---
name: "Erich Wolfgang Korngold"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/erich-wolfgang-korngold"
roles: ["Composer"]
born: "29 May 1897"
died: "29 November 1957"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 74
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-09-20T00:36:53.018973+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Composer. Born 29 May 1897 in Brno, Czech Republic. Died 29 November 1957.

## Details

- **Work:** Composer
- **Born:** 29 May 1897, Brno, Czech Republic
- **Died:** 29 November 1957
- **Active:** 1935–1942
- **Also known as:** E.W. Korngold
- **Frequently works with:** [Olivia de Havilland](https://film.one/person/olivia-de-havilland.md), [Basil Rathbone](https://film.one/person/basil-rathbone.md), [Casey Robinson](https://film.one/person/casey-robinson.md), [Errol Flynn](https://film.one/person/errol-flynn.md), [Michael Curtiz](https://film.one/person/michael-curtiz.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 2 nominated)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 75 (4), 1940s 70 (1)
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Romance 4, Adventure 2, Drama 2, Action 1, Comedy 1, Fantasy 1
- **Screen time:** 11 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $32m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Wolfgang_Korngold, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q313371, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006157/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/67429

## Streaming the US now

- **Tubi:** [*The Adventures of Robin Hood*](https://film.one/film/the-adventures-of-robin-hood.md) (90)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austrian-born composer and conductor. Born in Brno in 1897, he was a child prodigy who composed operas and concert works in Vienna before moving to the United States in 1934.

He first worked in Hollywood arranging the score for *A Midsummer Night's Dream* (1935). Korngold then composed the music for *Captain Blood* (1935), followed by scores for *The Adventures of Robin Hood* (1938), *The Sea Hawk* (1940) and other Warner Bros. films. He won Academy Awards for *Anthony Adverse* (1936) and *The Adventures of Robin Hood*.

Korngold became a US citizen in 1943. After the Second World War he returned primarily to concert music until his death in Hollywood in 1957.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, korngold-society.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

- *Kings Row* (1942), Fi1m 70, Original Music Composer, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/kings-row.md)
- *The Adventures of Robin Hood* (1938), Fi1m 90, Original Music Composer, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/the-adventures-of-robin-hood.md)
- *Anthony Adverse* (1936), Fi1m 57, Music, Original Music Composer — [page](https://film.one/film/anthony-adverse.md)
- *A Midsummer Night's Dream* (1935), Fi1m 74, Music Arranger — [page](https://film.one/film/a-midsummer-nights-dream.md)
- *Captain Blood* (1935), Fi1m 80, Music, Original Music Composer — [page](https://film.one/film/captain-blood.md)

## Complete filmography (31)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Marie Jacquot dirige Weill, Dukas et Korngold Avec Victor Julien-Laferrière* (2023), Original Music Composer
- *Korngold: Die tote Stadt* (2019), Sound, Writer
- *The Miracle of Heliane* (2019), Music
- *Die tote Stadt* (2018), Original Music Composer, Writer
- *Die tote Stadt* (2010), Original Music Composer
- *Die Tote Stadt* (2009), Original Music Composer
- *Die tote Stadt* (1999), Original Music Composer
- *Magic Fire* (1955), as Hans Richter (uncredited) · Music Supervisor
- *Escape Me Never* (1947), Original Music Composer
- *Deception* (1946), Original Music Composer
- *Of Human Bondage* (1946), Original Music Composer
- *Devotion* (1946), Original Music Composer
- *Between Two Worlds* (1944), Original Music Composer
- *The Constant Nymph* (1943), Original Music Composer, Conductor
- *Kings Row* (1942), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/kings-row.md)
- *The Sea Wolf* (1941), Original Music Composer
- *The Sea Hawk* (1940), Original Music Composer
- *The Mad Empress* (1939), Music
- *The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex* (1939), Original Music Composer
- *Juarez* (1939), Original Music Composer
- *The Adventures of Robin Hood* (1938), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/the-adventures-of-robin-hood.md)
- *Mr. Satan* (1938), as Compositor
- *Another Dawn* (1937), Original Music Composer
- *The Prince and the Pauper* (1937), Original Music Composer
- *Anthony Adverse* (1936), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 57, [page](https://film.one/film/anthony-adverse.md)
- *The Green Pastures* (1936), Original Music Composer
- *The Making of a Great Motion Picture* (1936), Music
- *Give Us This Night* (1936), Original Music Composer
- *A Dream Comes True* (1935), Music Supervisor
- *Captain Blood* (1935), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/captain-blood.md)
- *A Midsummer Night's Dream* (1935), Music Arranger — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/a-midsummer-nights-dream.md)

## Gallery

- ![Erich Wolfgang Korngold](https://film.one/media/person/1228006/gallery-8a461535e2c6.jpg) Erich Wolfgang Korngold — Georg Fayer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Erich_Wolfgang_Korngold_%281897%E2%80%931957%29_1927_%C2%A9_Georg_Fayer_%281892%E2%80%931950%29_OeNB_10451525.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Omschrijving: Personen. Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) Amerikaans componist van Oostenrijkse afkomst. Hij maakte vooral filmmuziek. Zonder plaats, ca. 1920](https://film.one/media/person/1228006/gallery-69fd86bce7c0.jpg) Omschrijving: Personen. Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) Amerikaans componist van Oostenrijkse afkomst. Hij maakte vooral filmmuziek. Zonder plaats, ca. 1920 — Rudolf Dührkoop, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Personen%2C_SFA008003610.jpg/1280px-Personen%2C_SFA008003610.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Porträtpostkarte, rückseitig von Korngold signiert 12.3.1914; ohne Angabe von Photograph oder Verlag](https://film.one/media/person/1228006/gallery-179ee708e813.jpg) Porträtpostkarte, rückseitig von Korngold signiert 12.3.1914; ohne Angabe von Photograph oder Verlag — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Korngold_Portraitpostkarte.jpg/1280px-Korngold_Portraitpostkarte.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Paul Wittgenstein plays piano with left hand for composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold in Los Angeles. This photograph may be associated with the article, “WITTGENST (1934)](https://film.one/media/person/1228006/gallery-5ff9dd54fb92.jpg) Paul Wittgenstein plays piano with left hand for composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold in Los Angeles. This photograph may be associated with the article, “WITTGENST (1934) — Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Paul_Wittgenstein_and_Erich_Wolfgang_Korngold.jpg/1280px-Paul_Wittgenstein_and_Erich_Wolfgang_Korngold.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 2 nominated

- 1941: Best Score, Adaptation or Treatment (nominated), for *The Sea Hawk*
- 1940: Best Score, Adaptation or Treatment (nominated), for *The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex*
- 1939: Best Original Score (won), for *The Adventures of Robin Hood*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/erich-wolfgang-korngold