---
name: "Harry Sukman"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/harry-sukman"
fi1m_id: "harry-sukman"
imdb_id: "nm0006313"
tmdb_id: 29330
wikidata_id: "Q534994"
roles: ["Composer"]
born: "2 December 1912"
died: "2 December 1984"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-25T07:16:14.323535+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."
---

# Harry Sukman

## Identity

Harry Sukman

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/harry-sukman
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** harry-sukman
- **IMDb ID:** nm0006313
- **TMDB ID:** 29330
- **Wikidata ID:** Q534994
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Sukman, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q534994, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006313/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/29330

Composer. Born 2 December 1912 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Died 2 December 1984.

## Details

- **Work:** Composer
- **Born:** 2 December 1912, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- **Died:** 2 December 1984
- **Active:** 1955–1961
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 2 nominated)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1950s 80 (2), 1960s 70 (1)
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 2, Crime 1, Romance 1, Western 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $6m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Sukman, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q534994, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006313/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/29330

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Phenix City Story*](https://film.one/film/the-phenix-city-story.md) (71)

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

## Biography

Harry Sukman (2 December 1912 – 2 December 1984) was an American film and television composer. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he began his musical career as a teenager in the 1920s and moved to Hollywood in 1946, where he worked initially as a pianist before composing scores.

His film credits include *The Phenix City Story* (1955), *Forty Guns* (1957) and *Fanny* (1961). On television he composed for series including *Bonanza* (1969–1972) and *The High Chaparral* (1967–1971). Sukman won an Academy Award for Best Musical or Comedy Score (shared with Morris Stoloff) for *Song Without End* (1960) and received further Oscar nominations for *Fanny* and *The Singing Nun* (1966).

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

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Fanny* (1961), Fi1m 70, Sound — [page](https://film.one/film/fanny.md)
- *Rio Bravo* (1959), Fi1m 88, Musician — [page](https://film.one/film/rio-bravo.md)
- *The Phenix City Story* (1955), Fi1m 71, Original Music Composer, Conductor, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/the-phenix-city-story.md)

## Complete filmography (38)

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

- *Salem's Lot* (1979), series, Music
- *Someone's Watching Me!* (1978), Original Music Composer
- *Enigma* (1977), Music
- *Beyond the Bermuda Triangle* (1975), Original Music Composer
- *Born Free* (1974), series, Original Music Composer
- *Planet Earth* (1974), Original Music Composer
- *The Family Kovack* (1974), Music
- *The Cowboys* (1974), series, Original Music Composer
- *Mr. Kingstreet's War* (1973), Music
- *Genesis II* (1973), Music
- *If He Hollers, Let Him Go!* (1968), Conductor, Music
- *The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell* (1968), Original Music Composer
- *The Naked Runner* (1967), Original Music Composer
- *Welcome to Hard Times* (1967), Original Music Composer
- *The Singing Nun* (1966), as Songs
- *Around the World Under the Sea* (1965), Original Music Composer
- *Guns of Diablo* (1964), Original Music Composer
- *The Eleventh Hour* (1962), series, Original Music Composer
- *A Thunder of Drums* (1961), Music
- *Fanny* (1961), Sound — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/fanny.md)
- *Madison Avenue* (1961), Music
- *Underworld U.S.A.* (1961), Original Music Composer
- *Song Without End* (1960), as Songs
- *The Crimson Kimono* (1959), Conductor, Original Music Composer
- *Bonanza* (1959), series, Music
- *The Hangman* (1959), Original Music Composer
- *Verboten!* (1959), Original Music Composer
- *Rio Bravo* (1959), Musician — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/rio-bravo.md)
- *Dogface* (1959), Music
- *Alcoa Theatre* (1957), series, Music
- *Forty Guns* (1957), Music, Conductor
- *Fury at Showdown* (1957), Music
- *Screaming Eagles* (1956), Original Music Composer
- *The Phenix City Story* (1955), Original Music Composer, Conductor — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/film/the-phenix-city-story.md)
- *A Bullet for Joey* (1955), Original Music Composer, Conductor
- *Battle Taxi* (1955), Original Music Composer, Conductor
- *Gog* (1954), Original Music Composer
- *Riders to the Stars* (1954), Original Music Composer

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 2 nominated

- 1967: Best Score, Adaptation or Treatment (nominated), for *The Singing Nun*
- 1962: Best Original Dramatic or Comedy Score (nominated), for *Fanny*
- 1961: Best Original Musical Score (won), for *Song Without End*

*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/harry-sukman