Marlin Skiles

Marlin Skiles
BornDecember 17, 1906
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States
DiedMay 1, 1981(1981-05-01) (aged 74)
San Diego, California
United States
Other namesMarlin Henderson Skiles
OccupationComposer
Years active1934–1971 (film)

Marlin Skiles (December 17, 1906–May 1, 1981) was an American composer of film and television scores.[1]

Early years

Pianist, arranger and composer Skiles was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in December 1906. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Stiles.[2] He studied music at his local conservatory, later perfecting his training under Ernst Toch in Los Angeles. He graduated from Harrisburg Technical High School in 1925.[2]

Career

Skiles began his career when he was 17 years old.[2] By the 1920s, he was employed as a pianist, arranger and orchestrator with big name dance bands like those of Paul Whiteman and Irving Aaronson and His Commanders. In Hollywood from 1932, he signed with Republic Pictures in 1943[3] was under contract there and at Columbia Pictures (1944–1948), often writing incidental music for second features. He occasionally composed original soundtracks for better productions, like A Thousand and One Nights (1945) or Dead Reckoning (1946). Skiles served as musical director for Columbia's mega-hit Gilda (1946), starring Rita Hayworth in her most famous role. He became a member of ASCAP that same year. Skiles worked as a free-lancer from the 1950s and retired in 1971.

Skiles and his orchestra provided music for the CBS radio program Crime Correspondent,[4] and he was music director for the television series Death Valley Days.[5]

Personal life and death

Skiles married singer and actress Olive Jones, whose stage name was Olive Cromwell, on July 11, 1936, in Riverside, California.[6] He died of cancer complications on May 1, 1981, in Rancho Bernardo, San Diego, California, aged 75.[5]

Partial filmography

References

  1. ^ Gevinson p.350
  2. ^ a b c Shue, Clyde (June 8, 1952). "Skiles Climbed Scales To Musical Fame". Sunday Patriot-News. Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. p. 21. Retrieved March 3, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Marlin Skiles". The Seattle Star. September 13, 1943. p. 12. Retrieved March 3, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Radio and Television: C. B. S. Video Network to Offer Tuesdays 'Actor's Studio,' Dropped by A. B. C.". The New York Times. October 29, 1949. p. 28. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Marlin Skiles". Times-Advocate. California, Escondido. May 4, 1981. p. B 8. Retrieved March 3, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Marlin Skiles Wedded July 11". The Evening News. Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. July 21, 1936. p. 2. Retrieved March 3, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.

Bibliography

  • Alan Gevinson. Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960. University of California Press, 1997.
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