Franz Waxman (1906-1967) was born Franz Wachsmann in Konigshutte, Upper Silesia, Germany. His father wanted him to be a banker but he used the money he earned as a teller to pay for piano, composition, and harmony lessons, then moved to Berlin to further his musical career. After playing with a jazz band, his movie break came in orchestrating and conducting Frederick Hollander's score for Josef von Sternberg's film, The Blue Angel. He came to Hollywood in the 1930s with Jerome Kern, scoring his first film there, The Bride of Frankenstein, in 1935. He received twelve Oscar nominations for his scores, winning in 1950 for Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard and 1951 for George Steven's A Place in the Sun.
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