---
name: "Leith Stevens"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/leith-stevens"
fi1m_id: "leith-stevens"
imdb_id: "nm0006302"
tmdb_id: 40460
wikidata_id: "Q257805"
roles: ["Composer"]
born: "13 September 1909"
died: "23 July 1970"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-25T05:27:19.606901+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."
---

# Leith Stevens

## Identity

Leith Stevens

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/leith-stevens
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** leith-stevens
- **IMDb ID:** nm0006302
- **TMDB ID:** 40460
- **Wikidata ID:** Q257805
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leith_Stevens, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q257805, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006302/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/40460

Composer. Born 13 September 1909 in Mount Moriah, Missouri, USA. Died 23 July 1970.

## Details

- **Work:** Composer
- **Born:** 13 September 1909, Mount Moriah, Missouri, USA
- **Died:** 23 July 1970
- **Active:** 1950–1953
- **Academy Awards:** 3 Oscar nominations
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 2, Crime 1, Romance 1, Western 1
- **Screen time:** 4 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $2m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leith_Stevens, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q257805, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006302/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/40460

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Winchester '73*](https://film.one/film/winchester-73.md) (81), [*The Bigamist*](https://film.one/film/the-bigamist.md) (74)

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

## Biography

Leith Stevens was an American composer and conductor of radio and film scores. Born in Mount Moriah, Missouri, he was a child prodigy pianist who studied at the Juilliard School. He began his professional career as an arranger and conductor for CBS radio in the 1930s, later becoming head of the network's music department.

Stevens composed scores for many films, including *Winchester '73* (1950), *Destination Moon* (1950), *When Worlds Collide* (1951), *The War of the Worlds* (1953), *The Wild One* (1953) and *The Hitch-Hiker* (1953). He was a founding member and first president of the Composers and Lyricists Guild of America. From 1960 he taught a course on film scoring at the University of California, Los Angeles. He received three Academy Award nominations.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, finding-aids.library.umkc.edu.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Angel Face* (1953), Fi1m 78, Additional Music — [page](https://film.one/film/angel-face.md)
- *The Bigamist* (1953), Fi1m 74, Music Director, Original Music Composer, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/the-bigamist.md)
- *Winchester '73* (1950), Fi1m 81, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/winchester-73.md)

## Complete filmography (77)

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

- *The Twilight Zone: A 60th Anniversary Celebration* (2019), Original Music Composer
- *Assault on the Wayne* (1971), Original Music Composer
- *The Silent Gun* (1969), Music
- *The Immortal* (1969), Music Supervisor
- *Seven in Darkness* (1969), Music Supervisor
- *Chuka* (1967), Music
- *The Night of the Grizzly* (1966), Original Music Composer
- *Women of the Prehistoric Planet* (1966), Music
- *The Human Duplicators* (1965), Music
- *Mutiny in Outer Space* (1965), Music
- *A New Kind of Love* (1963), Original Music Composer
- *It Happened at the World's Fair* (1963), Original Music Composer
- *The Interns* (1962), Original Music Composer
- *Ricochet* (1961), Music
- *Man-Trap* (1961), Original Music Composer
- *On the Double* (1961), Original Music Composer
- *Hell to Eternity* (1960), Original Music Composer
- *The Gene Krupa Story* (1959), Original Music Composer
- *But Not for Me* (1959), Original Music Composer
- *The Five Pennies* (1959), Conductor, Original Music Composer
- *I Married a Monster from Outer Space* (1958), Original Music Composer
- *The Gun Runners* (1958), Original Music Composer
- *Violent Road* (1958), Original Music Composer
- *Seven Guns to Mesa* (1958), Music
- *The Green-Eyed Blonde* (1957), Original Music Composer
- *Ride Out for Revenge* (1957), Original Music Composer, Conductor
- *The Careless Years* (1957), Music, Conductor
- *The James Dean Story* (1957), Original Music Composer, Music
- *The Garment Jungle* (1957), Original Music Composer
- *Lizzie* (1957), Original Music Composer
- *Julie* (1956), Original Music Composer
- *Miami Exposé* (1956), Music
- *No Right to Kill* (1956), Music
- *The Werewolf* (1956), Music
- *Great Day in the Morning* (1956), Original Music Composer
- *The Scarlet Hour* (1956), Music
- *World Without End* (1956), Original Music Composer
- *Inside Detroit* (1955), Music
- *The Treasure of Pancho Villa* (1955), Original Music Composer
- *Night of Execution* (1955), as Theme Song Performance
- *Mad at the World* (1955), Original Music Composer
- *Crashout* (1955), Original Music Composer
- *Private Hell 36* (1954), Original Music Composer
- *The Wild One* (1953), Original Music Composer
- *The Bigamist* (1953), Original Music Composer, Music Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-bigamist.md)
- *Crazylegs* (1953), Music
- *Scared Stiff* (1953), Original Music Composer
- *The War of the Worlds* (1953), Original Music Composer
- *The Hitch-Hiker* (1953), Original Music Composer
- *The Glass Wall* (1953), Music
- *Angel Face* (1953), Additional Music — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/angel-face.md)
- *Eight Iron Men* (1952), Original Music Composer
- *The Duel at Silver Creek* (1952), Additional Music
- *Beware, My Lovely* (1952), Original Music Composer
- *Lost in Alaska* (1952), Music
- *The Narrow Margin* (1952), Additional Music
- *The Atomic City* (1952), Original Music Composer
- *When Worlds Collide* (1951), Original Music Composer
- *No Questions Asked* (1951), Original Music Composer
- *The Sun Sets at Dawn* (1950), Original Music Composer
- *Shakedown* (1950), Music
- *Winchester '73* (1950), Music — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/winchester-73.md)
- *Destination Moon* (1950), Original Music Composer
- *The Great Rupert* (1950), Music
- *Never Fear* (1950), Original Music Composer
- *Abandoned* (1949), Music
- *Not Wanted* (1949), Original Music Composer
- *Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff* (1949), Music
- *Johnny Stool Pigeon* (1949), Music
- *Mexican Hayride* (1948), Music
- *Larceny* (1948), Music
- *Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin'* (1948), Music
- *All My Sons* (1948), Original Music Composer
- *Night Song* (1948), Original Music Composer
- *The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap* (1947), Music
- *Syncopation* (1942), as Music
- *Saturday Night Swing Club* (1938), as Orchestra Leader

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 3 nominated

- 1964: Best Score, Adaptation or Treatment (nominated), for *A New Kind of Love*
- 1960: Best Original Musical Score (nominated), for *The Five Pennies*
- 1957: Best Original Song (nominated), for *Julie*

*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/leith-stevens