Editing Max Steiner (section)

===Later works (1953–1965)===
Although his contract ended in 1953, Steiner returned to Warner Bros. in 1958 and scored several films such as ''[[Band of Angels]]'', ''[[Marjorie Morningstar (film)|Marjorie Morningstar]]'', and ''[[John Paul Jones (film)|John Paul Jones]]'', and later ventured into television. Steiner still preferred large orchestras and leitmotif techniques during this part of his career.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="soundtrack" />{{rp|152}} Steiner's pace slowed significantly in the mid-1950s, and he began freelancing. In 1954, [[RCA Victor]] asked Steiner to prepare and conduct an orchestral suite of music from ''Gone with the Wind'' for a special LP, which was later issued on CD. There are also [[transcription disc|acetates]] of Steiner conducting the Warner Brothers studio orchestra in music from many of his film scores. Composer [[Victor Young]] and Steiner were good friends, and Steiner completed the film score for ''[[China Gate (1957 film)|China Gate]]'', because Young had died before he could finish it. The credit frame reads: "Music by Victor Young, extended by his old friend, Max Steiner."<ref name="movies">{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Tony |title=Music for the Movies |date=1973 |publisher=A.S Barnes and Co., Inc. |location=Cranbury, New Jersey |isbn=0498010716 |url=https://archive.org/details/musicformovies00thom }}</ref>{{rp|48}} There are numerous soundtrack recordings of Steiner's music as soundtracks, collections, and recordings by others. Steiner wrote into his seventies, ailing and near blind, but his compositions "revealed a freshness and fertility of invention."<ref name="Palmer" /> A theme for [[A Summer Place (film)|''A Summer Place'']] in 1959, written when Steiner was 71, became one of Warner Brothers' biggest hit-tunes for years and a re-recorded pop standard. This [[Theme from A Summer Place|memorable instrumental theme]] spent nine weeks at #1 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] singles chart in 1960 (in an instrumental cover version by [[Percy Faith]]).<ref name=bronson>{{cite book |last=Bronson |first=Fred |date=October 1, 2003 |title=The Billboard Book of Number One Hits |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PgGqNrqfrsoC&pg=PT75 |location=New York |publisher=Billboard Books |edition=5th |isbn=978-0823076772 |page=75}}</ref> Steiner continued to score films produced by Warner until the mid-sixties.<ref name="Thomas" />

In 1963, Steiner began writing his autobiography. Although it was completed, it was never published, and is the only source available on Steiner's childhood. A copy of the [[manuscript]] resides with the rest of the Max Steiner Collection at [[Brigham Young University]] in [[Provo, Utah]].<ref name=Leaney/> Steiner scored his last piece in 1965; however, he claimed he would have scored more films had he been offered the opportunity. His lack of work in the last years of his life was due to Hollywood's decreased interest in his scores caused by new film producers and new taste in film music. Another contribution to his declining career was his failing eyesight and deteriorating health, which caused him to reluctantly retire.<ref name="thomas">{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Thomas |title=Film Score: The Art & Craft of Movie Music |date=1991 |publisher=Redwood Press |location=Burbank, California}}</ref>{{rp|59,66}} [[Tony Thomas (film historian)|Tony Thomas]] cited Steiner's last score as, "a weak coda to a mighty career."<ref name="Palmer" />{{rp|92}}

Steiner died of congestive heart failure in Hollywood, aged 83.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|title=Max Steiner|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000070/|website=IMDb|publisher=IMDb.com, Inc.}}</ref> He is entombed in the Great Mausoleum at [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery]] in [[Glendale, California]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Max Steiner|url=http://www.nndb.com/people/433/000205815/|website=NNDB|publisher=Soylent Communications}}</ref>