---
name: "Lennie Hayton"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/lennie-hayton"
roles: ["Composer"]
born: "13 February 1908"
died: "24 April 1971"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-20T05:13:46.400024+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."
---

# Lennie Hayton

Composer. Born 13 February 1908 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 24 April 1971.

## Details

- **Work:** Composer
- **Born:** 13 February 1908, New York City, New York, USA
- **Died:** 24 April 1971
- **Active:** 1949–1969
- **Also known as:** Leonard George Hayton, The Lennie Hayton Orchestra
- **Academy Awards:** 2 Oscars (2 won · 4 nominated)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 80 (1), 1950s 93 (1), 1960s 56 (1)
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Comedy 2, Romance 2, Action 1, Drama 1, War 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $40m across 2 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lennie_Hayton, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q487355, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006125/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/95665

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Hello, Dolly!*](https://film.one/film/hello-dolly.md) (56)

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

## Biography

Lennie Hayton was an American composer, conductor, arranger and musician. Born in New York City, he began his career as a jazz pianist, working with ensembles including those of Frankie Trumbauer, Bix Beiderbecke, Red Nichols and Joe Venuti, and later with the Paul Whiteman orchestra. He moved into film work in the 1930s and served as musical director at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1940 to 1953.

Hayton composed or arranged the scores for numerous MGM musicals and other films. His credits include *Battleground* (1949), *On the Town* (1949), for which he shared an Academy Award, *Singin' in the Rain* (1952), *The Pirate* (1948) and *The Harvey Girls* (1946). Later scores encompassed *Star!* (1968) and *Hello, Dolly!* (1969), the latter bringing him a second Oscar, shared with Lionel Newman. He was also musical director for his wife, the singer and actress Lena Horne.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, catalog.afi.com, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Hello, Dolly!* (1969), Fi1m 56, Original Music Composer, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/hello-dolly.md)
- *Singin' in the Rain* (1952), Fi1m 93, Music Director — [page](https://film.one/film/singin-in-the-rain.md)
- *Battleground* (1949), Fi1m 80, Music, Original Music Composer — [page](https://film.one/film/battleground.md)

## Complete filmography (49)

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

- *Hello, Dolly!* (1969), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 56, [page](https://film.one/film/hello-dolly.md)
- *Star!* (1968), Original Music Composer
- *Jack and the Beanstalk* (1967), Conductor, Original Music Composer
- *Easy to Love* (1953), Music Director
- *Battle Circus* (1953), Music
- *Singin' in the Rain* (1952), Music Director — Fi1m 93, [page](https://film.one/film/singin-in-the-rain.md)
- *Love Is Better Than Ever* (1952), Music Director
- *Inside Straight* (1951), Music
- *Side Street* (1950), Original Music Composer
- *On the Town* (1949), Original Music Composer, Music Director
- *Battleground* (1949), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/battleground.md)
- *Any Number Can Play* (1949), Original Music Composer
- *The Pirate* (1948), Original Music Composer, Music Director
- *Good News* (1947), Music Director
- *The Hucksters* (1947), Original Music Composer
- *Living in a Big Way* (1947), Original Music Composer
- *The Secret Heart* (1946), Additional Music
- *Till the Clouds Roll By* (1946), Music Director
- *The Harvey Girls* (1946), Music Director, Original Music Composer
- *Yolanda and the Thief* (1945), Original Music Composer
- *Ziegfeld Follies* (1945), Music Director
- *Meet Me in St. Louis* (1944), Additional Music
- *Maisie Goes to Reno* (1944), Original Music Composer
- *Best Foot Forward* (1943), Original Music Composer
- *Swing Shift Maisie* (1943), Original Music Composer
- *Assignment in Brittany* (1943), Music
- *Whistling in Dixie* (1942), Music
- *Eyes in the Night* (1942), Original Music Composer
- *The Greatest Gift* (1942), Original Music Composer
- *Pierre of the Plains* (1942), Original Music Composer
- *Maisie Gets Her Man* (1942), Original Music Composer
- *The Woman in the House* (1942), Original Music Composer
- *Further Prophecies of Nostradamus* (1942), Music
- *Grand Central Murder* (1942), Music
- *Kid Glove Killer* (1942), Additional Music
- *Mokey* (1942), Music Score Producer
- *Nazi Agent* (1942), Original Music Composer
- *This Time for Keeps* (1942), Music
- *Dr. Kildare's Victory* (1942), Original Music Composer
- *The Vanishing Virginian* (1942), Music Director
- *The Bugle Sounds* (1942), Music
- *We Must Have Music* (1942), Music
- *Personalities* (1942), Music
- *Johnny Eager* (1941), Orchestrator
- *Strange Testament* (1941), Music
- *Married Bachelor* (1941), Original Music Composer
- *The Big Store* (1941), Music
- *Love Crazy* (1941), Original Music Composer
- *Ghost Treasure* (1941), Music

## Gallery

- ![Lennie Hayton](https://film.one/media/person/294310/gallery-263f04a6c78f.jpg) Lennie Hayton — The Library of Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Lennie_Hayton.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Lena Horne and Lennie Hayton, New York, N.Y., between 1946 and 1948] 1 negative : b&w ; 2 1/4 x 2 1/](https://film.one/media/person/294310/gallery-26e4ef84c77a.jpg) Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Lena Horne and Lennie Hayton, New York, N.Y., between 1946 and 1948] 1 negative : b&w ; 2 1/4 x 2 1/ — The Library of Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/%28Portrait_of_Lena_Horne_and_Lennie_Hayton%2C_New_York%2C_N.Y.%2C_between_1946_and_1948%29_%28LOC%29_%285354168293%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 2 won, 4 nominated

- 1970: Best Original Musical Score (won), for *Hello, Dolly!*
- 1969: Best Original Musical Score (nominated), for *Star!*
- 1953: Best Original Musical Score (nominated), for *Singin' in the Rain*
- 1950: Best Original Musical Score (won), for *On the Town*
- 1949: Best Original Musical Score (nominated), for *The Pirate*
- 1947: Best Original Musical Score (nominated), for *The Harvey Girls*

*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/lennie-hayton