Raymond John Heindorf (August 25, 1908 – February 3, 1980) was an American composer and songwriter who was noted for his work in film.
Raymond John Heindorf was born August 25, 1908. in Haverstraw, New York. He grew up in Mechanicville, New York, where he moved to when he was about 10 years old. In 1926 he graduated from Mechanicville High School. He was interested in cars and machinery; he loved to play pool with his father, the late John J. Heindorf, at the Railroad YMCA, where he was the Railroad Express agent. Ray took a business course at the Mechanicville High School.
His genius at the piano was reflected in his speed on the typewriter. He had an excellent rating, but decided that business was not to be his field of endeavor. He graduated with the Class of 1926 and during his high school days he played the piano at the State Theatre (now demolished) to earn extra money. Ray eventually met Arthur Lang for a job, saying he was an arranger of dance music, and thus began a long friendship. When sound pictures took the place of the silent films, Ray and Lang decided to move to Hollywood. His first picture was The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) at MGM and subsequently went on the road playing piano for Lupe Vélez.
Ray met and married Maxine Roswod a dancer in 1932.. They divorced in 1938 having a son Michael Ray Heindorf who himself would become an orchestrator at Warner Bros. Michael passed away in 2002, his wife Mary the following year. They had no children. After completing the engagement with Lupe Velez, Ray joined Warner Bros., composing and/or arranging and conducting music exclusively for the studio for nearly forty years. In 1948 he succeeded Leo F. Forbstein as Music Director upon Forbstein's death in 1948.
Heindorf, along with George Stoll at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, were jazz aficionados well known in the black entertainment community for employing minority musicians in their studio music departments. He undertook the musical direction of Judy Garland's comeback film A Star is Born (1954) and made a cameo appearance as himself in the premiere party sequence where Jack Carson's character congratulates him on a great score. In 1954 he sued Warner Bros for $20,000 because they refused to allow him to use the title "Musical Director". He lost.
Among Heindorf's other screen credits are 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1935, Dames, The Great Lie, Knute Rockne All American, Kings Row, Night and Day, Tea for Two, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Jazz Singer, Calamity Jane, No Time for Sergeants, The Helen Morgan Story, The Music Man, Marjorie Morningstar, Damn Yankees, and Auntie Mame. Ray left Warners officially in 1965, only to return in 1968 to do one final picture, Finian's Rainbow. His last work was for Jack L. Warner in a Columbia Pictures film, 1776 (1972).
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| Heindorf & Virginia Mayo |
Ray married Lorraine Marie Grey in 1942 and had two daughters. They divorced in 1963. Between 1943 and 1969, he was nominated for eighteen Academy Awards, 17 nominations for Best Score and 1 nomination for Best Song. Heindorf won three, in the category of Best Score of a Musical, for Yankee Doodle Dandy, This is the Army, and The Music Man. His wins for the former two films made him the first to accomplish consecutive wins in a musical category.
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| Ray & Kathryn Grayson |
Heindorf was a friend and admirer of jazz pianist Art Tatum. For their mutual friends, he hosted two Tatum piano performances at his Hollywood home in 1950 and 1955. Heindorf recorded these private concerts, which were issued as Art Tatum: 20th Century Piano Genius on the Verve label. Also the recording of the score for Pete Kelly's Blues (1955) took place in his home and not the studio.
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| Heindorf & Doris Day |
Until his death, Ray lived in Los Angeles, having moved from Encino. Shortly before he died, Ray had completed an oral history, which was done at the request of Yale University and was conducted in Ray's home by Irene Kahn Atkins, Gus Kahn's daughter. Heindorf passed away on February 3, 1980, aged 71, at Tarzana California Medical Center, ending an era of music that will never be the same again. His funeral service was held at St. Francis de Sales Church, Shermain Oaks, CA, and he is buried at San Fernando Valley Mission Cemetery. His favorite baton was buried with him.
(Edited from Wikipedia & IMDb)