Saturday, March 31, 2007

RIP Herman Stein (1915-2007)



Philadelphia born film music composer Herman Stein died on March 15th of heart failure. He was 91 years old.

His name may not be instantly recognized, but trust me, he was a true pioneer in his field. Throughout his career, his skills were put to use in a wide variety of movies. Under contract at Universal Pictures is where he achieved his greatest success-composing scores for such sci-fi/horror gems like The Thing That Couldn't Die, The Monolith Monsters, Love Slaves of the Amazons (a personal fave), The Incredible Shrinking Man, It Came from Outer Space and who can forget Creature from the Black Lagoon. I remember watching that one with my mom on TV--IN 3-D no less! What a treat ...

He showed off his comedic side for Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops, Abbott and Costello Go to Mars and Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation.

The amazing thing is, more often than not, his film work would go uncredited. Still, for fans like me, his style is instantly appreciated.

In the 60's he composed music for episodic TV shows "Lost in Space" and "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea"

Read the LA Times obituary for more...

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