Vars, Henry

Henry Vars (Warszawski)
(1902-1977)
composer of film music and popular songs
article by Mindy Kaye, photograph by Jack Howard
Henry Vars, born in Warsaw in 1902, was a graduate of the Warsaw Conservatory of Music. He spent one and one half years in military service, graduating from Officers' School in Wlodzimierz. After leaving the service, he heard American Jazz music of that period, which influenced him very strongly. He started writing songs, and after a brief period of failure, he succeeded as a composer of film music and popular songs.
Unfortunately, World War II interrupted his activities and he was mobilized by the Army. In 1939-40 he was taken prisoner by the Germans, but escaped. Eventually he organized a theatrical group which was so popular that it was invited to tour the Soviet Union, visiting all the major cities.
In 1941, after receiving an invitation from General Anders, the group joined the Polish Army in Russia. They were then transferred to Iran and from there went to Iraq, Palestine, Egypt and on to Italy. They took part in many performances for the military as well as civilian populations. In Italy they received first prize in a contest of Allied Forces artistic groups.
In 1947 He was released from the Army and came to the United States. His early years in America were difficult. At the time most of the film production was being done in Europe rather than Hollywood because costs were so much lower there. After several years, he got his first assignment with Columbia Pictures as a composer. The first film he worked on was The Big Heat; he then went on to work for several studios -- major, minor and independent. He has 39 films to his credit, as well as several song hits recorded by well-known artists including Jimmy Rogers, Doris Day and Bing Crosby. He has composed scores for television shows "Daktari," "Flipper," "Gunsmoke," and others, and has earned the reputation as "the Irving Berlin of Poland." Several hundred of his hits are still being recorded, published and played in Poland.
Among other honors, he was awarded the Cavaliere de Croce Italia, which made him a member of Italian nobility, and an award from President Truman. He was an accomplished caricaturist; among his collection are caricatures of H. S. Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Mao Tse Tung, Jackie Kennedy, Charles de Gaulle, Pandit Nehru, Abdel Gamel Nasser, and many others.
Mr. Vars lived in Beverly Hills with his wife until his death on September 1, 1977. They had two children: one an attorney, the other a housewife, and four grandchildren. One grandchild is a medical student at Stanford University. Mr. Vars' older sister, Josephine Varszawska, was an opera star at la Scala in Milan, Italy. His younger sister, writer and pianist, Franka Frowa, was married to the Italian Consul in Warsaw, and now lives in Milan, Italy.
From: "Polish Americans in California 1827-1977 and Who's Who," edited by Jacek Przygoda, Polish American Historical Association, California Chapter, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, 1978