Lionel Newman

Lionel Newman came from a musical dynasty that helped define the sound of cinema. Born in 1916, the youngest boy of ten children, he followed his brothers Alfred and Emil into the world of composing and conducting, going on to work on over 300 film and television soundtracks. His first real taste of show business was as a conductor for Earl Carroll at the age of 16 (it's also where he met his wife, Earl's niece Beverly Carroll). This led to playing live with movie icon Mae West's touring show during the 1930s. By 18 he already had his own band, Newman's Society Orchestra, playing on the luxury liner the SS Rotterdam.