Biography
Frank Skinner (December 31, 1897 – October 9, 1968) was an American film composer and arranger.
Skinner was born in Meredosia, Illinois. A graduate of the Chicago Musical College (now known as the Chicago Conservatory of Music), 16-year-old Frank found employment in vaudeville and began playing in local areas with his brother Carl Skinner of Meredosia Illinois on drums. They were billed as the Skinner Brothers dance band. From there they began playing on the steamboats that went up and down the Illinois River. It was during this time that he began writing and arranging music for dance bands. This work brought him to New York, where from 1925 to 1935 he arranged about 2000 popular songs for Robbins Publishing. By the time he left Manhattan for Hollywood, he had written two books on arranging for dance bands.
After a short period at MGM, working on musical settings for The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Skinner was hired by Universal Studios. Over the course of his 30 years there, he composed music for more than 200 films. Although he continued to work on musicals, he quickly mastered the art of dramatic scores, eventually earning five Academy Award nominations (1938–43). He died in Beverly Hills, California, leaving behind his wife Dolly Repine Skinner.
His distinctive approach to scoring horror films, such as Son of Frankenstein (1939) and The Wolf Man (1941), has been characterized as a ‘ion for chromatic lines … mirrored contours … [and] restrained, yet ominously mythical orchestrations’ (Marcello). He gained new recognition in the 1950s for his lush romantic scores, including those for such Douglas Sirk films as Magnificent Obsession (1954) and Written on the Wind (1956). Despite many changes in the film industry, his book Underscore (1950) has survived as an excellent introduction to film music composition.
In 2014, Dallas pre-swing orchestra, The Singapore Slingers released a fifteen-track CD homage to Skinner's arrangements.
Filmography
all 229
Movies 229
Director 2
Producer 1

Saboteur: A Closer Look (2000)

The Appaloosa (1966)

Madame X (1966)

The Wolf Man (1966)

Shenandoah (1965)

The Sword of Ali Baba (1965)

Kitten with a Whip (1964)

Bullet for a Ban (1964)

Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)

Tammy and the Doctor (1963)

The Ugly American (1963)

Back Street (1961)

Midnight Lace (1960)

Portrait in Black (1960)

Imitation of Life (1959)

The Restless Years (1958)

The Perfect Furlough (1958)

Kathy O' (1958)

Once Upon a Horse... (1958)

This Happy Feeling (1958)

The Tarnished Angels (1957)

Interlude (1957)

The Snow Queen (1957)

My Man Godfrey (1957)

Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)

Tammy and the Bachelor (1957)

The Tattered Dress (1957)

Battle Hymn (1957)

Written on the Wind (1956)

Away All Boats (1956)

The Rawhide Years (1956)

Never Say Goodbye (1956)

All That Heaven Allows (1955)

Lady Godiva of Coventry (1955)

One Desire (1955)

Foxfire (1955)

The Shrike (1955)

Chief Crazy Horse (1955)

6 Bridges to Cross (1955)

Destry (1954)

Sign of the Pagan (1954)

The Black Shield of Falworth (1954)

Magnificent Obsession (1954)

Saskatchewan (1954)

Taza, Son of Cochise (1954)

The Far Country (1954)

Forbidden (1953)

Back to God's Country (1953)

Wings of the Hawk (1953)

The Man from the Alamo (1953)

Thunder Bay (1953)

Desert Legion (1953)

Because of You (1952)

Horizons West (1952)

It Grows on Trees (1952)

Bonzo Goes to College (1952)

Sally and Saint Anne (1952)

No Room for the Groom (1952)

Bend of the River (1952)

Week-End with Father (1951)

The Raging Tide (1951)

The Lady Pays Off (1951)

Iron Man (1951)

Bright Victory (1951)

Double Crossbones (1951)

Bedtime for Bonzo (1951)

Harvey (1950)

Katie Did It (1950)

The Sleeping City (1950)

Shakedown (1950)

The Desert Hawk (1950)

Spy Hunt (1950)

Louisa (1950)

One Way Street (1950)

Francis (1950)

Bagdad (1949)

Free For All (1949)

Abandoned (1949)

Red, Hot and Blue (1949)

Sword in the Desert (1949)

The Lady Gambles (1949)

The Life of Riley (1949)

Tulsa (1949)

The Fighting O'Flynn (1949)

Family Honeymoon (1948)

For the Love of Mary (1948)

Tap Roots (1948)

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

Hazard (1948)

The Naked City (1948)

The Exile (1947)

Ride the Pink Horse (1947)

The Egg and I (1947)

I'll Be Yours (1947)

Swell Guy (1946)

Black Angel (1946)

Canyon age (1946)

The Runaround (1946)

Night in Paradise (1946)

Frontier Gal (1945)

Secret Agent X-9 (1945)

The Suspect (1945)

Destiny (1944)

Hi, Beautiful (1944)

In Society (1944)

Reckless Age (1944)

South of Dixie (1944)

Phantom Lady (1944)

Gung Ho! (1943)

Crazy House (1943)

Fired Wife (1943)

We've Never Been Licked (1943)

Hers to Hold (1943)

Two Tickets to London (1943)

All by Myself (1943)

White Savage (1943)

Keep 'Em Slugging (1943)

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942)

Arabian Nights (1942)

Mug Town (1942)

Pittsburgh (1942)

Nightmare (1942)

Who Done It? (1942)

Eyes of the Underworld (1942)

There's One Born Every Minute (1942)

Lady in a Jam (1942)

Tough as They Come (1942)

Broadway (1942)

Saboteur (1942)

Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942)

Jail House Blues (1942)

Hellzapoppin' (1941)

Keep 'Em Flying (1941)

Appointment for Love (1941)

Moonlight in Hawaii (1941)

Riders of Death Valley (1941)

The Lady from Cheyenne (1941)

Nice Girl? (1941)

Back Street (1941)

The Invisible Woman (1940)

One Night in the Tropics (1940)

Seven Sinners (1940)

Hired Wife (1940)

When the Daltons Rode (1940)

South to Karanga (1940)

La Conga Nights (1940)

It's a Date (1940)

Black Friday (1940)

My Little Chickadee (1940)

Green Hell (1940)

The Invisible Man Returns (1940)

The Big Guy (1939)

Destry Rides Again (1939)

Tower of London (1939)

The Witness Vanishes (1939)

The Sun Never Sets (1939)

Ex-Champ (1939)

Big Town Czar (1939)

The Spirit of Culver (1939)

The Rage of Paris (1938)

Wives Under Suspicion (1938)
Information
Known For
Sound
Gender
Male
Birthday
1897-12-31
Deathday
1968-10-08 (70 years old)
Birth Place
Meredosia, United States
Citizenships
United States
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