Composer, Conductor, Actor. Born Carol Einhorn in Bucharest, Romania. In the United States from 1911, he served as music director for several Los Angeles movie theatres and conducted Joseph Carl Breil's score for the world premiere of D.W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation" (1915). He went on to write and arrange the music for Griffith's "Hearts of the World" (1918), Chaplin's "The Gold Rush" (1925), John Ford's "Four Sons" (1928), "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" (1929), and "Women of All Nations" (1931). Elinor's musical style was grounded in German Romanticism but eclectic enough to incorporate pop and avant-garde techniques, and he was among the first film composers to employ sound effects along with the orchestra. His greatest achievement was the score for the pioneering Movietone soundtrack of F.W. Murnau's "Sunrise" (1927). For all his groundbreaking efforts, Elinor's career took an inexplicable turn with talkies. In 1931 he turned art director for the mystery "The Spider" (1931), then suddenly disappeared from Hollywood. He returned a decade later as an actor, playing small roles as bandleaders and waiters with an effete manner and elegant waxed mustache. His acting credits include "My Favorite Spy" (1942), "Gilda" (1946), "In the Good Old Summertime" (1949), "Lovely to Look At" (1952), and "Around the World in Eighty Days" (1956). The original recording of Elinor's "Sunrise" score survives and remains an inseparable part of that classic picture.
Composer, Conductor, Actor. Born Carol Einhorn in Bucharest, Romania. In the United States from 1911, he served as music director for several Los Angeles movie theatres and conducted Joseph Carl Breil's score for the world premiere of D.W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation" (1915). He went on to write and arrange the music for Griffith's "Hearts of the World" (1918), Chaplin's "The Gold Rush" (1925), John Ford's "Four Sons" (1928), "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" (1929), and "Women of All Nations" (1931). Elinor's musical style was grounded in German Romanticism but eclectic enough to incorporate pop and avant-garde techniques, and he was among the first film composers to employ sound effects along with the orchestra. His greatest achievement was the score for the pioneering Movietone soundtrack of F.W. Murnau's "Sunrise" (1927). For all his groundbreaking efforts, Elinor's career took an inexplicable turn with talkies. In 1931 he turned art director for the mystery "The Spider" (1931), then suddenly disappeared from Hollywood. He returned a decade later as an actor, playing small roles as bandleaders and waiters with an effete manner and elegant waxed mustache. His acting credits include "My Favorite Spy" (1942), "Gilda" (1946), "In the Good Old Summertime" (1949), "Lovely to Look At" (1952), and "Around the World in Eighty Days" (1956). The original recording of Elinor's "Sunrise" score survives and remains an inseparable part of that classic picture.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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