 150 films and his themes were recycled as stock music in over 300 more. His credits include "Tower of London" (1939), "The Mummy's Hand" (1940), "The Wolf Man" (1941), "Son of Dracula" (1943), "House of Frankenstein" (1944), "Scarlet Street" (1945), "Against All Flags" (1952), "Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1953), "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T" (1953), "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954), "This Island Earth" (1955), "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (1957), "The Thing That Couldn't Die" (1958), "Hitler" (1962), and "Beau Geste" (1966). In the mid-1980s he emerged from retirement to supervise new recordings of his old horror scores. When he died at 98, Salter was one of the last surviving composers of Hollywood's "Golden Age".
Composer. For 30 years he was one of Universal Studios' top staff musicians. He received six Academy Award nominations, alone or in collaboration, for "It Started with Eve" (1941), "The Amazing Mrs. Holliday" (1943), "The Merry Monahans" (1944), "Christmas Holiday" (1944), "Can't Help Singing" (1944), and "This Love of Ours" (1945). But his fame today rests on his horror and sci-fi scores. Salter was born in Vienna and studied at the Academy of Music there. He was a frequent guest conductor at the Vienna Volksoper and Berlin State Opera before entering films with the UFA studio in 1929. Forced to flee Hitler's Germany, he arrived in the United States in 1937 and was quickly hired by Universal, where he remained for the rest of his career. Salter wrote atmospheric and occasionally inspired scores for some 150 films and his themes were recycled as stock music in over 300 more. His credits include "Tower of London" (1939), "The Mummy's Hand" (1940), "The Wolf Man" (1941), "Son of Dracula" (1943), "House of Frankenstein" (1944), "Scarlet Street" (1945), "Against All Flags" (1952), "Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1953), "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T" (1953), "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954), "This Island Earth" (1955), "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (1957), "The Thing That Couldn't Die" (1958), "Hitler" (1962), and "Beau Geste" (1966). In the mid-1980s he emerged from retirement to supervise new recordings of his old horror scores. When he died at 98, Salter was one of the last surviving composers of Hollywood's "Golden Age".
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Bio by: Bobb Edwards