Shirley Walker
Shirley Anne Walker (née Rogers; April 10, 1945 – November 30, 2006) was an American film and television composer and conductor. She was one of the few female film score composers working in Hollywood. Walker was one of the first female composers to earn a solo score credit on a major Hollywood motion picture (preceded by Suzanne Ciani, who wrote the complete score to the film The Incredible Shrinking Woman in 1980, released January 1981) and according to the Los Angeles Times, will be remembered as a pioneer for women in the film industry.[1][3]
Shirley Walker | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Shirley Anne Rogers |
| Born | April 10, 1945 Napa, California, U.S. |
| Died | November 30, 2006 (aged 61) Reno, Nevada, U.S. |
| Genres | Film scores: Action, Horror, Thriller, Drama, Science fiction[1] |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, conductor, orchestrator, music arranger[2] |
| Instruments | Keyboards |
| Years active | 1979–2006 |
| Website | Official site |
She wrote her film scores entirely by hand.[4] She always orchestrated and conducted her own scores by herself.
The ASCAP Shirley Walker Award was created in her honor in 2014.
Life and career
Walker (née Rogers)[5] was born in Napa, California on April 10, 1945. Walker was a piano soloist with the San Francisco Symphony during high school, and later attended San Francisco State University on a piano scholarship.[6] She studied music composition under Roger Nixon and piano studies with Harald Logan of Berkeley, California.[7] For several years, she wrote jingles and composed for industrial films.
Walker's career in film began in 1979, when she was hired to play the synthesizers on Carmine Coppola's score for Apocalypse Now.[8] In 1992, Walker became one of the first female composers to earn a solo score credit on a major Hollywood motion picture - for John Carpenter's Memoirs of an Invisible Man (one of Carpenter's few movies he did not score himself - Walker later collaborated with Carpenter on Escape From L.A.).[1][3] Shirley Walker served as composer for numerous productions, including films such as Willard, the first three Final Destination movies, and television series such as Falcon Crest, Space: Above and Beyond, China Beach, and The Flash.[2] The Flash was one of many collaborations Walker did with composer Danny Elfman. She was his conductor on projects such as Scrooged and Batman.[9]
She served as a Board Member (1986–1994) and Vice President (1988–1992) for The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL), often speaking out on behalf of composers and their working conditions.[10] Articles and interviews are written by and about Shirley Walker in the SCL's publication, THE SCORE, a publication in print since 1986 by and about professional film/television/video game composers, songwriters and lyricists—and where Shirley spoke her mind.
Her association with DC Comics extended to television where she served as composer for Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995), Superman: The Animated Series (1996–2000), The New Batman Adventures (1997–1999), and Batman Beyond (1999–2001); setting a standard for the musical tone of the DC Animated Universe.[9]
Despite the fact that very few female composers had worked in Hollywood at the time of her death, Shirley Walker was not recognized during the "In Memoriam" segment of the 79th Academy Awards.[11]
Walker worked with Danny Elfman on many DC Comics works. She served as conductor for the film Batman, wrote most of the scores for Batman: The Animated Series using a theme inspired by Elfman's, scored the pilot and all the episodes of The Flash (the main theme was written by Elfman) and scored episodes of Batman Beyond with Michael McCuistion, Lolita Ritmanis and Kristopher Carter. Several of her themes would be used in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, though Walker herself was not involved with either show.
Death
Shirley Walker died on November 30, 2006, at Washoe Medical Center in Reno, Nevada, due to complications from a stroke that she had experienced two weeks before.[8] She died only eight months after the death of her husband Don.[6] At the time of her death, Walker had scored more major-studio motion pictures than any other American woman.[8] A memorial service was held at the Warner Bros. Eastwood Scoring Stage, and a plaque was placed in her honor.[12]
Awards
In 1996, Shirley Walker won her first Daytime Emmy Award as music director for Batman: The Animated Series.[8] She won another Daytime Emmy in music-composition for Batman Beyond in 2001.
In 2014, ASCAP presented its first Shirley Walker Award, honoring those whose achievements have contributed to the diversity of film and television music.[13] Recipients include Wendy & Lisa, Germaine Franco and Deborah Lurie.
Film scores
| Year | Title | Info | Limited? | Label | OOP / SOLD OUT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Black Christmas | Final score before her death. Replaced Vince Lauria. | NO CD | ||
| Final Destination 3 | NO CD | ||||
| 2003 | Willard | Full album released in 2013 | 3,000 | La La Land Records | |
| Final Destination 2 | Promotional CD released. | NO CD | |||
| 2002 | Ritual | NO CD | |||
| 2000 | Final Destination | Complete score isolated on a DVD release, with commentary over parts. A shorter promotional CD-R was also issued. | NO CD | ||
| 1999 | Mystery Men | Additional music only. Majority of score by Stephen Warbeck | NO CD | ||
| 1997 | Turbulence | Full CD released in 2013 | 2,000 | La La Land Records | |
| 1996 | Escape from L.A. | Co-composed with John Carpenter, and Alan Howarth | No | Milan Records | OOP (Expanded score released in 2014 by La-La Land Records) |
| 1994 | True Lies | Co-composed with Brad Fiedel | Epic Soundtrax | OOP | |
| 1993 | Batman: Mask of the Phantasm | Expanded score released in 2009 | 3,000 | Reprise Records (1993) La La Land Records (2009) | OOP |
| 1992 | Memoirs of an Invisible Man | Replaced Jack Nitzsche | No | Varèse Sarabande | OOP |
| 1991 | Born to Ride | NO CD | |||
| White Fang | One cue only. Score by Hans Zimmer & Basil Poledouris. | Intrada Records | SOLD OUT | ||
| 1990 | Chicago Joe and the Showgirl | As Walker stated in an interview, for legal reasons Hans Zimmer had to take credit, but she was the one who composed the score. | NO CD | ||
| Pacific Heights | Additional music only. Score by Hans Zimmer. | Varèse Sarabande | SOLD OUT | ||
| Strike It Rich | NO CD | ||||
| 1989 | Nightbreed | Additional music only. Score by Danny Elfman. | MCA Records | SOLD OUT | |
| 1985 | Ghoulies | Co-composed with Richard Band | Intrada Records | ||
| 1984 | The Dungeonmaster | Co-composed with Richard Band | Intrada Records | ||
| Violated | Unused score | NO CD | |||
| 1983 | Touched | NO CD | |||
| 1982 | The End of August | NO CD | |||
| 1979 | The Black Stallion | Co-composed with Carmine Coppola; some additional scoring by: Nyle Steiner, Bill Douglass, Kenneth Nash, & George Marsh. Replaced two other composers. | 1,500 | Intrada Records | SOLD OUT |
Television scores (partial)
| Year | Title | Info | Limited? | Label | OOP / SOLD OUT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Lou Grant | Episodes: "Guns" (season 3) "Hazard" (season 3) | NO CD | ||
| 1981 | Cagney & Lacey | All Episodes: "The Rapist: Part 1" "The Rapist: Part 2" "The Gimp" | NO CD | ||
| 1982 | Tucker's Witch | All Episodes: "Abra Cadaver" (episode six) | NO CD | ||
| 1985 | Berrenger's | One episode (unknown title) | NO CD | ||
| 1986 | Fluppy Dogs | Walt Disney Television Animation | Episode: Pilot | NO CD | |
| 1984 to 1988 | Falcon Crest | All Episodes: "Pain and Pleasure" (season 4) "The Showdown" (season 4) "The Decline" (season 4) "Echoes" (season 5) "Changing Partners" (season 5) "Inconceivable Affairs" (season 5) "Checkmate" (season 5) "Shattered Dreams" (season 5) "Finders and Losers" (season 5) "Dangerous Ground" (season 5) "Tuscany Venus" (season 8) "Suspicion" (season 8) | NO CD | ||
| 1988 | Knots Landing | Incomplete episodes: "The Blushing Bride" | NO CD | ||
| 1990 | Tiny Toons | Rejected score for one segment in an episode. | NO CD | ||
| 1990 | The Flash | NO CD | |||
| 1992 | Batman: The Animated Series | Over 34 episodes plus second opening theme. In July, 2012, Volume 2, a 4-CD set, was issued. A third volume, also a 4-CD set, was released in 2014. | 3,000 | La La Land Records | SOLD OUT (re-issued July, 2012) |
| 1994 | M.A.N.T.I.S. | Rejected score, unknown episode. No other scores for the series. | NO CD | ||
| 1994 | Viper | All Episodes (season 1 only): "Safe as Houses" "Firehawk" "The Face" "Wheels of Fire" "Past Tense" "Scoop" "Thief of Hearts" "Crown of Thorns" | NO CD | ||
| 1995 | Space: Above and Beyond | Theme and all episodes. | 3,000 | La La Land Records | |
| 1995 | The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space | NO CD | |||
| 1996 | Superman: The Animated Series | Select episodes, main title theme and thematic elements. | 3,000 | La La Land Records | |
| 1997 | Spawn: The Animated Series | Theme and multiple episodes (possibly all of season 1) | NO CD | ||
| 1997 | The Love Bug | NO CD | |||
| 1998 | Baby Monitor: Sound Of Fear | NO CD | |||
| 2000 | The Others | NO CD | |||
| 2002 | Disappearance | NO CD |
Works for other composers
References
- Southern, Nathan. "Biography: Shirley Walker". allmovie. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- "Shirley Walker Credits". Variety. Archived from the original on 2009-12-25. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- UPI staff writer (2006-12-26). "Film composer Shirley Walker dies at 61". United Press International. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- Goldwasser, Dan (2006-01-05). "Shirley Walker's Final Destination 3 kicks off 2006 with a scream". ScoringSessions.com. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
- Pleasant Hill High School Yearbook 1963. 1963. p. 153.
- Nelson, Valerie J. (2006-12-26). "OBITUARIES; Shirley Walker, 61; won Emmys for film scores". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- Doyle, Jim (2006-12-10). "Shirley Walker -- film score composer". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- Burlingame, Jon (2006-12-04). "Composer Walker dies". Variety. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- Ball, Ryan (2006-12-01). "Cartoon Composer Shirley Walker Dies". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
- "In Memoriam: Shirley Walker". The Society of Composers & Lyricists. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
- Goldwasser, Dan. "Shirley Walker to be overlooked at the Oscars". SoundtrackNet. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- Burlingame, Jon (2007-03-14). "Shirley Walker Memorial". The Film Music Society. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- "ASCAP to Honor Wendy Melvoin & Lisa Coleman with Inaugural Shirley Walker Award at 29th Film & TV Awards" (Press release). New York, New York: ASCAP. Bobbi Marcus PR & Events, Inc. June 2, 2014. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
External links
- Shirley Walker at AllMovie
- Shirley Walker at IMDb
- CineMusic: Shirley Walker - a website devoted to the music of Shirley Walker
- Shirley Walker speaking at the annual meeting of The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL)
- Film Music Society Appreciation
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