Allan Gray (composer)

Józef Żmigrod (February 23, 1902 – September 10, 1973), better known by his stage name, Allan Gray, was a Polish composer, best known for his film scores.

Gray was born Józef Żmigrod in Tarnów, Austria-Hungary, in present-day Poland. He studied under the renowned Austrian composer Arnold Schönberg during the 1920s, and later wrote music for Max Reinhardt's theatre productions. As Schoenberg disapproved of such music, Żmigrod took up the stage name Allan Gray, naming himself after Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray.

Gray began writing film scores in the Weimar Republic, but left the country after the rise of Nazi Germany, moving to the United Kingdom and settling down in England. Establishing himself in the British film industry, he composed for London Films and other major studios before joining Powell and Pressburger for many of their films including The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Canterbury Tale (1944), I Know Where I'm Going! (1945) and A Matter of Life and Death (1946).

Gray died in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom, on September 10, 1973.

Film scores

• Berlin - Alexanderplatz (1931)
• Emil and the Detectives (1931)
• Man Without a Name (1932)
• F.P.1 (1933)
• The Burning Secret (1933)
• Mauvaise Graine (1934)
• Emil and the Detectives (1935 remake)
• The Last Waltz (1936)
• The House of the Spaniard (1936)
• Wolf's Clothing (1936)
• Secret of Stamboul (1936)
• School for Husbands (1937)
• Kate Plus Ten (1938)
• The Silver Fleet (1943)
• The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
• The Volunteer (1943)
• A Canterbury Tale (1944)
• I Know Where I'm Going! (1945)
• Latin Quarter (1945)
• This Man Is Mine (1946)
• A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
• Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill (1948)
• The Late Edwina Black (1951)
• The Reluctant Widow (1951)
• The African Queen (1951)

Other works

• Wavelength ABC, a children's opera

• Gray's "Swing Doors" is featured in the 2008 American video game Fallout 3.
• Gray's "Swing Doors" is featured in the documentary The Color of War, in episode "Victory in Europe".
• Gray's "Swing Doors" is featured in an episode of Father Knows Best.