Heinz Roemheld

Heinz Roemheld (May 1, 1901 – February 11, 1985) was an American composer. Early life and career Born Heinz Eric Roemheld in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he was one of four children of German immigrant Heinrich Roemheld and his wife Fanny Rauterberg Roemheld. Heinrich was a pharmacist, but all the members of the family were musical. His brother Edgar Roemheld (1898–1964) became a conductor. His sister Irmgard Roemheld (1904–1995) became a well-known Milwaukee music teacher and radio broadcaster. Roemheld was a child prodigy who began playing the piano at four. He graduated from the Milwaukee College of Music at 19 and performed in theaters to earn money to study piano in Europe. In 1920, he went to Berlin, where he studied with Hugo Kaun, Ferruccio Busoni, and Egon Petri. While there, he appeared in concert with the Berlin Philharmonic. When he returned to America, Roemheld became involved in music for silent movies, both as a pianist and conductor. In 1925, he was sent back to Berlin as head of Universal Pictures theaters there but had to leave in 1929 due to the rise of Nazism. Back in America, Roemheld moved to Los Angeles and became a prominent cinema composer. He scored some scenes i