Heinz Eric Roemheld
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Heinz Roemheld (May 1, 1901 – February 11, 1985) was an American composer.
He was born Heinrich Erich Roemheld in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and began playing the piano at the age of 4. He graduated from the Milwaukee College of Music at 19, and performed in theaters to earn money to study piano in Europe. In 1920, he went to Berlin, where he studied with Hugo Kaun, Ferruccio Busoni, and Egon Petri. While he was there, he appeared in concert with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
When he returned to America, he became involved in recording music for silent films, both as a pianist and as a conductor. He was sent back to Berlin as head of Universal Pictures theaters there in 1925, but he had to leave Germany in 1929 because of the rise of Nazism.
Back in America, he became a prominent film composer, composing the music for some scenes in Gone with the Wind including the burning of Atlanta (although he was not credited). He won an Oscar in 1942 for Yankee Doodle Dandy.
He continued writing for film for several of the major studios until the late 1950s. After trying television (which he disliked), he retired in 1964 to concentrate on his classical composition.
