From the first, the boy and the piano were practically inseparable. Stop playing; go outside and get some exercise, his mother would tell him. But, soon he would be back at the keyboard.
His was a family of limited means, and the fact that he had a piano to play was due to the generosity of his oldest sister, now married and working. So, maybe it's not surprising that he discovered the magic of music at such an early age. And maybe even then he was thinking about wishes and dreams and how they sometimes come true.
No one now knows exactly what ran through his mind then. But they do know this: That boy was Leigh Harline, and he grew up to set to music one of the most beloved songs in movie history — "When You Wish Upon a Star."
Leigh Adrian Harline was born March 26, 1907, to Carl and Matilda Harline, who lived on 1100 East at about 3400 South in Salt Lake City. He was the 13th and last child in the family.
He started his piano lessons at age 6 and was proficient enough that he could play the accompaniment as his first-grade classmates marched in school programs. Later on, he took lessons from J. Spencer Cornwall, then conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. At Granite High School, he organized an orchestra. At the University of Utah, he majored in music and co-sponsored an opera.
"Music was always very important to him," says Jo-An Harline Lyman, a niece who lives in the Salt Lake neighborhood where Leigh grew up.
But in those days, some of the best opportunities for a career in music were in Los Angeles, says Lyman, "and he decided to go to California to make a living."
In 1932, after performing live music at several radio stations, Harline joined the Walt Disney studios as an arranger and scorer. He spent nine years at Disney, where he provided music for more than 60 cartoons from the "Silly Symphony" series as well as for the movies "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937) and "Pinocchio" (1940).
Harline won two Oscars that year, one for the "Pinocchio" score and one for "When You Wish Upon a Star" from that movie.
With that success in hand, Harline left the Disney studios to become a free-lancer, and over the next couple of decades worked for studios such as RKO, Columbia and 20th Century Fox, providing scores for more than 60 movies. Among his works were "Pride of the Yankees" (1942), "Follow the Boys" (1944), "The Farmer's Daughter" (1947), "Miracle of the Bells" (1948), "Monkey Business" (1952), "Broken Lance" (1954), "Ten North Fredrick" (1958), "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" (1963) and "The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao" (1964). In all, there would be eight Oscar nominations.
"Harline supplied adept scores for each of these different types of movies," notes the book "American Film Music," by William Darby and Jack DuBois. "His death shortly after the 'Dr. Lao' assignment in 1964 robbed Hollywood of a highly capable musician."
He even did some work for TV, supplying theme music for the "Ben Casey" and "Daniel Boone" series.
Although his career was varied, Harline's work for Disney was particularly memorable. And in December 2001, as part of the kick-off for the yearlong celebration on the 100th Anniversary of Walt Disney's birth, Harline was named a recipient of The Disney Legends Award.
"This award," noted Roy E. Disney in a letter to the family, "is presented to individuals whose body of work has made a significant impact on Disney over the years. . . . Leigh is truly deserving of this award. . . . His dedication and contributions to the Disney Magic are invaluable, and we are proud to honor him as a Disney Legend."
It was an exciting time, says Karen Harline Adams, San Pedro, Calif., one of Leigh's daughters, who attended the Orlando program with her sister Gretchen, who lives in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.
Adams was only 9 when her father worked for Disney, so she doesn't remember a lot about it. But, she says, "Dad was the nicest human I ever knew. He never swore. He was easygoing, sweet. When I was a teenager, I'd have parties, and he'd come to play the piano. I was probably the only teenager who wanted her dad at parties."
Lyman, too, has fond memories of her uncle. "He came to family reunions, and he was always very friendly. My cousin Grace remembers how he would sit down at the piano, and he had a note for each letter of the alphabet. Then he would make up little songs using the letters in a person's name. I guess I was too young to pay attention, but that would take a lot of talent."
She remembers some of the stories her uncle told of working in Hollywood. "He told us he had a huge big bowl in his house, and actors would come over to sit in it for good luck in their movies."
For the 1947 centennial of the settlement of Utah, Harline was commissioned by the LDS Church to write an orchestral work, and Lyman remembers getting all dressed up to go to the performance of his "Centennial Suite." "We met at Hotel Utah and walked over to the Tabernacle. He was wearing a tuxedo with tails and looked so important."
Harline was also asked by the church to write the music for its films, "Man's Search for Happiness" and "In This Holy Place."
He came a long way from the little boy who loved to sit at the piano. But as the words of the award-winning song say, "Makes no difference who you are, Anything your heart desires will come to you. If your heart is in your dream, No request is too extreme. . . ."
E-mail: carma@desnews.com