Phil Ohman (October 7, 1896 – August 8, 1954) was an American
film composer and pianist. He is most well known for his collaboration with fellow musician
Victor Arden.
Biography
Ohman was born Fillmore Wellington Ohman in
New Britain, Connecticut in 1896. He is remembered as being one half of one of the pre-eminent piano duos in the 1922-1932, paired with
Victor Arden.
They were the pit pianists in many of
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
's musicals, and recorded hundreds of
piano rolls and records. Starting in mid 1927, just as they signed to
Victor Records
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsid ...
, they developed a large studio orchestra specializing in Broadway show songs that became quite popular. These particular records employed a rather large, brassy powerful sound (it is not known who they used as arranger), always with a space for a twin piano duet section.
Ohman died in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
on August 8, 1954.
Partial filmography
*''Try and Play It'' (1922)
*''Up and Down the Keys'' (1922)
*''Piano Pan'' (1922)
*''Sparkles'' (1935)
*''The Renegade Trail'' (1939)
*''
Captain Caution'' (1940)
*''The Roundup'' (1941)
* ''
Sweethearts of the U.S.A.'' (1944)
*''
Dick Tracy vs. Cueball
''Dick Tracy vs. Cueball'' is a 1946 American action film based on the 1930s comic strip character of the same name created by Chester Gould. The film stars Morgan Conway as Dick Tracy in the second installment of the ''Dick Tracy'' film seri ...
'' (1946)
*''
Million Dollar Weekend'' (1948)
See also
*
List of ragtime composers
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
Phil Ohman recordingsat the
Discography of American Historical Recordings
The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...
.
1896 births
1954 deaths
20th-century American composers
American film score composers
American pop pianists
American male pianists
American male film score composers
Ragtime composers
Ragtime pianists
20th-century American pianists
20th-century American male musicians
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