Marlin Skiles

Marlin Skiles (1906–1981) was an American composer of film and television scores. Pianist, arranger and composer Skiles was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in December 1906. He studied music at his local conservatory, later perfecting his training under Ernst Toch in Los Angeles. By the 1920s, he was employed as a pianist, arranger and orchestrator with big name dance bands like those of Paul Whiteman and Irving Aaronson and His Commanders. In Hollywood from 1932, he was under contract at Republic and Columbia (1944–1948), often writing incidental music for second features. He occasionally composed original soundtracks for better productions, like A Thousand and One Nights (1945) or Dead Reckoning (1946). Skiles served as musical director for Columbia's mega-hit Gilda (1946), starring Rita Hayworth in her most famous role. He became a member of ASCAP that same year. Skiles worked as a free-lancer from the 1950s and retired in 1971. From Marlin Skiles at IMDb.

Skiles and his orchestra provided music for the CBS radio program Crime Correspondent.

Birth and Death Data: Born Harrisburg (city in and county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States and Pennsylvania federated state capital city), Died May 1, 1981 (San Diego (seat of San Diego County, California, United States; second-largest city in California) )

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1934 - 1941

Roles Represented in DAHR: arranger, composer, songwriter

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor BS-81975 10-in. 3/22/1934 Waitin' at the gate for Katy Maurice Cross ; Don Bestor Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo arranger  
Victor PCS-061221 12-in. 5/1/1941 Ballade of the duel Robert Armbruster ; Donald Dickson ; Victor Symphony Orchestra Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra choral director  
Victor PBS-061282 10-in. 5/29/1941 Northbound (The bootblack's song) Donald Dickson ; William Hughes Baritone vocal solo, with piano songwriter  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Skiles, Marlin," accessed December 24, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/110092.

Skiles, Marlin. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 24, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/110092.

"Skiles, Marlin." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 24 December 2025.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/110092

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