Born James Muir Mathieson in Stirling, Scotland and educated at the Royal College of Music (London). Musical director and conductor of hundreds of British film scores from the early 1930s until the late 1950s. He was head of the music department at Denham Studios under Alexander Korda and J. Arthur Rank. His films include CATHERINE THE GREAT (1934), THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (1935), THINGS TO COME (1936), FIRE OVER ENGLAND (1937), THE FOUR FEATHERS (1939), THIEF OF BAGDAD and GASLIGHT (both 1940), IN WHICH WE SERVE (1942), HENRY V, BLITHE SPIRIT and BRIEF ENCOUNTER (all 1945), HAMLET and OLIVER TWIST (both 1948), RICHARD III (1956), SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON (1960), THE L-SHAPED ROOM (1962), BECKET (1964), and LORD JIM and GHENGIS KHAN (both 1965). He appeared as an actor in the film THE MAGIC BOX (1951), portraying Sir Arthur Sullivan.  Nominated for Music Scoring Awards (Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) 1954: GENEVIEVE 1 nomination