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David Buttolph
David Buttolph
David Buttolph
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James David Buttolph Jr. (August 3, 1902 – January 1, 1983) was an American film composer who scored over 300 movies[1] in his career. Born in New York City, Buttolph showed musical talent at an early age, and eventually studied music formally. After earning a music degree, Buttolph moved to Europe in 1923[2][1] and studied in Austria and Germany supporting himself as a nightclub pianist. He returned to the U.S. in 1927[1] and, a few years later, began working for NBC radio network as an arranger and conductor. In 1933, Buttolph moved to Los Angeles and began working in films. Buttolph's best work, according to many, was his work as an arranger on the Alfred Newman score for The Mark of Zorro (1940).[citation needed]

Key Information

In the mid-1950s, Buttolph started to compose scores for television, the most memorable being the theme for the TV western Maverick[3] starring James Garner with the same music appearing in his score of The Lone Ranger (1956). He continued to compose music for television, many of which were westerns, until his retirement in 1963.

TV and filmography

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References

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David Buttolph

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''David Buttolph'' is an American film composer, arranger, and conductor known for his prolific career scoring over 300 motion pictures during Hollywood's Golden Age. Born in New York City on August 3, 1902, Buttolph received his education at the Juilliard School before embarking on a long career in film and television music. He composed, arranged, and conducted scores for numerous movies starting in the 1930s, contributing to a variety of genres and collaborating with major studios. His work extended into television, where he continued to provide music for various productions. Buttolph died on January 1, 1983.

Early life

Early life and education

James David Buttolph Jr. was born on August 3, 1902, in New York City, New York. He showed early musical promise and studied piano at the Juilliard School of Music. His love of opera led him to travel to Europe in the mid-1920s to pursue advanced studies in opera and music. He trained in Vienna with Clemens Krauss at the Viennese Opera and in Munich with Hugo Rohr at the National Theater in Munich. To support himself during this period, he worked as a nightclub pianist and as a member of a jazz ensemble in Germany and Austria. Buttolph remained abroad for four years before returning to the United States.

Career

Radio career

David Buttolph began his radio career after returning to the United States in 1927. He worked at radio station WEAF in New York, where he conducted the National Concert Orchestra as part of NBC's network programming. A contemporary publication highlighted his role in WEAF's expansion of artists and features during that period. Later, Buttolph served as musical director for NBC radio station WGY in Schenectady, New York. He also acted as director and accompanist for the National Cavaliers, a singing quartet broadcast over the NBC network on Friday evenings, earning a loyal audience in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In these capacities, he contributed as an arranger and conductor for the broader NBC radio network. His radio work continued through the early 1930s until his transition to Hollywood around 1933–1934.

Film career

David Buttolph began his film career in 1934 when he was hired as an arranger for 20th Century Fox while still based in New York. He soon relocated to Hollywood and joined Alfred Newman's scoring team at the studio, where he contributed arrangements to numerous collaborative scores throughout the 1930s and into the early 1940s. He later transitioned to a solo composing career, freelancing across multiple studios including Paramount, MGM, Warner Bros., and Columbia. A jazz-fluent and classically trained composer, arranger, and conductor, Buttolph brought versatility to his film work, excelling in both original composition and arrangement. His prolific output included scores for over 300 feature films from the mid-1930s to the early 1960s, with particular emphasis on war films, Westerns, film noir, and other genre pictures. Notable credits from this period include This Gun for Hire (1942), Wake Island (1942), Guadalcanal Diary (1943), Kiss of Death (1947), The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), The Horse Soldiers (1959), and PT 109 (1963). Among his key works was The House on 92nd Street (1945), one of his personal favorites. His score for The Horse Soldiers was noted for its rousing arrangements of Civil War-era anthems and marching songs.

Television career

David Buttolph began composing for television in the mid-1950s, shifting focus from his prolific film career to score episodes of various series, with many assignments in the popular Western genre. His most enduring television contribution was the main title theme for the Maverick (1957) TV series, created by Roy Huggins and starring James Garner. The Maverick theme originated as incidental music in the 1956 Warner Bros. film The Lone Ranger. Buttolph's jaunty, upbeat melody and scoring captured the lighthearted, ironic, often comic tone of the offbeat comedy-Western series. The theme became one of the first popular songs closely associated with a television Western and influenced subsequent Warner Bros. Western series themes. Buttolph's Maverick theme endured in popularity and was reused for the first television revival of the series, The New Maverick (1978). He continued providing music and themes for other television series, including Westerns such as Wagon Train, Laramie, and The Virginian, into the early 1960s until his retirement in 1963.

Later years

Retirement and death

David Buttolph retired from active composing in the early 1960s. He died on January 1, 1983, in Poway, California.
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