Henry Vars | |
|---|---|
 Vars c. 1944 | |
| Born | Henryk Warszawski December 29, 1902 |
| Died | September 1, 1977 (aged 74) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, Culver City |
| Other names | Henryk Wars |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1927–1974 |
Henry Vars (born Henryk Warszawski; December 29, 1902 – September 1, 1977) was a Polish-American composer, arranger and conductor whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. He is regarded as the most important musical theatre, pop and film music composer of the interwar Poland.
Known in Poland as Henryk Wars, he is widely considered a pioneer of Polish jazz with his first composition "New York Times" (1927) being regarded as the very first jazz song in the history of Polish music.[1] His other jazz and pop songs from the period include "Miłość ci wszystko wybaczy" (1933), "Umówiłem się z nią na dziewiątą", "Sex appeal" (both from 1937), "Ach, jak przyjemnie" and "Już nie zapomnisz mnie" (both from 1939).
In the United States, Henry Vars is best remembered for scoring westerns Seven Men From Now (1956) and Escort West (1959), with an adventure film Flipper (1963) being his most famous work. His other American works include a Margaret Whiting song "Over and Over and Over", Mel Tormé's "I Owe A Kiss To A Girl In Iowa" (both from 1950), Brenda Lee's "Speak to Me Pretty" (1961) and Doris Day's Walk With Him (1962).[2]
- ^ "Henryk Wars bio in notes". YouTube. 12 October 2008.[dead YouTube link]
- ^ "East Silver". Archived from the original on 2012-03-11.