Representative Albums: "Me and the Colonel," "World of Suzie Wong," "The Devil at 4 O'Clock/The Victors"
Biography
Film composer George Duning was born in Richmond, IN on February 25, 1908, later studying theory at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and composition under Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. After playing trumpet in a series of big bands, in 1939 he was tapped as the musical director for the NBC radio program "Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge," and during World War II served as conductor and arranger with the Armed Forces Radio Network. Following the war Duning signed on with Columbia Pictures, notching the first of five Academy Award nominations for his work on 1949's Jolson Sings Again; he also earned Oscar bids for 1953's No Sad Songs for Me, 1953's From Here to Eternity, 1955's Picnic and 1956's The Eddy Duchin Story, but never took home the prize. From the 1960s onward Duning focused primarily on television, writing scores for series including The Big Valley, Naked City and Star Trek; he died February 27, 2000 at the age of 92. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
During his early 20s played trumpet and piano for the Kay Kyser band, later arranging most of the music for Kyser's popular Kollege of Musical Knowledge radio program. It was during the Kyser band's appearance in Carolina Moon (1944) that Duning's work was noticed, leading to a Columbia contract. Duning joined the Navy in 1942 and served as a conductor and arranger with Armed Forces Radio.
Duning was an active citizen of the music industry, serving on the ASCAP Board of Directors from 1972 to 1985, and as ASCAP Vice President from 1978 to 1979. He also served on the Board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was active in numerous other music industry organizations. In addition to his Academy Award nominations, Duning was also honored with awards from the Society for the Preservation of Film Music, Downbeat Magazine, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and his home state of Indiana (1993 Indiana Composer of the Year).