Jay Blackton on AllMovie

Music director Jay Blackton, born Jay Schwartzdorf, studied at the Juilliard School and, following graduation, gained experience with the New York Opera Comique. Between 1937 and 1942, he conducted the St. Louis Municipal Opera. Blackton attained most of his fame, working on Broadway, for musicals, including Annie Get Your Gun. He shared an Oscar with Robert Russell Bennett and Adolph Deutsch for scoring the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Oklahoma! in 1955. That same year, Blackton received another Oscar nomination for scoring Guys and Dolls.