Biography
Bernhard Kaun (also credited as Bernard Kaun) was an American composer and orchestrator. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he trained in Germany before moving to the United States and beginning work in film music in the early 1930s.
He contributed music to numerous Hollywood productions of the 1930s, including A Farewell to Arms (1932) and I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932). Kaun is noted for composing the main theme for Frankenstein (1931) and for his orchestrations on scores by Max Steiner, including King Kong (1933). He worked extensively as a composer, orchestrator and conductor for studios such as Universal, Warner Bros. and Paramount, contributing to more than 200 films.
Later in his career Kaun composed concert music and worked in television. He died in Baden-Baden, West Germany, in 1980.
