Del Castillo (organist)

Del Castillo
Birth nameLloyd Gould Castillo
Also known asLloyd Del Castillo, Lloyd Gould del Castillo
Born(1893-04-02)April 2, 1893
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.[1]
DiedJuly 6, 1992(1992-07-06) (aged 99)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.[2]
Occupation(s)Organist, composer
InstrumentCinema organ/ theatre organ
Years active1915–1989[3][4]

Del Castillo (born Lloyd Gould Castillo,[a] April 2, 1893 – July 6, 1992), was an American cinema organist, theatre organist and composer, who provided music for radio series such as Stars over Hollywood,[2] Hollywood Theatre of Today,[11] and Satan's Waitin' ,[12] as well as a number of animated short subjects, including several featuring Mr. Magoo.[2] In addition, he served for several years as both program director and staff organist at WEEI (AM) in Boston.[13][14][15]

Early life and career

Castillo was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the only child of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Martin Castillo. Mrs. Castillo, the former Minnie May Gould, was herself an accomplished pianist and graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music,[16][17] who also performed with Caroline Nichols' Fadettes of Boston.[18] She personally saw to Lloyd's early training, giving him piano lessons at age 4. Shortly thereafter he attended the Faelton Pianoforte School, and, by age nine, was performing in public.[19] He continued his studies at Rindge Manual Training School and later attended Harvard University, where he served for two years as conductor of the Pierian Sodality before graduating in 1914.[20][1][21][22]

Daily News critic Ben Gross, in an otherwise dismissive review of the short-lived summer replacement radio series Satan's Waitin', wrote: "The best part of it to this listener was the eerie, howling background music provided by Del Castillo, organist, and Dr. Samuel Hoffman, playing the theremin."[12]

Castillo also founded a school for theatrical organists, the first such school in Boston.[2] Among his students was longtime Fenway Park and Boston Garden organist John Kiley.[23]

Personal life and death

Scarcely two months into Castillo's sophomore year at Harvard, The Boston Globe recounted, in rapid succession, the indictment, arrest and conviction of his father, Dr. Frank del Castillo, sentenced to three to five years in Massachusetts State Prison after "plead[ing] guilty to an illegal operation involving Annie Gallagher Sept. 6."[24][25]

From June 15, 1920, until her death on June 14, 1975, Castillo was married to Phyllis Arlene Woolley.

On July 6, 1992, Lloyd Castillo died in Los Angeles at age ninety-nine.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ Despite the fact that in every relevant document for which Del Castillo himself was the source (e.g. 1917 Draft registration, miscellaneous copyright applications and the 1930 census form),[5][6][7] he specifies del Castillo, the fact remains that in every such document to which his father had earlier supplied such info (i.e. the original birth registration and the 1900 and 1910 census forms),[8][9][10] he is referred to simply as Lloyd G. Castillo (and his father as Frank M. Castillo). Even the 1992 LA Times obit, while not dispensing with "del" altogether, includes it only parenthetically—as "Lloyd G. (del) Castillo".[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "Marcella: Little Bird Knows All—Tells All—Ask Her About the Stars You Admire". Radio Digest. July–August, 1931. p. 59.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Obituaries: Lloyd G. (del) Castillo". Los Angeles Times. July 28, 1992. p. A20.
  3. ^ "Organist to Appear in Concert". Times-Advocate. August 15, 1976. p. 8.
  4. ^ Haldane, David (May 15, 1989). "No More Encores; Weekly Organ Concerts Ending After 2 Decades". Los Angeles Times. p. B1.
  5. ^ "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZNW-L1Q : 23 December 2021), Lloyd Gould Del Castillo, 1917-1918.
  6. ^ Library of Congress (1963). Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. U.S. Copyright Office. p. 2004.
  7. ^ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQG5-XY9 : accessed 26 May 2023), Lloyd G Delcastillio, Belmont, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 187, sheet 13B, line 93, family 372, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 914; FHL microfilm 2,340,649.
  8. ^ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4FF-N36 : 5 October 2022), Lloyd G./Castillo, 2 Apr 1893; citing Birth, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 004276270.
  9. ^ "United States Census, 1900", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9R1-K8Q : 22 January 2022), Lloyd G Castillo in entry for Frank M Castillo, 1900.
  10. ^ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2VC-N6T : accessed 25 May 2023), Lloyd G Castillo in household of Frank M Castillo, Cambridge Ward 7, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 766, sheet 2A, family 34, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 597; FHL microfilm 1,374,610.
  11. ^ "Annual Presentation of Easter Classic on 'Skippy Hollywood Theatre'". The Shreveport Times. April 2, 1950. p. 29.
  12. ^ a b Gross, Ben (June 12, 1950). "Looking & Listening". New York Daily News. p. 45. ProQuest 2289896366. It's just another chiller. It, however, has the added gimmick of Ol' Beelzebub himself acting as one of the dastardly villains. The best part of it to this listener was the eerie, howling background music provided by Del Castillo, organist, and Dr. Samuel Hoffman, playing the theremin.
  13. ^ "Staff of WEEI". Broadcasting, Broadcast Advertising. June 15, 1942. p. 20. ProQuest 1040350175. STAFF OF WEEI, Boston, gave a farewell party for Norma Young of the engineering department who has been commissioned a first lieutenant in the Army, present were other former members of the staff now in the armed forces. Shown are (front row, l to r) Warren Stevens, engineer; John J. Murray, accountant,; Lloyd G. del Castillo, program director; Philip Goulding, news announcer...
  14. ^ "New WEEI Broadcasting Rooms Open Saturday". The Boston Globe. June 11, 1931. p. 7.
  15. ^ "Deaths and Funerals: Lewis S. Whitcomb". The Boston Globe. October 24, 1938. p. 5.
  16. ^ "Heart and Soul for Cuba; Grand Army Men in Sympathy With the Fight for Freedom; Will Attend Mass Meeting". The Washington Times. October 30, 1895. p. 4.
  17. ^ "Piano Recital by Mrs. Minna Del Castillo". The Boston Post. January 30, 1902. p. 5.
  18. ^ "Deaths and Funerals: Mrs. Mina (Gould) Del Castillo". The Boston Globe. April 24, 1956. p. 6.
  19. ^ "Gave a Pianoforte Recital". The Boston Globe. October 26, 1902. p. 3.
  20. ^ "Rindge Diplomas Given; Exercises of the Cambridge Manual Training School Graduates at Sanders Theatre". The Boston Globe. June 16, 1910. p. 15. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  21. ^ "Harvard Commencement Plans; When the Various Events Will Take Place—Yard Being Depleted of Large Elms—Notes of the University". Boston Evening Transcript. June 5, 1911. p. 13.
  22. ^ "26 Attend Dinner of Harvard Law 50-Year Class". The Boston Globe. June 23, 1949. p. 8.
  23. ^ Lyons, Marguerite (December 23, 1970). "John Kiley Now Choir Director of St. Patrick's". The Lowell Sun. p. 17.
  24. ^ "Dr. del Castillo in Court". The Boston Globe. November 10, 1911. p. 1.
  25. ^ "Dr. Frank del Castillo Sentenced". The Boston Globe. November 23, 1911. p. 20.