Born in Norfolk, Virginia, he graduated from Columbia University in 1940. Serving in the US Army's Signal Corps Photographic Unit during the war, and moved to Hollywood following demobilisation.

After joining Columbia Pictures, he was introduced to Harryhausen by a mutual friend from Schneer's time in the Army.[1] Together they made It Came From Beneath The Sea (1955), about a giant octopus that wreaks havoc on the Golden Gate Bridge. The octopus had only six tentacles, which Schneer is reported to have been correct in claiming no one would notice.