About Marlin Skiles
Lived 1906 – 1981 (aged 74). Marlin Skiles was an American composer and film score composer.
Marlin Skiles (December 17, 1906 – May 1, 1981) was an American composer of film and television scores.
Early years Pianist, arranger and composer Skiles was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in December 1906. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Stiles.
Career Skiles began his career when he was 17 years old. was under contract there and at Columbia Pictures (1944–1948), often writing incidental music for second features. He occasionally composed original soundtracks for better productions, like A Thousand and One Nights (1945) or Dead Reckoning (1946). Skiles served as musical director for Columbia's mega-hit Gilda (1946), starring Rita Hayworth in her most famous role. He became a member of ASCAP that same year. Skiles worked as a free-lancer from the 1950s and retired in 1971.
Skiles and his orchestra provided music for the CBS radio program Crime Correspondent, and he was music director for the television series Death Valley Days. He died of cancer complications on May 1, 1981, in Rancho Bernardo, San Diego, California, aged 75.
Partial filmography Tahiti Honey (1943) Call of the South Seas (1944) The Lady and the Monster (1944) A Thousand and One Nights (1945) She Wouldn't Say Yes (1945) Rough, Tough and Ready (1945) Over 21 (1945) Gilda (1946) The Walls Came Tumbling Down (1946) Gallant Journey (1946) Dead Reckoning (1947) The Doolins of Oklahoma (1949) (uncredited) The Boy from Indiana (1950) Flat Top (1952) Fort Osage (1952) The Rose Bowl Story (1952) Aladdin and His Lamp (1952) Rodeo (1952) Wild Stallion (1952) Wagons West (1952) The Maze (1953) Pride of the Blue Grass (1954) Sudden Danger (1955) Canyon River (1956) The Young Guns (1956) Calling Homicide (1956) My Gun Is Quick (1957) The Disembodied (1957) Man from God's Country (1958) In the Money (1958) The Beast of Budapest (1958) Cole Younger, Gunfighter (1958) Quantrill's Raiders (1958) Fort Massacre (1958) Queen of Outer Space (1958) Joey Ride (1958) King of the Wild Stallions (1959) The Hypnotic Eye (1960) The Deadly Companions (1961) Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1963) The Crawling Hand (1963) (uncredited) The Strangler (1964) The Shepherd of the Hills (1964) Indian Paint (1965) Space Probe Taurus (1965 - as Marlin Skyles) The Violent Ones (1967) Dayton's Devils (1968) The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler (1971)
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Important facts
People in Marlin Skiles's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Marlin Skiles's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Marlin Skiles?
American composer (1906-1981)
When was Marlin Skiles born?
Marlin Skiles was born on 17 December 1906 in Harrisburg.
When did Marlin Skiles die?
Marlin Skiles died on 1 May 1981 in San Diego.
What was Marlin Skiles's occupation?
Marlin Skiles was a composer and film score composer.
What nationality was Marlin Skiles?
Marlin Skiles was American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Marlin Skiles. https://biography.guide/marlin-skiles/
MLA: "Marlin Skiles." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/marlin-skiles/.
Chicago: "Marlin Skiles." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/marlin-skiles/.
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