Frank Churchill

About

Frank Churchill (October 20, 1901 in Rumford, Maine - May 14, 1942 in Newhall, California) was a U.S. composer of popular music for films. He wrote most of the music for Disney's 1937 movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, including "Whistle While You Work" and "Some Day My Prince Will Come". The latter (without the Larry Morey lyrics) became a jazz standard covered by various jazz greats including Oscar Peterson, Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck. Churchill began his career playing piano in cinemas at the age of 15. After dropping out of medical studies at UCLA to pursue a career in music, he became accompanist at the Los Angeles radio station KNX (AM) in 1924. He joined Disney studios in 1930, and scored many animated shorts - his song for The Three Little Pigs, Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf, was a huge commercial success. In 1937, he was chosen to score Disney's first full-length animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. His catchy, artfully written songs played a large part in the film's initial success and continuing popularity. He became supervisor of music at Disney, and in 1942 won Oscar nominations for his work on Dumbo and Bambi. Frank Churchill committed suicide on May 14, 1942.