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Remembering Ronald Stein, 1930-1988
Composer Ronald Stein died in Los Angeles ten years ago today, on August 15, 1988, at the age of 58, from pancreatic cancer.
One of the defining musical voices of American low-budget genre cinema, Stein wrote music for more than 140 films during a career stretching from the mid-1950s into the 1970s. He was especially associated with American International Pictures and producer-director Roger Corman, bringing invention and musical seriousness to films including It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, The Premature Burial and The Haunted Palace.
Louis Ronald Stein was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 12, 1930. His mother, Cecilia, had played piano for silent films and gave him his earliest musical training, encouraging both his musicianship and his fascination with cinema. He studied at Washington University in St. Louis, where he wrote for theatrical productions and worked with the Municipal Opera, before continuing his studies at Yale. His education was interrupted by military service, during which he composed and conducted shows for the U.S. Army Special Services.
After leaving the Army, Stein moved to Hollywood determined to become a film composer, despite receiving discouraging advice from established studio musicians. His opportunity came through Roger Corman, who hired him to score the western Apache Woman in 1955. Stein’s ability to compose and conduct quickly on tiny budgets led to a five-year contract with American International Pictures and an extraordinary period of productivity. Read more…
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