Songwriters Hall of FameInducted 1970 | ASCAP Writer

One of the most prolific and celebrated composers of film music, Victor Young was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 8, 1900.

At the age of 10, Victor moved to Warsaw, Poland to study violin with Isidor Lotto at the Warsaw Conservatory. He debuted as a concert violinist with the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert and toured throughout Europe. Returning to the states, Young performed as concertmaster with the LA Theatre and Central Park Theatre before joining the Ted Fio Rito orchestra as violinist and arranger.

In the 1920’s through the 1930’s, Young worked as music director for radio programs in Chicago and New York and in 1935, he moved to LA, forming his own orchestra, Victor Young and His Orchestra.

Throughout his career, Young collaborated with lyricists like Will Harris, Jack Osterman, Ned Washington, Edward Heyman, Joe Young, Ray Evans and Jay Livingston. He wrote scores for more than 350 films including I Wanted Wings, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Uninvited, Samson and Delilah, The Greatest Show on Earth and Around the World in Eighty Days, for which he earned the 1956 Academy Award for Best Score in a Motion Picture.

His extensive catalog includes hit standards like “Sweet Sue”, “Street of Dreams”, “Too Late”, “Can’t We Talk it Over”, “Love is the Thing”, “Love Me Tonight”, “Any Time, Any Day, Anywhere”, “My Love”, “A Hundred Years from Today”, “Sweet Madness”, “Love Me”, “A Love Like This”, “Mad About You”, “You’re Not in My Arms Tonight”, “The Old Man of the Mountain”, “A Man With a Dream”, “Stella By Starlight”, “When I Fall in Love” and “My Foolish Heart.”

Victor Young died in Palm Springs, California on November 11, 1956.

Related Songwriters