Leo Frank Forbstein (October 16, 1892 – March 16, 1948) was an American film musical director and orchestra conductor who worked on more than 550 projects during a twenty-year period.
He signed with Warner Bros. as one of the directors of its Vitaphone Orchestra, alongside Erno Rapee (then Warners' general music director), Louis Silvers, and David Mendoza; Forbstein's first screen credit was The Squall in 1929. In 1931, Warners dismissed Rapee and Mendoza in a consolidation and economy move and Forbstein became the company's general music director.
In 1936, musical director Forbstein and composerErich Wolfgang Korngold were write-in candidates for the Academy Award for Best Scoring for their work on Captain Blood, a score composed by Korngold but for which Forbstein received recognition as head of the Warner Brothers music department under Academy rules in place at the time. The following year, Forbstein received nominations as head of the Warner Brothers music department for the nominated scores The Charge of the Light Brigade (composed by Max Steiner) and Anthony Adverse (composed by Korngold), winning for the latter. The award for Anthony Adverse was originally a plaque that was later replaced with an Academy Award statuette in 1946. He was nominated as head of the department again in 1938 for The Life of Emile Zola (composed by Steiner).[1]
Personal life
Forbstein was married to the former Bess Gallas from October 16, 1914 until his death from a heart attack in Los Angeles, California. They had one daughter, Harriett (born 1915).[2] Composer Lou Forbes was Leo's younger brother. Leo Forbstein was entombed in the Corridor of Immortality at Home of Peace Cemetery.
