Hans J. Salter

Who was Hans J. Salter?

Hans J. Salter was an American film composer.

Hans J. Salter gained his education from the Vienna Academy Of Music, and studied composition with Alban Berg, Franz Schreker, and others. He was Music Director of the State Opera in Berlin before being hired to compose music at UFA studios. Salter emigrated to America in 1937 and was quickly put under contract at Universal, where he worked for nearly 30 years, arranging, composing, conducting, and serving as musical director.

He composed mainly for Universal, most famously for horror and science fiction films but also for other studios and for television. His most celebrated scores include The Wolf Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Incredible Shrinking Man. Salter was nominated for a number of Academy Awards, including Christmas Holiday and This Love Of Ours. Much of his output for Universal was uncredited, as it became stock music, used time and time again in minor pictures. Notable non-horror scores include the Western Bend of the River and the Swashbuckler Against All Flags.

Salter died in Studio City, California on July 23, 1994, at the age of 98. His interment was in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.