C. Bakaleinikoff(1896-1966)

Constantin Bakaleinikoff was born in Moscow in 1896 and studied music at the Moscow Conservatory. Trained as a violoncellist and conductor, he formed a trio with fellow young conservatory graduates and toured Russia, until enlistment in the infantry during World War I forced a temporary stop to his career. Along with his (also musical) brothers Mischa and Vladimir, Constantine fled from Russia during the October Revolution of 1917 and resettled in the United States, after travelling through Asia. Once established in Los Angeles, his talent was soon recognized. Within a year, he conducted the L.A. Philharmonic, and, subsequently, became musical director of several noted theatre orchestras in the area, including the Mayan, the Eqyptian and the Criterion. In 1923, he married the actress Fritzi Ridgeway. His major breakthrough came four years later, in the shape of an appointment to conduct the prestigious new million dollar Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

From 1929, Constantine worked in the film industry as orchestrator and occasional composer, primarily for documentary short subjects. After stints at MGM, Paramount and Columbia, he secured a contract with RKO in 1940. He remained with that studio for the remaining 17 years of its existence, usually billing himself as 'C.Bakaleinikoff'. Almost all of his work was as musical director, and much of it, in conjunction with the prolific composer Roy Webb. He is best remembered for orchestrating Rien qu'un coeur solitaire (1944) (which earned him an Oscar nomination) and Alfred Hitchcock's classic spy thriller Les enchaînés (1946). He also worked on many of RKO's seminal Val Lewton horror films, notably La Féline (1942), Vaudou (1943) and Le Récupérateur de cadavres (1945). When not working on the sound stages, Constantine continued to front theatre orchestras, as well as conduct at the Hollywood Bowl.