---
name: "Ernest Gold"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/ernest-gold"
fi1m_id: "ernest-gold"
imdb_id: "nm0006104"
tmdb_id: 12142
wikidata_id: "Q215753"
roles: ["Composer"]
born: "13 July 1921"
died: "17 March 1999"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-09-20T04:28:02.852963+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."
---

# Ernest Gold

## Identity

Ernest Gold

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/ernest-gold
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** ernest-gold
- **IMDb ID:** nm0006104
- **TMDB ID:** 12142
- **Wikidata ID:** Q215753
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Gold, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q215753, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006104/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/12142

Composer. Born 13 July 1921 in Vienna, Austria. Died 17 March 1999.

## Details

- **Work:** Composer
- **Born:** 13 July 1921, Vienna, Austria
- **Died:** 17 March 1999
- **Active:** 1957–1965
- **Also known as:** Ernst Gold
- **Frequently works with:** [Stanley Kramer](https://film.one/person/stanley-kramer.md), [Abby Mann](https://film.one/person/abby-mann.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 4 nominated)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1950s 80 (2), 1960s 72 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 81 to 77 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 4, Crime 2, Adventure 1, History 1, Mystery 1, Romance 1
- **Screen time:** 9 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $19m across 2 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Gold, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q215753, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006104/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/12142

## Streaming the US now

- **The Roku Channel:** [*The Defiant Ones*](https://film.one/film/the-defiant-ones.md) (74), [*Ship of Fools*](https://film.one/film/ship-of-fools.md) (62)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Judgment at Nuremberg*](https://film.one/film/judgment-at-nuremberg.md) (82)

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

## Biography

Ernest Gold, also credited as Ernst Gold, was an Austrian-born American composer of film and television scores. Born in Vienna in 1921, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began working in Hollywood in the mid-1940s, initially as an arranger and orchestrator before composing original scores.

He is known for his long collaboration with producer-director Stanley Kramer, scoring films including *The Defiant Ones* (1958), *On the Beach* (1959), *Inherit the Wind* (1960), *Judgment at Nuremberg* (1961) and *It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World* (1963). Gold won an Academy Award and two Grammy Awards for his score for *Exodus* (1960), and received a Golden Globe for *On the Beach*. He was the first composer awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org, latimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Ship of Fools* (1965), Fi1m 62, Original Music Composer, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/ship-of-fools.md)
- *Judgment at Nuremberg* (1961), Fi1m 82, Music, Original Music Composer — [page](https://film.one/film/judgment-at-nuremberg.md)
- *The Defiant Ones* (1958), Fi1m 74, Original Music Composer, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/the-defiant-ones.md)
- *Witness for the Prosecution* (1957), Fi1m 87, Conductor — [page](https://film.one/film/witness-for-the-prosecution.md)

## Complete filmography (58)

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

- *The Victory of Charity* (2017), Actor
- *Passion & Poetry: Sam Peckinpah's War* (2011), In Memory Of
- *Lincoln* (1988), series, Music
- *Dreams of Gold: The Mel Fisher Story* (1986), Original Music Composer
- *Wallenberg: A Hero's Story* (1985), series, Music
- *Safari 3000* (1982), Original Music Composer
- *Tom Horn* (1980), Original Music Composer
- *Letters from Frank* (1979), Original Music Composer
- *The Runner Stumbles* (1979), Original Music Composer
- *Marciano* (1979), Music
- *Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff* (1979), Original Music Composer
- *Fun with Dick and Jane* (1977), Original Music Composer
- *Cross of Iron* (1977), Original Music Composer, Music
- *The Wild McCullochs* (1975), Original Music Composer
- *Betrayal* (1974), Original Music Composer
- *The Small Miracle* (1973), Original Music Composer
- *Footsteps* (1972), Original Music Composer
- *Walt Whitman: Poet for a New Age* (1971), Music
- *The Secret of Santa Vittoria* (1970), Original Music Composer
- *Ship of Fools* (1965), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 62, [page](https://film.one/film/ship-of-fools.md)
- *It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World* (1963), Original Music Composer, Songs
- *A Child Is Waiting* (1963), Original Music Composer
- *Pressure Point* (1962), Original Music Composer
- *Judgment at Nuremberg* (1961), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/judgment-at-nuremberg.md)
- *The Last Sunset* (1961), Original Music Composer
- *A Fever in the Blood* (1961), Original Music Composer
- *Exodus* (1960), Original Music Composer
- *Inherit the Wind* (1960), Original Music Composer
- *On the Beach* (1959), Original Music Composer
- *The Young Philadelphians* (1959), Original Music Composer
- *The Screaming Skull* (1958), Original Music Composer, Conductor
- *Tarzan's Fight for Life* (1958), Original Music Composer
- *The Defiant Ones* (1958), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-defiant-ones.md)
- *Wink of an Eye* (1958), Music
- *Too Much, Too Soon* (1958), Music
- *Witness for the Prosecution* (1957), Conductor — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/witness-for-the-prosecution.md)
- *Affair in Havana* (1957), Original Music Composer
- *The Young Don't Cry* (1957), Conductor
- *The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show* (1956), series, Music
- *Running Target* (1956), Original Music Composer
- *Edge of Hell* (1956), Original Music Composer
- *The Naked Street* (1955), Music
- *The Other Woman* (1954), Original Music Composer
- *Karamoja* (1954), Music
- *Jennifer* (1953), Original Music Composer
- *The Assignation* (1953), Music
- *Unknown World* (1951), Original Music Composer
- *Insurance Investigator* (1951), Original Music Composer
- *Knock on Any Door* (1949), Orchestrator
- *Under California Stars* (1948), Original Music Composer
- *Madonna of the Desert* (1948), Music
- *The Gay Ranchero* (1948), Original Music Composer
- *Fragment of Seeking* (1947), Music
- *Exposed* (1947), Original Music Composer
- *Philo Vance's Secret Mission* (1947), Original Music Composer
- *Bells of San Angelo* (1947), Original Music Composer
- *Lighthouse* (1947), Music
- *Smooth as Silk* (1946), Music

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 4 nominated

- 1970: Best Original Score, no Musical (nominated), for *The Secret of Santa Vittoria*
- 1964: Best Original Song (nominated), for *It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World*
- 1964: Best Original Score (nominated), for *It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World*
- 1961: Best Original Dramatic or Comedy Score (won), for *Exodus*
- 1960: Best Original Dramatic or Comedy Score (nominated), for *On the Beach*

*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/ernest-gold