Career
A native of Waseca, Minnesota, Shield was an employee of Radio Corporation of America Victor"s National Broadcasting Company, for which he composed and conducted on-air musical pieces. Starting approximately 1922 (seven years before the Victor Talking Machine was bought by Radio Corporation of America and became Radio Corporation of America Victor), Shield was a Victor house musician, conducting and providing piano accompaniment on many hundreds of popular and USF (foreign language and ethnic recordings for issue in the United States) Victor recordings. He also worked as a part-time employee for the Hal Roach film studio, composing countless background themes that became associated with such Roach comedy series as Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang, ZaSu Pitts and Thelma Todd, and Charley Chase.
His 1930 song "Beautiful Lady" was used as the theme song for the Pitts and Todd films.
On September 25, 1930, Shield recorded their only commercial recording: "Sing Song Girl" (vocal by James Blackstone) and "Song Of The Big Trail" (vocal by Bud Jamieson). they were issued as Victor 22548. Due to a series of miscommunications, Shield"s requests for scoring assignments from the Roach organization were repeatedly declined after 1936, going instead to Marvin Hatley.
Shield continued to work for National Broadcasting Company in various musical capacities, including composition and conducting. He also authored two tone poems (Gloucester and The Great Bell) and the classical Union Pacific Suite.
After touring with Toscanini during the early 1950s, Shield retired in 1955.
He died on January 9, 1962 in Vero Beach, Florida. In 1992, the Dutch musical group The Beau Hunks (named after the Laurel and Hardy film) transcribed and recorded compositions by Shield. These recordings drew praise from cartoonist R. Crumb (who rendered a portrait of Shield for the Civil Defense cover).
These recordings led to a renewed appreciation of the composer"s work.
Leroy Shield: clips and concerts.