Del Castillo (born Lloyd Gould Castillo, April 2, 1893 – July 6, 1992), was an American

cinema organ A theatre organ (also known as a theater organ, or, especially in the United Kingdom, a cinema organ) is a type of pipe organ developed to accompany silent films, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Theatre organs have horseshoe-shaped arrangements ...

ist, theatre organist and composer, who provided music for radio series such as ''

Stars over Hollywood ''Stars over Hollywood'' is a radio anthology in the United States. It was broadcast on CBS from May 31, 1941, to September 25, 1954, sponsored first by Dari-Rich, Carnation Milk and later by Armour and Company. (Note: This program should not be ...

'', ''Hollywood Theatre of Today'', and ''Satan's Waitin' '', as well as a number of animated short subjects, including several featuring

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. In addition, he served for several years as both program director and staff organist at WEEI (AM) in Boston.

Early life and career

Castillo was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the only child of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Martin Castillo. Mrs. Castillo, the former Minnie May Gould, was herself an accomplished pianist and graduate of the

Boston Conservatory of Music Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a private performing arts conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founded ...

, who also performed with

Caroline Nichols Caroline Nelson-Nichols (born December 15, 1984) is an American field hockey player. She is a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team for Women’s Field Hockey and the 2012 US Olympic team. Before serving as the interihead coach of the US Wome ...

' Fadettes of Boston. She personally saw to Lloyd's early training, giving him piano lessons at age 4. Shortly thereafter he attended the Faelton Pianoforte School, and, by age nine, was performing in public. He continued his studies at Rindge Manual Training School and later attended Harvard University, where he served for two years as conductor of the

Pierian Sodality The Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra (HRO) is a collegiate symphony orchestra comprising Harvard students and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in March 1808 as the Pierian Sodality, the orchestra is considered by some the oldest symphony orc ...

before graduating in 1914. ''Daily News'' critic Ben Gross, in an otherwise dismissive review of the short-lived summer replacement radio series ''Satan's Waitin','' wrote: "The best part of it to this listener was the eerie, howling background music provided by Del Castillo, organist, and Dr. Samuel Hoffman, playing the theremin." Castillo also founded a school for theatrical organists, the first such school in Boston. Among his students was longtime Fenway Park and Boston Garden organist John Kiley.

Personal life and death

Scarcely two months into Castillo's sophomore year at Harvard, '' The Boston Globe'' recounted, in rapid succession, the indictment, arrest and conviction of his father, Dr. Frank del Castillo, sentenced to three to five years in Massachusetts State Prison after "plead ngguilty to an illegal operation involving Annie Gallagher Sept. 6.""Dr. Frank del Castillo Sentenced"
''The Boston Globe''. November 23, 1911. p. 20. From June 15, 1920, until her death on June 14, 1975, Castillo was married to Phyllis Arlene Woolley. On July 6, 1992, Lloyd Castillo died in Los Angeles at age ninety-nine.

Notes

References

External links

"Good Cause"
''The Boston Globe''. May 31, 1941.
Del Castillo discography
at Discogs.
G. del Castillo: Babillage (Entre Acte)
at YouTube.
"'Horton Hatches the Egg' by Del Castillo; Marvin Miller; Dr. Seuss"
at Internet Archive. {{DEFAULTSORT:Castillo, Del 1893 births 1992 deaths American organists American male organists Harvard University alumni Musicians from Boston Theatre organists 20th-century organists 20th-century American male musicians