Henryk Wars - Biography

Biography

Wars was born to a Jewish musical family in the Russian partition of Poland. He began studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, but soon obtained a scholarship to the Music Conservatory in Warsaw, where he finished in 1925, having studied composition with Professor Roman Statkowski and Emil Młynarski. He was long-time music director for Syrena Rekord. In 1927 he composed a song called New York Times ("I do nothing all day but read the New York Times"), sung in the theatre Karuzela (Merry-Go-Round) by Tadeusz Olsza and recorded by Henryk Gold's Orchestra for Syrena Rekord. His first big hit, though, was Zatańczmy tango (Let's Dance a Tango), composed in 1928 for Stanisława Nowicka and Eugeniusz Bodo. He was hired as a pianist for the Perskie Oko theater and joined Henryk Gold's band.

During the 1930s, he wrote the songs for a string of musical comedies in Poland, and his importance there is comparable to that of Irving Berlin in America. His melodies from this period (along with those of Jerzy Petersburski and Zygmunt Wiehler) are still quite popular in Poland today, and his most popular songs are often associated with pre-war Lwów. Recent recordings include Ach, śpij kochanie (Ah, sleep my darling) by Grzegorz Turnau and others, as well as many performances of Tylko we Lwowie. In 2002 the song Umówiłem się z nią na dziewiątą (I have a date with her at nine) appeared in The Pianist directed by Roman Polański.

He composed his first film score for Na Sybir in 1930 after gaining renown as a conductor and performer at various Warsaw cabarets and theaters including Morskie Oko, Hollywood, and Wielka Rewia. He wrote music for films: Paweł i Gaweł, Szpieg w masce (A Masked Spy), Piętro wyżej (Upstairs), and Zapomniana melodia (A Forgotten Tune). "He was a pioneer of swing music in Poland."

Shortly before the outbreak of World War II Henryk Wars was drafted into the Polish Army and served in the defence of Poland in 1939. He was taken prisoner of war by the German army but managed to escape from a stopped train. He organized the big band Tea-Jazz in Lwów in 1940, then under Soviet control. In late 1941, he and his musicians joined Polish II Corps of General Anders as part of the Polska Parada cabaret. After being demobilized from the army, in 1947 he immigrated to the United States.

In the USA he changed his named to Henry Vars and after a period of struggling and poverty, managed to resume his musical career. He was a friend of John Wayne. He scored sixty films; his songs were sung by Margaret Whiting, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Brenda Lee and Dinah Shore. He did the music and the song for the Flipper movie and television series as well as Daktari. He also wrote the music for the 1956 western film Gun the Man Down.