Johnny Green

It made dance records for the Columbia and Brunswick companies, although in the Depression even the most popular records sold only in small numbers. Read Less

The short subject featured Green conducting the MGM Orchestra on screen in the music from the opera of the same name by Otto Nicolai.

After leaving MGM, he guest conducted with various orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Denver Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra.

He was also hired to create the televised Guinness advertisement known as the "World" ad campaign. He recruited a team which included set designer Grant Major and Oscar nominated director of photography Wally Pfisher to complete the job.

Johnny Green's credits as musical executive, arranger, conductor and composer are considerable but include such films as Raintree County, Bathing Beauty, Easy to Wed, Something in the Wind, Easter Parade (for which he won his first Academy Award), Summer Stock, An American in Paris (which won him his second Academy Award), Royal Wedding, High Society and West Side Story (another Academy Award winner for him). Although Green was musical director on these films, however, the orchestrations were usually done by someone else - in the case of the MGM musicals, it was usually Conrad Salinger, and in the case of West Side Story, it was Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal. Read Less

Johnny Green also adapted, orchestrated and conducted the music for the film Oliver! (1968), based on the hit musical play, and won an Academy Award for his efforts. He also wrote much of the incidental music heard in the film, basing it on Lionel Bart's songs for the original show. His daughter, Kathe, dubbed Mark Lester's singing voice in the film.

Green was a respected board member of ASCAP, and guest conductor with symphonies around the world, including the Hollywood Bowl, Denver Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and more. He was a chairman of the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, leading the orchestra through 17 of the Academy Award telecasts, and a producer of television specials.

He married three times, had a daughter with actress Betty Furness and two daughters with MGM "Glamazon" Bunny Waters, including actress and singer Kathe Green. Read Less