On 1 November 1939, he sailed to the United States where he lived for the rest of his life. His home was in Beverly Hills, California. Many people who lived there had fled from Europe because of the Nazis. They became his friends. They included the German writer Thomas Mann. He worked with many famous American orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the NBC Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. After the war he often came back to Europe. He performed at the Edinburgh Festival and in Salzburg, Vienna and Munich. In his later life he made many stereo recordings with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra. He made his last live concert appearance on 4 December 1960 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and pianist Van Cliburn. His last recording was a series of Mozart overtures with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra at the end of March in 1961. Bruno Walter died of a heart attack in his Beverly Hills home in 1962.