Leroy Shield
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Leroy Shield | |
---|---|
Born | October 2, 1893 Waseca, Minnesota, U.S. |
Died | January 9, 1962 (aged 68) Vero Beach, Florida, U.S. |
Genre(s) | Film score, show tunes |
Occupation(s) | Songwriter, composer |
Label(s) | RCA Victor, National Broadcasting Company |
Associated acts | Our Gang, Laurel & Hardy, Charley Chase |
Leroy Shield (October 2, 1893 - January 9, 1962) was an American film score and radio composer.
A native of Waseca, Minnesota, Shield was an employee of RCA Victor's National Broadcasting Company, for which he composed and conducted a number of on-air musical pieces. He also worked as a part-time employee for the Hal Roach studio, composing a great majority of the background music that later became associated with Roach series such as Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang, and Charley Chase. Most notably, one of the tunes he composed for Our Gang's 1930 short Teacher's Pet, became Our Gang's theme song ("Good Old Days").
After touring with Toscanini during the early 1950s, he retired in 1955.[1]
In 1992, the Dutch musical group Beau Hunks (named after the Laurel and Hardy film) transcribed and re-recorded tracks by Shield. These recordings drew encomia from cartoonist R. Crumb (who drew a portrait of Shield for the CD cover). They have led to a renewed appreciation of the composer's work.