George Melachrino

George Melachrino (born George Miltiades Melachrino; 1 May 1909 – 18 June 1965) was a musician, composer of film music, and musical director who was English born of Greek and Italian descent. He was an accomplished player of the violin, viola, oboe, clarinet and saxophone.

Biography George Melachrino was born in London, England. As a young boy, he had a love of music. At the age of five, he began composing and by the age of fourteen he enrolled in the Trinity College of Music.

By 1939, he had started his own band and secured a contract at the Café de Paris.

Melachrino frequently performed on BBC and American Armed Forces Radio.

The "Starlight Roof Waltz", as performed by the George Melachrino Strings, was the signature tune of the radio programme Moeders wil is wet (1949–1974), the Dutch equivalent of Housewives' Choice.

His lead arranger during the British Band of the AEF and later with the Melachrino Strings was Bert Thompson, who also arranged "Little White Bull" and "The Young Ones".

Melachrino has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On June 18, 1965, Melachrino was found dead in the bathtub of his home in Kensington.

Selected filmography Woman to Woman (1947) The Shop at Sly Corner (1947) No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948) The Story of Shirley Yorke (1948) Dark Secret (1949) The Man from Yesterday (1949) Eight O'Clock Walk (1954) The Gamma People (1956)

Discography