Biography
David Buttolph was an American composer, arranger and conductor. He was born on 3 August 1902 in New York City and died on 1 January 1983 in Poway, California. He studied music at the Juilliard School and later in Austria and Germany, supporting himself as a nightclub pianist. He returned to the United States in 1927 and worked in radio as an arranger and conductor before moving to Hollywood in 1933.
Buttolph began his film career at 20th Century Fox, where he worked as an arranger and composer, later freelancing for other studios including Warner Bros. He composed or arranged music for over 300 films. His credits include Wake Island (1942), This Gun for Hire (1942), The Black Swan (1942), Kiss of Death (1947), House of Wax (1953), Calamity Jane (1953), The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) and The Horse Soldiers (1959). He also arranged music for Alfred Newman's score on The Mark of Zorro (1940).
From the mid-1950s he composed for television, including the theme for the series Maverick. He retired in 1963.
