Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Immediate Source of Acquisition
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Preferred Citation
Processing Information
Biographical Note
Scope and Content
Arrangement
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Herschel Burke Gilbert papers
Creator:
Gilbert, Herschel Burke
Identifier/Call Number: PASC-M.0268
Physical Description:
206.5 Linear Feet
(409 boxes)
Physical Description:
4 Audiovisual Carriers
(4 film strips)
Date (inclusive): 1946-1969
Abstract: The collection consists of manuscript scores (holographs or copies) and open reel tapes of music composed by Herschel Gilbert
for television series and motion pictures, and includes some related materials such as parts, cues, lyrics sheets, and sketches.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Portions of collection unprocessed. Material in the
2018 Addition series is unavailable for access. Please contact Special Collections reference (spec-coll@library.ucla.edu) for more information.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
CONTAINS AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: This collection contains both processed and unprocessed audiovisual materials. Audiovisual
materials are not currently available for access, unless otherwise noted in a Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
note at the series and file levels. All requests to access processed materials must be made in advance using the request button
located on this page.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of The Gilbert Family Trust of 1989-Survivor's Trust in 2004, 2007, 2011, and 2018.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Herschel Burke Gilbert Papers (Collection Number PASC 268-M). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
Processing Information
Processed by Gillian Anderson for Gilbert Family Trust, 2011.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating
existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit
feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form
located on our website:
Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections.
Biographical Note
Herschel Burke Gilbert was born in 1918 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Following early studies on the violin, he attended Milwaukee
State Teachers College, then the Juilliard School of Music, where he studied conducting with Albert Stoessel and composition
with Bernard Wagenaar and Vittorio Giannini. In 1942 he came to Hollywood from New York to work as a violist and arranger
for the Harry James Orchestra, during which time he also studied with composer Ernst Toch. In the mid-'40s he began orchestrating
and arranging for Dmitri Tiomkin (It's a Wonderful Life) and other studio composers, then going on to compose his own music
for a number of feature films in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. He was nominated for three Academy Awards: "The Thief" (1952;
score); "The Moon is Blue" (1953; title song); and "Carmen Jones" (1954; score for a musical). Additional film scores included
"Mr. District Attorney" (1947), "The Jackie Robinson Story" (1950), "The Bold and the Brave" (1956), "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue"
(1957), and many others. Around 1951 he started composing for television, the medium for which he is perhaps best remembered.
In 1958 he joined Dick Powell's Four Star Television company later becoming the company's Executive Music Director. Of particular
note from this period is his title theme and music for "The Rifleman" television series. Other series for which he composed
scores or themes included "Wanted: Dead or Alive", "Johnny Ringo", "Burke's Law", "Gunsmoke", "Gilligan's Island", and "The
Big Valley", among others. He became music director for CBS Television Network in 1964 and retired in 1966, forming Laurel
Records, a label focusing on the music of contemporary composers. In the course of his career, he served as President of the
Film Music Society, the Screen Composers Guild, and the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC), and also
served with the LA chapters of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) and the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences.
Scope and Content
Collection is predominantly comprised of manuscript scores (holographs or copies) of music composed by Herschel Gilbert for
television series and motion pictures, including some related materials such as parts, cues, lyrics sheets, and sketches.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into the following series:
- Series 1. Projects
- Series 2. Sound Recordings
- Series 3. Cue Sheets
- Series 4. Project Development
- Series 5. Correspondence
- Series 6. Associations & Organizations
- Series 7. Contracts and Agreements
- Series 8. Rights and Royalties
- Series 9. Recording Logs and Catalogs
- Series 10. Performing Rights Societies
- Series 11. Four Star
- Series 12. CBS
- Series 13. Photographs
- Series 14. Financial Papers
- Series 15. Promotional Materials
- Series 16. Clippings
- Series 17. Blank Forms and Stationary
- Series 18. Artwork
- Series 19. Periodicals
- Series 20. Sheet Music
- Series 21. Programs
- Series 22. Moving Image Materials
- Series 23. Gilbert Personal Papers
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Television music -- Scores.
Music -- Manuscripts.
Film composers -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archives.
Motion picture music -- Scores.