Jack Shaindlin

Prolific composer, arranger, conductor, pianist, lecturer and musical director Jack Shaindlin won a musical scholarship as a boy in his native Ukraine for his piano skills. He began his career as a pianist accompanist in Chicago, Illinois film theaters after his mother Rachel and brother Leo came to the United States following the death of the family patriarch. At age 22, he began working for Universal Pictures, later becoming associated with Columbia, RKO and Louis De Rochemont. During World War II, Jack was the music director for the Office of War Information, and he received special recognition from President Harry S Truman for his musical score on the wartime documentary film "Tanks". Jack Shaindlin founded Triumph Publications, Inc. based on 60th Street near Eighth Avenue in New York City; it published and recorded stock production music for broadcast and commercial purposes. He began a career in film direction, producing short subjects, mainly documentaries and travelogues. He was associated with the Ford Foundation's television series, and conducted the Symphony of the Air. Nearing retirement in the early 1970s, he accepted a position as musical consultant for Madison Square Garden in New York.