Trivia

When he was 15 he won a medal for completing an eight-year music course in one year at the Imperial Academy of Music in Vienna. His teacher of conducting was Gustav Mahler.

Worked on 36 films in 1934 and 37 the next year. It is doubtful anyone will ever approach that record again.

Was regarded as the quintessential pioneer of American film composition, noted especially for his ability to integrate his music with the action on screen.

Was extremely prodigious, composing 111 scores for RKO alone during his tenure as musical director between 1929-35. From 1936-65 he worked under contract at Warner Brothers, except for brief periods on loan to David O. Selznick.

As a boy, Steiner was given piano instruction by legendary composer Johannes Brahms. Steiner's father was a major theatrical producer in Vienna, who had discovered and promoted Brahms, and the two remained great friends.

Completed the score for King Kong (1933) in just under two weeks.

Richard Strauss was Steiner's godfather.

A photograph of his right hand, holding a pen and writing notes on a musical score, appears on one stamp of a sheet of 10 USA 37¢ commemorative postage stamps, issued 25 February 2003, celebrating American Filmmaking: Behind the Scenes. The stamp honors early film composers.

In addition to his familiar theme music for Gone with the Wind (1939) and A Summer Place (1959), Steiner was also the composer of the well-known Warner Bros. Fanfare, originally written for Tovarich (1937) and used to introduce numerous Warner Brothers films ever since. For many years, composers at the studio, instead of writing the music out, would simply write "'Tovarich' Fanfare" at the beginning of their scores, and the musicians would know what they meant.

Pictured on one of six 33¢ USA commemorative postage stamps in the Legends of American Music series, honoring Hollywood Composers, issued 21 September 1999. Issued in panes of 20 stamps. Others honored in the set were Dimitri Tiomkin, Bernard Herrmann, Franz Waxman, Alfred Newman, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

Arrived in New York in 1914 after being hired by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. to conduct his "Ziegfeld Follies.".

Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1995.

The cues in many of his scores are derogatorily referred to with the pejorative term "mickey-mousing.".

After his friend and fellow composer Victor Young died suddenly while working on Samuel Fuller's China Gate (1957), Steiner finished the score gratis. Official credit reads "Music by Victor Young, extended by his old friend Max Steiner.".

Is entombed in The Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, CA, near famous film composers Alfred Newman, Isham Jones, Rudolf Friml, Carrie Jacobs Bond, and many of the stars of the films for which he composed music.

He was Bette Davis' favorite film composer.

Awarded the King of Belgium Bronze Medal by the Cinema Exhibitors, Brussels, Belgium, in 1936; the American Exhibitors Laurel Award in 1948; the Golden Globe for Life with Father (1947); the Academy Award for Since You Went Away (1944); the Academy Award again for Now, Voyager (1942); the Academy Award, French government decoration, for The Informer (1935); the Italian Medal for So This Is Paris (1954); and the Statuette Award from the Cinema Exhibitors, Venice, Italy, for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).

Studied music at the Imperial Academy of Music, completing the eight-year course in one year and graduating at the age of 13. A year later he composed and conducted his first musical. He became a professional conductor at 16 years of age.

Worked in England from 1904-14, where he was spotted by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. and persuaded to move to the U.S..

Was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1559 Vine St. on December 30, 1975.

Scored ten films for David O. Selznick, winning a third Oscar for the last one, Since You Went Away (1944). Two months after the film's release, the song "I'll Be Home for Christmas" gained great popularity utilizing the same melody Steiner composed for the railway station farewell scene.

Acclaimed for his first complete movie feature score for Cimarron (1931), although he received no screen credit for it.

His son Ronald Steiner (2 March 1940) was a soldier in the US Army stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii, when he committed suicide on April 29, 1962.

Despite his long and busy association with Warner Brothers, he was frequently unhappy with the studio and its boss, Jack L. Warner. When he finally came to the end of his long Warners contract in the mid-60s, there was no celebration at the studio to mark his retirement, something he deeply resented.

Conducted the orchestra for several Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musicals.

Scored Katharine Hepburn's first eight features.

The composers that were influenced by him are Bernard Herrmann, Elmer Bernstein, John Barry, Trevor Jones, Danny Elfman, James Horner, John Williams, Bruce Broughton, Maurice Jarre, Henry Mancini, Carter Burwell & Craig Armstrong.

A character in the final BANACEK episode, Hurd Steiner, was based on him, right down to the glasses and short haircut.