Roy Webb (né Royden Denslow Webb; October 3, 1888 – December 10, 1982) was an American film music composer. Webb has hundreds of film music credits to his name, mainly with RKO Pictures. He is best known for film noir and horror film scores, in particular for the films of Val Lewton. Born in Manhattan, New York, Webb orchestrated and conducted for the Broadway stage, before moving to Hollywood in the late 1920s to work as music director for Radio Pictures, later RKO Pictures. He remained at RKO until 1955, then worked freelance for several years, including scoring several episodes of Wagon Train. Webb is credited as composer or arranger on more than 200 films, and received Academy Award nominations for Quality Street (1937), My Favorite Wife (1940), I Married a Witch (1942), Joan of Paris (1942), The Fallen Sparrow (1943), The Fighting Seabees (1944), and The Enchanted Cottage (1945). His piano concerto from The Enchanted Cottage was performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Constantin Bakaleinikoff, in concert at the Hollywood Bowl in 1945. In 1961, a house fire destroyed Webb's manuscripts including film scores and unpublished concert music, after which Webb ceased composing. Webb died in 1982 from a heart attack at the age of 94. An alumnus of Columbia University, Webb wrote the fight song “Roar, Lion, Roar” for his alma mater in 1925. Several cues composed by Webb were used in the newsreel montage of Kane's life in Citizen Kane. Several cues composed by Webb replaced those by Bernard Herrmann in The Magnificent Ambersons after the film was re-edited. Webb also composed several cues (uncredited) for This is Cinerama, the first Cinerama production in 1952. The Christopher Palmer Collection of Roy Webb Scores is held at Syracuse University, New York.
Known For
Out of the Past
(1947)
Original Music Composer
Love Affair
(1939)
Original Music Composer
Notorious
(1946)
Original Music Composer
Mighty Joe Young
(1949)
Original Music Composer
Bringing Up Baby
(1938)
Original Music Composer, Music Director, and Music
Marty
(1955)
Original Music Composer
Stage Door
(1937)
Original Music Composer and Music Director
Journey into Fear
(1943)
Original Music Composer
Clash by Night
(1952)
Original Music Composer
Teacher's Pet
(1958)
Original Music Composer
The Devil and Miss Jones
(1941)
Music Director
Blood Alley
(1955)
Original Music Composer
Murder, My Sweet
(1944)
Original Music Composer
Holiday Affair
(1949)
Original Music Composer
Cat People
(1942)
Original Music Composer
Blood on the Moon
(1948)
Original Music Composer
Full Filmography
Sound
The Delightful Rogue
(1929)
Original Music Composer
Seven Keys to Baldpate
(1929)
Original Music Composer
Rio Rita
(1929)
Orchestrator
Inside the Lines
(1930)
Original Music Composer
The Life of the Party
(1930)
Music Director
Alias French Gertie
(1930)
Original Music Composer
Girl of the Port
(1930)
Original Music Composer
Shooting Straight
(1930)
Original Music Composer
Conspiracy
(1930)
Original Music Composer
Emergency Call
(1933)
Original Music Composer
Our Betters
(1933)
Original Music Composer
Blind Adventure
(1933)
Original Music Composer
Ann Vickers
(1933)
Original Music Composer
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
(1933)
Original Music Composer
The Right To Romance
(1933)
Original Music Composer
If I Were Free
(1933)
Original Music Composer
Topaze
(1933)
Original Music Composer
Diplomaniacs
(1933)
Original Music Composer
Bed of Roses
(1933)
Original Music Composer
By Your Leave
(1934)
Original Music Composer
This Man Is Mine
(1934)
Original Music Composer
Cockeyed Cavaliers
(1934)
Original Music Composer
Hips, Hips, Hooray!
(1934)
Original Music Composer
Strictly Dynamite
(1934)
Original Music Composer
Let's Try Again
(1934)
Original Music Composer
Down to Their Last Yacht
(1934)
Original Music Composer
Kentucky Kernels
(1934)
Original Music Composer
La Cucaracha
(1934)
Music Director
Sylvia Scarlett
(1935)
Original Music Composer and Music Director
Alice Adams
(1935)
Original Music Composer
The Nitwits
(1935)
Original Music Composer
The Arizonian
(1935)
Original Music Composer
The Rainmakers
(1935)
Music
The Last Days of Pompeii
(1935)
Music
Becky Sharp
(1935)
Music Director
The Last of the Mohicans
(1936)
Original Music Composer
The Plough and the Stars
(1936)
Original Music Composer
Two in the Dark
(1936)
Original Music Composer
Silly Billies
(1936)
Original Music Composer
The Lady Consents
(1936)
Music Director
Chatterbox
(1936)
Original Music Composer
A Woman Rebels
(1936)
Music
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
(1936)
Music Director and Original Music Composer
Bunker Bean
(1936)
Music Director
Stage Door
(1937)
Original Music Composer and Music Director
High Flyers
(1937)
Original Music Composer
You Can't Buy Luck
(1937)
Original Music Composer
We're on the Jury
(1937)
Original Music Composer
Living on Love
(1937)
Original Music Composer
Sea Devils
(1937)
Music Director
New Faces of 1937
(1937)
Music Director
The Woman I Love
(1937)
Music Director
Quality Street
(1937)
Original Music Composer
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
(1937)
Music Supervisor
Bringing Up Baby
(1938)
Original Music Composer, Music Director, and Music
A Man to Remember
(1938)
Original Music Composer
The Mad Miss Manton
(1938)
Original Music Composer
Vivacious Lady
(1938)
Music Director
The Saint in New York
(1938)
Original Music Composer
Blond Cheat
(1938)
Original Music Composer and Music Director
The Affairs of Annabel
(1938)
Music Director
Go Chase Yourself
(1938)
Music Director
Having Wonderful Time
(1938)
Music Director
Condemned Women
(1938)
Music
The Law West of Tombstone
(1938)
Music Director
Lawless Valley
(1938)
Music
Bachelor Mother
(1939)
Original Music Composer
Love Affair
(1939)
Original Music Composer
In Name Only
(1939)
Original Music Composer
The Saint Strikes Back
(1939)
Music Director
The Fighting Gringo
(1939)
Music
Sued for Libel
(1939)
Music Director
Five Came Back
(1939)
Original Music Composer
Panama Lady
(1939)
Music and Music Director
Bad Lands
(1939)
Original Music Composer
The Spellbinder
(1939)
Music
Twelve Crowded Hours
(1939)
Music Director
That's Right - You're Wrong
(1939)
Original Music Composer
Timber Stampede
(1939)
Original Music Composer and Music Director
Trouble in Sundown
(1939)
Original Music Composer and Music Director
The Rookie Cop
(1939)
Music Director
Racketeers of the Range
(1939)
Music Director
Stranger on the Third Floor
(1940)
Original Music Composer
Curtain Call
(1940)
Original Music Composer
Kitty Foyle
(1940)
Original Music Composer
Mexican Spitfire Out West
(1940)
Original Music Composer
I'm Still Alive
(1940)
Original Music Composer
Millionaires in Prison
(1940)
Original Music Composer
A Bill of Divorcement
(1940)
Original Music Composer
Bullet Code
(1940)
Original Music Composer
Abe Lincoln in Illinois
(1940)
Original Music Composer
My Favorite Wife
(1940)
Original Music Composer
You Can't Fool Your Wife
(1940)
Original Music Composer
Irene
(1940)
Original Music Composer
Stage to Chino
(1940)
Original Music Composer
The Saint In Palm Springs
(1941)
Original Music Composer
Parachute Battalion
(1941)
Original Music Composer
Tom, Dick and Harry
(1941)
Original Music Composer
Look Who's Laughing
(1941)
Original Music Composer
Weekend for Three
(1941)
Original Music Composer
The Bandit Trail
(1941)
Original Music Composer
Father Takes a Wife
(1941)
Music Director
The Devil and Miss Jones
(1941)
Music Director
A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob
(1941)
Original Music Composer
The Saint's Vacation
(1941)
Original Music Composer
Cat People
(1942)
Original Music Composer
I Married a Witch
(1942)
Original Music Composer
The Falcon Takes Over
(1942)
Original Music Composer
The Falcon's Brother
(1942)
Original Music Composer
The Navy Comes Through
(1942)
Original Music Composer
Here We Go Again
(1942)
Original Music Composer
Bandit Ranger
(1942)
Original Music Composer
The Big Street
(1942)
Original Music Composer
Obliging Young Lady
(1942)
Original Music Composer
My Favorite Spy
(1942)
Original Music Composer
Seven Miles from Alcatraz
(1942)
Original Music Composer
The Seventh Victim
(1943)
Original Music Composer
Journey into Fear
(1943)
Original Music Composer
The Ghost Ship
(1943)
Original Music Composer
The Falcon in Danger
(1943)
Original Music Composer
The Falcon Strikes Back
(1943)
Original Music Composer
The Fallen Sparrow
(1943)
Original Music Composer
Petticoat Larceny
(1943)
Original Music Composer
Mr. Lucky
(1943)
Original Music Composer
Bombardier
(1943)
Original Music Composer
I Walked with a Zombie
(1943)
Original Music Composer
Flight for Freedom
(1943)
Original Music Composer
Ladies' Day
(1943)
Original Music Composer
Hitler's Children
(1943)
Original Music Composer
Behind the Rising Sun
(1943)
Music
A Lady Takes a Chance
(1943)
Original Music Composer
Gangway for Tomorrow
(1943)
Original Music Composer
Murder, My Sweet
(1944)
Original Music Composer
The Curse of the Cat People
(1944)
Original Music Composer
The Falcon Out West
(1944)
Original Music Composer
Rainbow Island
(1944)
Original Music Composer
The Master Race
(1944)
Original Music Composer
Bride by Mistake
(1944)
Original Music Composer
Action in Arabia
(1944)
Original Music Composer
Experiment Perilous
(1944)
Original Music Composer
Marine Raiders
(1944)
Music
Tall in the Saddle
(1944)
Music
The Seventh Cross
(1944)
Original Music Composer
The Body Snatcher
(1945)
Original Music Composer
Cornered
(1945)
Original Music Composer
Two O'Clock Courage
(1945)
Original Music Composer
Betrayal from the East
(1945)
Original Music Composer
Sing Your Way Home
(1945)
Original Music Composer
Love, Honor and Goodbye
(1945)
Original Music Composer
Those Endearing Young Charms
(1945)
Original Music Composer
The Enchanted Cottage
(1945)
Original Music Composer
Dick Tracy
(1945)
Original Music Composer
Notorious
(1946)
Original Music Composer
Bedlam
(1946)
Original Music Composer
The Spiral Staircase
(1946)
Original Music Composer
The Locket
(1946)
Original Music Composer
The Well Groomed Bride
(1946)
Original Music Composer
Badman's Territory
(1946)
Original Music Composer
Without Reservations
(1946)
Original Music Composer
Out of the Past
(1947)
Original Music Composer
Riff-Raff
(1947)
Original Music Composer
Crossfire
(1947)
Original Music Composer
Magic Town
(1947)
Original Music Composer
They Won't Believe Me
(1947)
Original Music Composer
The Perfect Marriage
(1947)
Original Music Composer
The Devil Thumbs a Ride
(1947)
Music
Easy Come, Easy Go
(1947)
Original Music Composer
Race Street
(1948)
Original Music Composer
Blood on the Moon
(1948)
Original Music Composer
Rachel and the Stranger
(1948)
Original Music Composer
I Remember Mama
(1948)
Original Music Composer
The Window
(1949)
Original Music Composer
Roughshod
(1949)
Original Music Composer
Mighty Joe Young
(1949)
Original Music Composer
Holiday Affair
(1949)
Original Music Composer
My Friend Irma
(1949)
Original Music Composer
Easy Living
(1949)
Original Music Composer
Bad Men of Tombstone
(1949)
Original Music Composer
Make Mine Laughs
(1949)
Original Music Composer
A Dangerous Profession
(1949)
Music
Gambling House
(1950)
Original Music Composer
The Secret Fury
(1950)
Original Music Composer
The White Tower
(1950)
Original Music Composer
Branded
(1950)
Original Music Composer
Where Danger Lives
(1950)
Original Music Composer
Vendetta
(1950)
Original Music Composer
Hard, Fast and Beautiful
(1951)
Original Music Composer
Fixed Bayonets!
(1951)
Original Music Composer
Flying Leathernecks
(1951)
Music
Clash by Night
(1952)
Original Music Composer
At Sword's Point
(1952)
Original Music Composer
The Lusty Men
(1952)
Original Music Composer
Second Chance
(1953)
Original Music Composer
Split Second
(1953)
Original Music Composer
Affair with a Stranger
(1953)
Original Music Composer
Houdini
(1953)
Original Music Composer
Track of the Cat
(1954)
Original Music Composer
Dangerous Mission
(1954)
Original Music Composer
She Couldn't Say No
(1954)
Original Music Composer
The Raid
(1954)
Original Music Composer
Alaska Seas
(1954)
Original Music Composer
Blood Alley
(1955)
Original Music Composer
Bengazi
(1955)
Original Music Composer
The Americano
(1955)
Original Music Composer
Marty
(1955)
Original Music Composer
The Sea Chase
(1955)
Original Music Composer
The Kentuckian
(1955)
Original Music Composer
Underwater!
(1955)
Original Music Composer
The First Texan
(1956)
Original Music Composer
The Girl He Left Behind
(1956)
Original Music Composer
The Search for Bridey Murphy
(1956)
Original Music Composer
Our Miss Brooks
(1956)
Original Music Composer
Top Secret Affair
(1957)
Original Music Composer
Shoot-Out At Medicine Bend
(1957)
Original Music Composer
Teacher's Pet
(1958)
Original Music Composer
The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here!
(1972)
Sound
Directing
Crew