A child prodigy, Leone de Paolis, better known under her stage name as Toni Beaulieu (1904-1995), wrote her first composition at the age of fourteen and by the time she was eighteen had been awarded a doctorate in violin and the degree of Master of Music in piano. She was then appointed to a teaching post at the MacPhail Center for Music, the prestigious conservatory in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
She is perhaps best remembered as the composer of Jungle Rhumba, the highlight production number from the M-G-M musical classic NEPTUNE’S DAUGHTER (1949) starring Esther Williams and Red Skelton. As a composer of over two hundred titles, Toni Beaulieu was extremely versatile, her work ranging from Latin American to classical, and from jazz to pieces for children.
(Gregg Nestor)