George Antheil (born July 8, 1900 in Trenton, New Jersey; died February 12, 1959 in New York City) was an American composer, pianist, author and inventor. He became known in America and Europe as a composer of very modern sounding music, including his Ballet Mécanique. His music was very noisy and full of mechanical sounds. His audiences were often shocked at the music. He spent some years in Europe, then, in 1930s, he returned to America where he spent a lot of time writing film music for Hollywood and ballets. His music became less aggressive and more traditional.