- Born
- Died
- Birth nameErich Zeisl
- Composer and author Eric Zeisl entered the Vienna State Academy at fourteen years of age and was acclaimed as one of Austria's young compositional lights. In 1934 he won the Austrian State Prize for his music, but because of growing anti-Semitic pressures there he he was unable to secure a publishing contract since his work would have been banned in Germany. Fleeing Vienna for Paris in 1938, he finally reached America in late 1939 and settled in Los Angeles. He joined ASCAP in 1951. Zeisl composed one piano concerto, one cello concerto, four ballets, several choral and chamber music works and an unfinished opera. Zeisl also made several recordings that were published at the height of his fame.
Eric Zeisl passed away after teaching an evening class at L.A. City College. He had one daughter, Barbara Zeisl, who married Ronald Schoenberg, one of the sons of composer Arnold Schoenberg; her brother-in-law is Italian composer Luigi Nono. Ronald Schoenberg, the Los Angeles judge who presided over the spousal-abuse trial of Nicole and O.J. Simpson, had four children with Barbara: Eric Randol "Randy," Marlena, Frederic "Rick" and Melanie.
In 2015, the English film "Woman in Gold" starring Helen Mirren depicted a famous art recovery case that Zeisl's grandson Randy Schoenberg (played by Ryan Reynolds) argued before the Supreme Court.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gregg Wager and Louis Rugani
- SpouseGertrud Jelinek(? - February 18, 1959) (his death)
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