Simon Waronker (March 4, 1915 – June 7, 2005) was an American

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, best known for co-founding

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...

Biography

Graduating from high school at 13 years old, he won a scholarship to study music in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Waronker began to establish his music career in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, but was forced to return to the United States when

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

members began to

threaten A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation for co ...

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. From 1939 to 1955, Waronker recorded

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

s. At least one source described this role as an orchestra contractor. He then chose to enter the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

independently, co-founding Liberty Records and serving as its chairman.''Los Angeles Times'' obituary of Waronker
/ref> The first artist he signed was popular singer

Julie London Julie London (née Peck; September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress whose career spanned more than 40 years. A torch singer noted for her sultry, languid contralto vocals, London recorded over thirty albums ...

. One of the major acts who recorded on Liberty Records was

The Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks or simply The Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for novelty records in 1958. The group consists of three s ...

, actually

Ross Bagdasarian Ross S. Bagdasarian (; January 27, 1919 – January 16, 1972), known professionally by his stage name David Seville, was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor, best known for creating the cartoon band Alvin and the Chipmun ...

, who recorded as

David Seville David "Dave" Seville is a fictional character, the producer and manager of the fictional singing group '' Alvin and the Chipmunks''. The character was created by Ross Bagdasarian Sr., who had used the name "David Seville" as his stage name prio ...

. Seville named The Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon, and Theodore) after Liberty Records executives Alvin Bennett, Simon Waronker, and

Theodore Keep Theodore Gene Keep (20 January 1924 – 21 May 2007) was an American audio engineer and record producer. As a co-founder of Liberty Records, he was the namesake of the character of Theodore from The Alvin Show and ''The Chipmunks'',. Biography ...

, respectively. In 1963, facing

health problems A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that ar ...

, Waronker sold his interest in Liberty to the electronics firm

Avnet Avnet, Inc. is a distributor of electronic components headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, named after Charles Avnet, who founded the company in 1921. After its start on Manhattan's Radio Row, the company became incorporated in 1955 and began tr ...

. He died in 2005 at age 90 and is buried at

Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery The Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary is a Jewish cemetery located at 6001 West Centinela Avenue, in Culver City, California. Many Jews from the entertainment industry are buried here. The cemetery is known for Al Jolson's elaborate tomb (design ...

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...

. Record producer

Lenny Waronker Lenny Waronker (born October 3, 1941) is an American record producer and music industry executive. As the president of Warner Bros. Records, and later, as the co-chair of DreamWorks Records, Waronker was noted for his commitment to artists and hi ...

is Simon's son. Lenny has five children; musicians

Joey Waronker Jon Joseph Waronker (born May 20, 1969) is an American drummer and music producer. He is best known as a regular drummer of both Beck and R.E.M., and as member of the experimental rock bands Atoms for Peace and Ultraísta. Background Waronker w ...

and

Anna Waronker Anna Jeanette Waronker (born July 10, 1972) is a singer/songwriter, composer, and producer best known as the frontwoman of That Dog. She is the daughter of producer Lenny Waronker and actress and musician Donna Loren, the sister of session drumme ...

interior designer Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...

Katherine Waronker, Lily Waronker, and Grace Waronker.

References

Reuters news story on death published on Launch Yahoo 9 June 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waronker, Simon 1915 births 2005 deaths Record producers from California American expatriates in France American expatriates in Germany American people of German-Jewish descent Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery Jewish American musicians 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews