Leith Stevens

American composer Leith Stevens was a child prodigy who began working as a professional accompanist to singers in Kansas City when he was only 11. By the time he was 16, Stevens was conducting orchestras there. He earned a Juilliard Foundation Fellowship in 1927 and in 1930 began working for CBS radio as an arranger. Soon he was promoted to conductor and arranger. He scored his first film, Syncopation, for RKO in 1942. In that score was the "American Rhapsody" that was performed in concert halls. During WWII, Stevens served as radio director for the Southwest Pacific Area with the Office of War Information. After the war, he became a more prolific composer of scores for films and television shows. At age 60, he died of a massive heart attack after learning that his wife had just been killed in a traffic accident.

~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide