Harry Akst

Harry Akst brought his musical talents to a variety of films over the course of his Hollywood career. Akst began his entertainment career with his music featured in films like "Bulldog Drummond" (1929), the Betty Compson adaptation "On With the Show" (1929) and "Golden Dawn" (1930). His music also appeared in the musical "The Music Goes 'Round" (1936) with Harry Richman. An an actor as well as a musician, Akst took on a part in "The Show of Shows" (1929), the comedy adaptation "June Moon" (1931) with Jack Oakie and "42nd Street" (1933) with Warner Baxter. In the thirties and the eighties, Akst's music continued to appear on the silver screen, including in films like the Tony Martin musical "Sing and Be Happy" (1937), "Wild and Woolly" (1937) and the Pamela Sue Martin crime flick "The Lady in Red" (1979). His work was also in the Tom Burlinson dramatic sports film "Phar Lap" (1983), "The Cotton Club" (1984) with Richard Gere and the drama sequel "The Color of Money" (1986) with Paul Newman. Akst's music was also featured in "Last Emperor" (1987) with John Lone, the Bernadette Peters comedic drama "Slaves of New York" (1989) and the Tommy Lee Jones action movie "U.S. Marshals" (1998). His music was also featured in "Big Fish" (2003) and "Son of the Mask" (2005). Akst's music was most recently used in the Johnny Depp crime picture "Public Enemies" (2009).