Scott Bradley

Who was Scott Bradley?

Scott Bradley was an American composer, pianist and conductor.

Bradley is best remembered for scoring the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer theatrical cartoons, including those starring Tom and Jerry, Droopy, Barney Bear and many one-off cartoons.

In an autobiographical sketch, Bradley noted that he began his career performing with and later conducting theatre orchestras in Houston, Texas. He studied organ and harmony with Horton Corbett, the choir director of Houston's Christ Church Cathedral, but was "otherwise entirely self-taught in composition and orchestration.". In 1926, Bradley moved to Los Angeles to conduct programs over KHJ Radio, an activity that led to his growing involvement in animation at the start of the talkie era. He was a staff musician for Walt Disney and the Ub Iwerks studio, then became music director for Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising, who were hired to produce cartoon shorts for MGM. After MGM established its own cartoon studio in 1937, Bradley was hired permanently and remained with the company for twenty years.