George Bruns

George Edward Bruns (July 3, 1914 – May 23, 1983) was an American composer of music for film and television. His accolades include four Academy Award nominations, and three Grammy Award nominations. He is mainly known for his compositions for numerous Disney films spanning from the 1950s until the 1970s, among them Sleeping Beauty (1959), One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Absent-Minded Professor (both 1961), The Sword in the Stone (1963), The Jungle Book (1967), The Love Bug (1968), The Aristocats (1970), and Robin Hood (1973).

A native of Sandy, Oregon, Bruns began playing piano at age six. After graduating from Oregon State University, he worked as a bandleader at the Multnomah Hotel in Portland before relocating to Los Angeles to further pursue a musical career. In 1953, Bruns was hired as a musical arranger at Walt Disney Studios, eventually going on to become the studio's music director, a role he served from the mid 1950s until his retirement in 1976.

Over the course of his career, Bruns was nominated for four Academy Awards for his work on Disney films, including Scoring of a Musical Picture for Sleeping Beauty and Babes in Toyland (1961), and Best Adaptation or Treatment for The Sword in the Stone. He received his fourth, final and only nomination for Best Original Song for the track "Love" from Robin Hood.

Bruns spent his later years in his native Oregon, composing music and instructing at Lewis & Clark College. He died in Portland in 1983 of a heart attack. In 2001, he was posthumously inducted as a Disney Legend.

Birth and Death Data: Born July 3, 1914 (Clackamas County), Died May 23, 1983 (Portland)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1957

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer

= 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 H2PB-0950 10-in. 1957 Westward ho, the wagons! Joe Reisman Orchestra ; Vaughn Monroe Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble and vocal ensemble composer  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Bruns, George," accessed April 27, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/359853.

Bruns, George. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 27, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/359853.

"Bruns, George." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 27 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/359853

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