Sol Kaplan facts for kids

Sol Kaplan (born April 19, 1919 – died November 14, 1990) was an American composer who wrote music for movies and TV shows. He created the musical scores that helped tell stories on screen.

Who Was Sol Kaplan?

Sol Kaplan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a very talented concert pianist, which means he performed classical music on the piano for audiences. He even played at the famous Carnegie Hall in 1941. In that same year, he started his career in film by composing his first movie score.

During World War II, Sol Kaplan used his musical skills to help the war effort. He composed music for the film teams of the U.S. Army Signal Corps and the Office of Strategic Services. The Office of Strategic Services was a government agency that gathered information, and it was a very early version of what we now know as the CIA.

After the war, he wrote music for many movies. Some of his famous works include the scores for the 1953 films Titanic and Niagara.

Challenges in His Career

In the 1950s, Sol Kaplan faced a difficult time in his career. This was due to something called the Hollywood Blacklist. During this period, some people in the entertainment industry were accused of having connections to communism, which was seen as a threat in the United States at the time. Kaplan was called to speak before a government group called the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). He was not willing to cooperate with their questions, and because of this, his work in Hollywood was put on hold.

Despite these challenges, Sol Kaplan continued to compose. For the popular TV show Star Trek, he wrote music for two episodes: "The Enemy Within" and "The Doomsday Machine". Even though he only scored two episodes, his music was used often throughout the first two seasons of the show.

Sol Kaplan's Family Life

Sol Kaplan was married to an actress named Frances Heflin. She was the sister of another actor, Van Heflin. Sol and Frances had three children: a son named Jonathan Kaplan, who became a film director, and two daughters, Nora Heflin and Mady Kaplan Ahern. Sol Kaplan passed away in 1990 at the age of 71 from lung cancer.

Movies with Music by Sol Kaplan

See also

In Spanish: Sol Kaplan para niños