Mark Warnow

Who was Mark Warnow?

Mark Warnow was a noted violinist and orchestra conductor, who performed widely on radio in the 1930s and 1940s. Warnow's superb, smoothly-flowing arrangements made him quite popular during his career. He was the older brother of composer/bandleader Raymond Scott, and is credited with steering his younger brother into a career in music.

Warnow was born in Ukraine to Jewish parents, and came with them to the US as a boy.

Warnow enjoyed a lengthy and versatile career with the CBS Radio network. He was CBS music director in the early 1930s, and hired brother Harry as a keyboardist in 1931. Warnow conducted the orchestra on the long-running CBS radio program Your Hit Parade from 1939 to his death in 1949. He also conducted his orchestra for the "Matinee Theatre" program, and Ed Wynn's "Happy Island" program.

Warnow also produced a Broadway musical-comedy, What's Up?. He appeared as himself with his band in the Paramount Pictures release Paramount Headliner: The Star Reporter. In the 1940s, he conducted and arranged for Frank Sinatra while the singer was signed to Columbia Records, then owned by the CBS network. He was also a composer and recording artist.