German composer and conductor of music for stage and screen. A child prodigy, he was a concert pianist by the age of fifteen. During the 1920's, he worked as a café and radio pianist in Berlin. In 1928, he conducted at the premiere of Brecht's "Threepenny Opera" and during the following decade became one of Germany's most prolific composers of movie themes and of popular songs, including "Bel ami", "Frauen sind keine Engel" and "Nur nicht aus Liebe weinen".