Biography
William Axt (19 April 1888 – 13 February 1959) was an American composer of film scores. Born in New York City, he graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx and studied at the National Conservatory of Music of America. He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Chicago in 1922 and studied privately in Berlin under Xaver Scharwenka.
Axt served as assistant conductor for the Hammerstein Grand Opera Company and as musical director for the Capitol Theatre in Manhattan. He later joined the music department at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he contributed to nearly two hundred films. He is credited, often as Dr. William Axt, on The Thin Man (1934), The Navigator (1924), Sons of the Desert (1933), The Man Who Laughs (1928), Greed (1924), The Wind (1928), Libeled Lady (1936), Dinner at Eight (1933), The Big Parade (1925) and Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925).
