Paul J. Smith

Upon graduating high school, Smith studied music at The College of Idaho from 1923 to 1925 before he was accepted into the Bush Conservatory of Music in Chicago, Illinois. His musical genius in theory and composition earned him a scholarship in music theory to study at Julliard. However, it is unclear if he ever pursued this invitation. Smith spent much of his life working at Disney as composer for many of its films' scores, animated and live-action alike, movie and television alike (from 1962 to 1963, he also composed music for Leave It to Beaver). In Fantasia, he is one of the studio employees in the orchestra. He also composed the scores for several of the True-Life Adventures episodes. His addition to this series would be his most influential mark in music and become a fundamental part of the education for generations of American students.[2] His main collaborator and partner was Hazel "Gil" George. She wrote the song title for The Light in the Forest with him and Lawrence Edward Watkin. Smith also did the stock music for the Blondie series of the late 1940s and early 1950s. He won an Academy Award for Best Original Score with Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for Pinocchio as his first and only Oscar win. -Wikipedia

Born: October 30, 1906 in Calumet, Michigan, USA

Died: January 25, 1985 (Age 78)