Angela Morley

Angela Morley
Angela Morley
	Morley in 2004
Background information
Birth name	Walter Stott
Born	10 March 1924; Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died	14 January 2009 (aged 84); Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
Genres	Easy listening, classical, jazz, big band, film music
Occupation(s)	Composer, arranger, orchestrator, conductor
Instrument(s)	Alto saxophone, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, piano
Years active	1940–2008
Website	www.angelamorley.com

Angela Morley (10 March 1924^[1]^[2] – 14 January 2009^[3]) was an English composer and conductor who became familiar to BBC Radio listeners in the 1950s under the name of Wally Stott. Morley provided incidental music for The Goon Show and Hancock's Half Hour. She attributed her entry into composing and arranging largely to the influence and encouragement of the Canadian light music composer Robert Farnon. Morley transitioned in 1972 and thereafter lived openly as a transgender woman.^[3] Later in life, she lived in Scottsdale, Arizona.^[4]

Morley won three Emmy Awards for her work in music arrangement. These were in the category of Outstanding Music Direction, in 1985, 1988 and 1990, for Christmas in Washington and two television specials starring Julie Andrews. Morley also received eight Emmy nominations for composing music for television series such as Dynasty and Dallas. She was twice nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Original Song Score: first for The Little Prince (1974), a nomination shared with Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe, and Douglas Gamley; and second for The Slipper and the Rose (1976), which Morley shared with Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. She was the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an Academy Award.^[5]

^ "Writing '1977' for BBC Radio 4, and why it's about so much more than 'a transgender woman in the 1970s'". BBC. 30 November 2015. Archived from the original on 7 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
^ "Angela Morley Obituary". The Guardian. London. 23 January 2009. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
^ ^a ^b Dubowsky, Jack Curtis (2016). "Chapter 4: A Tale of Two Walters: Genre and Gender Outsiders". Intersecting Film, Music, and Queerness. Basingstoke UK; New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 105–130. ISBN 978-1-349-68713-8. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
^ "Angela Morley: Composer and arranger who worked with Scott Walker and scored 'Dynasty' and 'Dallas'". Obituaries. The Independent. 22 January 2009. Archived from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
^ Betancourt, Manuel (20 January 2016). "Angela Morley: The Story Behind the Two-Time Oscar-Nominated Trans Composer". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2020.