Favourite USA Composers
No ranking, just sorted First Name / Family Name.
Personal favourites are Elmer Bernstein and Jerry Goldsmith.
John Williams is kinda uncomparable and for sure plays in a league of his own.
Thanks for checking, enjoy.
Personal favourites are Elmer Bernstein and Jerry Goldsmith.
John Williams is kinda uncomparable and for sure plays in a league of his own.
Thanks for checking, enjoy.
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Alan Williams is an award-winning composer and conductor with more than 100 motion picture and television credits. Alan's scores include the Academy Award nominated IMAX film, Amazon and some of the highest rated movies made for television. Some of his recent credits include the Chinese theatrical feature film Legend of the Forest and the IMAX films Secrets of the Sea and Serengeti.
Alan composed the award-winning score to the animated feature film, The Princess and the Pea and co-wrote the original songs with award-winning Lyricist David Pomeranz as well as the Student Academy Award winning short Pajama Gladiator. With more than 100 awards and nominations some of his accolades include his score to Estefan being nominated for an Annie Award for Best Original Score, the Insight Award for Excellence for his score to Kilimanjaro: To the Roof of Africa, 23 Accolade Awards for Best Original Score, 10 Park City Film Music Festival Gold Medal for Excellence Awards as well as his score to Crab Orchard being named as one of the Top 20 Film Scores of 2005.
Alan has received 22 Global Music Awards. His score to 20th Century Fox's Cowgirls n' Angels won a Prestige Film Gold Award and Alan was awarded the Jerry Goldsmith Award for Best Documentary score for the Netflix series Moving Art: Underwater along with 3 other JGA nominations. Alan received a Hollywood Music in Media award (HMMA) for his song Music of the Earth co-written with David Pomeranz along with 3 additional HMMA nominations. In 2017 Alan was awarded the Global Music Awards Odyssey Lifetime Achievement in Music.- Composer
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One of the most prolific B-movie composers, Albert Glasser started off as a copyist in the music department at Warner Brothers in the late 1930s, learning the art of film scoring from scratch while working under such big guns as Max Steiner and Erich Wolfgang Korngold. He graduated to orchestrating, and by the mid-'40s was composing and directing his own scores. A hard, fast worker, Glasser found his musical skills put to the test in the frantic, down-to-the-wire world of B-picture making. He scored a staggering 135 movies between 1944 and 1962, not counting at least 35 features for which he received no credit. In addition to scoring 300 television shows and 450 radio programs, he arranged and conducted for noted American operetta composer Rudolf Friml and orchestrated for Ferde Grofé Sr. (with whom he first collaborated on the sci-fi classic Rocketship X-M (1950)).- Composer
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Angelo Badalamenti was born on 22 March 1937 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Mulholland Drive (2001), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) and Lost Highway (1997). He was married to Lonny Irgens. He died on 11 December 2022 in Lincoln Park, New Jersey, USA.- Music Department
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Bebe Barron was born on 16 June 1926 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She was a composer, known for Forbidden Planet (1956), El monstruo de los volcanes (1963) and Trailer Nation (2018). She was married to Leonard Neubauer and Louis Barron. She died on 20 April 2008 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Music Department
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Bill Conti was born on 13 April 1942 in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. He is a composer and actor, known for For Your Eyes Only (1981), Rocky (1976) and The Karate Kid Part II (1986). He is married to Shelby Cox. They have two children.- Composer
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Composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and songwriter, the son of Morris Goldenberg. He was educated at Columbia College (BA), where he composed and arranged the Columbia Varsity Shows, and also Camp Tamiment. He took private music studies with Hall Overton and he wrote incidental music for the Broadway revue "An Evening With Mike Nichols & Elaine May", and arranged dance music for "Greenwillow", "110 in the Shade", and "High Spirits". His chief musical collaborator was songwriter (and author) Larry Alexander. He joined ASCAP in 1961, and his popular-song compositions include "Shouldn't There Be Lightning?"; and "Take You For Granted". His classical compositions include "Brass Quintet"; "Woodwind Quintet"; and "String Quartet".- Music Department
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Distinguished multiple Grammy-winning trumpeter, arranger, conductor and songwriter whose instantly-recognizable style remains a longtime trademark. The son of a roofer and a youthful asthmatic, his physician advised therapy through playing the tuba. In his school band, he developed an appreciation of the other instruments and became a self-taught trumpeter and trombonist, and also an arranger. On the occasion when Charlie Barnet was to perform on a Pittsburgh radio station, May came to the studio to show Barnet some arrangements, which Barnet accepted but never paid for. Several months later, May approached Barnet for payment and Barnet offered May a position with his band. For Barnet, he provided the arrangement for his hits "Cherokee" and "Redskin Rhumba". Eventually Glenn Miller became aware of the Barnet band's sound and hired May away to play and arrange. For Miller, Billy May contributed the arrangements for "Serenade in Blue", "American Patrol" and "Take the 'A' Train". When the Miller band dissolved during World War II, May settled in Los Angeles to work with NBC and Capitol Records as a studio arranger, and with the bands of 'Les Brown', Woody Herman, Alvino Rey and Ozzie Nelson. But his longest association was with Frank Sinatra, with whom he worked on the noted albums "Come Fly With Me" (1957), " and "Come Dance With Me" (1958), "Come Swing With Me" (1961), and "Trilogy" (1979). In the early 1950s, Billy May had his own orchestra, for which the theme was "Lean Baby", featuring his trademark sax style. His last musical work was arranging a 90th Anniversary compendium of the music from Paramount Pictures in collaboration with noted composer-arranger Will Schaefer. But Billy May left the project due to his illness.- Music Department
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Billy Strange was born on 29 September 1930 in Long Beach, California, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Next (2007), Passengers (2016) and Ocean's Eleven (2001). He was married to Jeanne Black, Betty Jo Conrad and Joan O'Brien. He died on 22 February 2012 in Franklin, Tennessee, USA.- Music Department
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Bob Crewe was an American songwriter, singer, manager, record producer and fine artist. His career is among the most varied, successful and innovative in pop music history. He is probably best known for producing and co-writing with Bob Gaudio a string of Top 10 singles for The Four Seasons. He is equally known for his hit recordings with The Rays, Diane Renay, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels, Freddie Cannon, Lesley Gore, Michael Jackson, Bobby Darin, Roberta Flack, Peabo Bryson and his own The Bob Crewe Generation.
In his 50+ years in the music industry, some of the Billboard Top Ten hits either co-written or produced by Crewe include "Silhouettes", "Daddy Cool", "Lah Dee Dah", "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Walk Like a Man", "Dawn (Go Away)", "Ronnie", "Rag Doll", "Save It For Me", "Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby, Goodbye)", "Let's Hang On!", "Jenny Take A Ride", "Devil With A Blue Dress On", "Sock It To Me, Baby", "Music To Watch Girls By", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", "Jean", "Good Morning, Starshine", "Swearin' To God", "My Eyes Adored You" and "Lady Marmalade". His compositions have been heard in numerous motion pictures and television shows. He is portrayed as a character in the international stage musical hit, "Jersey Boys," for which he is credited as lyricist.
Bob Crewe died in Scarborough, Maine, on September 11, 2014.- Composer
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Bob James was born on 25 December 1939 in Marshall, Missouri, USA. He is a composer and actor, known for The Big Hit (1998), Double Jeopardy (1999) and Cop Out (2010). He has been married to Judy Heric since September 1963. They have one child.- Music Department
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Composer, songwriter ("That Old Devil Moon") and author, educated at the High School of Commerce and Dwight Academy, and a private music student of Simon Bucharoff. At fifteen, he was a staff writer for the Remick Music Company. He wrote the Broadway stage scores for "Earl Carroll Vanities of 1931", "Hold On to Your Hats", "Laffing Room Only", "Finian's Rainbow", and "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" (Grammy Award, 1965). He wrote songs for "Three's a Crowd" and "Third Little Show", and was president of the AGAC since 1957. Joining ASCAP in 1933, his chief musical collaborators included Harold Adamson, Ralph Freed, Ted Koehler, Al Dubin, E.Y. Harburg, Frank Loesser, Alan Jay Lerner, and Ira Gershwin. His other popular-song compositions include "Tony's Wife", "Heigh Ho, the Gang's All Here", "Look Who's Here", "Everything I Have Is Yours", "Have a Heart", "I Want a New Romance", "Swing High, Swing Low", "Stop, You're Breaking My Heart", "Madame, I Love Your Crepes Suzette", "Howdja Like to Love Me?", "Moments Like This", "The Lady's In Love With You", "Says My Heart", "Smarty", "Would You Be So Kindly?", "There's A Great Day Coming Manana", "Don't Let It Get You Down", "The World Is in My Arms", "I Hear Music", "How About You?", "Feudin' and Fightin'", "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?", "The Begat", "If This Isn't Love", "Look to the Rainbow", "Something Sort of Grandish", "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love", "Too Late Now", "You're All the World to Me", "I Left My Hat in Haiti", "Open Your Eyes", "How Could You Believe Me?", "It Happens Every Time", "Applause Applause", "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever", "Come Back to Me", "Melinda", and many more.- Composer
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Carl Davis was born on 28 October 1936 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for The General (1926), City Lights (1931) and The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981). He was married to Jean Boht. He died on 3 August 2023 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.- Composer
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Composer, conductor, arranger and flautist, educated at the Manhattan School of Music (BA, MA) and Juilliard (on scholarship) (MM). He was first flautist for Radio City Music Hall from 1934 to 1936, the Detroit Symphony from 1936 to 1941, the NBC Toscanini Orchestra from 1942 to 1948 and staff arranger for Radio City Music Hall from 1948 to 1956, and the opera conductor for the Brooklyn Academy of Music from 1948 to 1955.
He was music director for the Broadway stage production of "Once Upon a Mattress" and the touring companies of "Kismet" and "La Plume de Ma Tante". He joined ASCAP in 1952.- Composer
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Talented, prolific and versatile film composer Charles Bernstein was born on February 28, 1943 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He conducted his own orchestral music at age sixteen and studied composition with Vitorio Giannini and Vincent Persichetti at Juilliard. Bernstein also attended the University of California; he received an Outstanding Graduate of the College Award, a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship and a Chancellor's Doctoral Teaching Fellowship while working with American composer Roy Harris. His impressively eclectic musical style ranges from comedy to drama to action to horror. Bernstein has supplied the scores for a bunch of enjoyably down'n'dirty 70's drive-in exploitation features: he turned up the funk with "That Man Bolt," went all-out groovy for the "Invasion of the Bee Girls," and kicked out the tuneful swinging country jams on "White Lightning" (a snippet of this score was used in the "Kill Bill Vol. 1" soundtrack), "Gator," "A Small Town in Texas," and "Nightmare in Badham County." Bernstein's scores in the horror genre are especially chilling and effective: Among his finest fright film scores are "Hex," "Sweet Kill," "The Entity" (this is one of Bernstein's most inspired, inventive and underrated scores; it was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Music), "Cujo," Wes Craven's terrifying classic "A Nightmare on Elm Street," and "April Fool's Day." Moreover, Bernstein has done scores for a large number of made-for-TV movies. He won an Emmy Award for his score for the "Little Miss Perfect" episode of the "CBS Schoolbreak Special." His scores for "Enslavement" and "The Sea Wolf" were nominated for Emmy Awards while his score for "The Man Who Broke A 1,000 Chains" received a Cable ACE Award nomination for Original Score. Outside of his substantial film and television work, Bernstein has also done music for Off-Broadway theater, modern dance, and the World Festival of Sacred Music, played jazz in the cellars of Paris, and danced and played folk music with the Greeks and gypsies from the Balkans. Moreover, Bernstein has written the acclaimed books "Film Music and Everything Else - Volume 1: Limitations" and "Movie Music: An Insider's View." He won an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for his writing on music. Bernstein is a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Board of Directors of the Society of Composers and Lyricists, and the Board of Directors of the ASCAP Foundation. In addition, Charles Bernstein has taught on the graduate film scoring faculty at USC and holds an annual film scoring seminar in the summer at UCLA Extension.- Music Department
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Born in the Bronx, 1940. Graduated High School of Music & Art in New York, then studied composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris.
Before moving to Hollywood, wrote and played Latin music for Salsa legends including Tito Puente, Ray Baretto and Joe Quijano.
In addition to composing over 100 movie scores (including Barbarella and 9-5) and TV themes (Happy Days & Love Boat), Fox wrote the music for many popular songs including "Killing Me Softly With His Song" (Grammy/Roberta Flack-Fugees), "I Got A Name" (Jim Croce), Richard's Window (Olivia Newton John/Oscar Nomination) & "Ready To Take A Chance Again" (Oscar Nomination/Barry Manilow).
Classical compositions include 3 full length ballets: "Song For Dead Warriors" (San Franciso Ballet Company, 1979) , "Zorro" (Smuin Ballet, 2003) and "Salsa Til Dawn" (Smuin ballet 2024). Other larger classical works include: "Lament & Prayer" (Warsaw Opera House/2008), "Fantasie-Homage To Chopin" (Gdansk, Poland/Chopin Festival 2010) and "Clarinet Quintet" (Santa Fe Opera House / 2015).
In addition to winning 2 Emmys, a Grammy & 2 Oscar Nominations, he was given BMI's Richard Kirk Career Achievement Award in 1992 and inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2004. Fox served as a Board of Governor for the Academy's music branch from 2008-2016, and was re-elected in 2022. Charles will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame April 2024.
Charles' memoirs "Killing Me Softly: My Life In Music", chronicling his composing career and centering on his 3 years studying with Nadia Boulanger, was released by Scarecrow Press in the Fall of 2010.
In 2019, for HBO's documentary "The Bronx, USA", Fox & Paul Williams wrote the title song called "Da' Bronx" which is sung live on the Bronx streets by Robert Klein and Hamilton star Donald Webber Jr. They were nominated for a Hollywood Music Media Award.
Fox has recently returned to his early roots of Latin music-- with a series of concerts in Havana, all original Cuban music, which are featured in a new documentary called Killing Me Softly with His Songs (2022), directed by Danny Gold.
The documentary chronicles Fox's 60 year journey writing music and will be released on Apple and other streaming devices April 2024.- Music Department
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Charles Wolcott was born on 29 September 1906 in Flint, Michigan, USA. He was a composer, known for Bambi (1942), Song of the South (1946) and The Three Caballeros (1944). He died on 26 January 1987 in Haifa, Israel.- Music Department
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Chet Baker started his career in the late forties. He became famous with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet in 1952. His solo in "My funny valentine" is a classic of the west coast jazz in the fifties. When Mulligan was arrested in 1953, Chet led the group until 1955, when he went to Europe. He also sang on many records. In Europe he recorded with many musicians in different countries. His career was interrupted many times for personal problems with drugs and he was arrested many times for his addiction. In 1974 he come back to music after three years in obscurity, playing in a concert in Carnegie Hall with his old friend, Gerry Mulligan. After this he started a "new career", but his problems with drugs were continuous. His death today is a mystery, one possibility is suicide but another says he was killed by trafficants in Amsterdam, Holland.- Composer
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Composer, conductor and drummer who formed his first band with schoolmates Ernie Royal, Charlie Mingus and Illinois Jacquet. He played in the orchestras of Lionel Hampton, Lester Young, Floyd Ray, Jim Mundy, Count Basie and Charlie Barnet. He formed a quartet with Gerry Mulligan in 1952, and then led his own quartet. Joining ASCAP in 1959, his popular-instrumental compositions include "Morning After" and "Theme from Gerald McBoing Boing".- Music Department
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Craig Safan was born on 17 December 1948 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a composer and writer, known for The Last Starfighter (1984), Cheers (1982) and Thief (1981).- Music Department
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As Danny Elfman was growing up in the Los Angeles area, he was largely unaware of his talent for composing. It wasn't until the early 1970s that Danny and his older brother Richard Elfman started a musical troupe while in Paris; the group "Mystic Knights of Oingo-Boingo" was created for Richard's directorial debut, Forbidden Zone (1980) (now considered a cult classic by Elfman fans). The group's name went through many incarnations over the years, beginning with "The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo" and eventually just Oingo Boingo. While continuing to compose eclectic, intelligent rock music for his L.A.-based band (some of which had been used in various film soundtracks, e.g. Weird Science (1985)), Danny formed a friendship with young director Tim Burton, who was then a fan of Oingo Boingo. Danny went on to score the soundtrack of Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), Danny's first orchestral film score. The Elfman-Burton partnership continued (most notably through the hugely-successful "Batman" flicks) and opened doors of opportunity for Danny, who has been referred to as "Hollywood's hottest film composer".- Music Department
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Dave Grusin was born on 26 June 1934 in Littleton, Colorado, USA. He is a composer and actor, known for The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), The Firm (1993) and The Graduate (1967). He was previously married to Edith Ruth Price, Sara Jane Tallman and Barbara Jo Davidson.- Actor
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David Alexander Hess was born in New York City in 1936. He began his professional career as a songwriter for Shalimar Music, in 1957, under the pseudonym of David Hill. His first recording was a quick hit, which was later performed by and credited to Elvis Presley, "All Shook Up."
David went on to compose "Start Movin'" for Sal Mineo and "Rockin' Shoes" for the The Ames Brothers. He continued to write songs for Elvis throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including "I Got Stung," "Come Along" (from the film "Frankie And Johnny"), and "Sand Castles" (from the film "Paradise, Hawaiian Style"). He also wrote "Make Me Know You're Mine" (first performed by Conway Twitty, and "Blue Lagoon." "Your Hand, Your Heart, Your Love" became a 1960s hit when it was performed by Andy Williams. In 1963 David wrote and recorded "Speedy Gonzalez," which became a #1 single for Pat Boone, selling more than eight million copies worldwide. David then recorded two solo albums for Kapp Records, again topping the charts, this time with a Top Ten folk hit called "Two Brothers."
In 1969 he became head of A&R at Mercury Records in New York. There he linked up with Western classical composer John Corigliano, and together they wrote the Grammy award-winning rock opera "The Naked Carmen", which became a big hit of the Berlin Ballet Week in 1970. David's work with Mercury also included "And the Children Toll the Passing of the Day," a 1969 album he wrote for Irish actor Malachy McCourt.
In 1972 his career split off into several new directions with his starring role in the Wes Craven horror classic The Last House on the Left (1972), for which he also composed the soundtrack. He went on to score Buck ai confini del cielo (1991), a children's film based on a collection of Jack London stories. It won the top prize for film and direction at the Giffone Film Festival. A subsequent job offer from PolyGram Records' German affiliate gave David the opportunity to move to Munich, Germany, and a multilingual career in film dubbing from 1972 to 1976, which in turn led him to write the English-language shooting scripts for such German greats as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Reinhard Hauff and his present collaborator, Peter Schamoni.
His ability to switch seamlessly from in front of the camera to the production team earned him the opportunity to direct his first American feature film, To All a Goodnight (1980), for Media Home Entertainment in 1980. He also appeared in two low-budget horror films directed by Ruggero Deodato, House on the Edge of the Park (1980) and Body Count (1986).
In 1991 he played the part of the American in Peter Schamoni's Max Ernst: Mein Vagabundieren - Meine Unruhe (1991). From 1993 to 1995 he produced Niki de Saint Phalle (1996).
David's final musical accomplishments included the release of two albums, "Caught Up In The Moment" and "Live & Unplugged in Hollywood, 2002." He lived in Southern California, just outside of Los Angeles, with his wife, with whom he had three children.
David Hess died on 7 October, 2011.- Composer
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David Amram has been described as "the Renaissance man of American music." He has composed over 100 orchestral and chamber works, written two operas, and many scores for theatre and films. He has collaborated with such notables as Leonard Bernstein, Dizzy Gillespie, Dustin Hoffman, Charlie Mingus, Elia Kazan, Odetta, Jack Kerouac, Betty Carter and Tito Puente. He has conducted and performed as a soloist with symphony orchestras around the world, participated in major music festivals, and traveled from Brazil and Cuba to Kenya and Egypt. Since being appointed first composer-in-residence with the New York Philharmonic in 1966-67, he has become one of the most acclaimed composers of his generation, listed by BMI as one of their "Twenty Most Performed Composers of Concert Music in the United States."- Music Department
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In his 25 year career, David Newman has scored over 100 films, ranging from War of the Roses, Matilda, Bowfinger and Heathers, to the more recent The Spirit, Serenity, and Alvin and the Chipmonks: The Squeakuel. Newman's music has brought to life the critically acclaimed dramas Brokedown Palace and Hoffa; top-grossing comedies Norbit, Scooby-Doo, Galaxy Quest, The Nutty Professor, The Flinstones, Throw Mama From the Train; and award-winning animated films Ice Age, The Brave Little Toaster and Anastasia. The recipient of top honors from the music and motion picture industries, he holds an Academy Award nomination for his score to the animated feature, Anastasia, and was the first composer to have his piece, 1001 Nights, performed in the Los Angeles Philharmonic's FILMHARMONIC Series, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Newman is also a highly sought-after conductor and appears with leading orchestras throughout the world, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Score Orchestra, National Orchestra of Belgium, New Japan Philharmonic, Utah Symphony, and the American Symphony. He has led subscription week with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall and regularly conducts the Hollywood Bowl.
Also an active composer for the concert hall, his works have been performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, and at the Ravinia Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and Chicago's Grant Park Music Festival.
Newman has spent considerable time unearthing and restoring film music classics for the concert hall, and headed the Sundance Institute's music preservation program in the late 1980s. During his tenure at Sundance he wrote an original score and conducted the Utah Symphony for the classic silent motion picture, Sunrise, which opened the Sundance Film Festival in 1989. As a tribute to his work in film music preservation, he was elected President of the Film Music Society in 2007, a nonprofit organization formed by entertainment industry professionals to preserve and restore motion picture and television music. Passionate about nurturing the next generation of musicians, Newman services as President of the Board of the American Youth Symphony, a forty-three year-old pre-professional orchestra based in Los Angeles, where he launched the three-year "Jerry Goldsmith Project." In 2007 he wrote the children't melodrama Yoko and the Tooth Fairy for Crossroads School in Santa Monica, CA, and in 2010 he served on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival in the Film Scoring Program. When his schedule permits, he visit Los Angeles area high schools to speak about film scoring and mentor young composers.
The son of nine-time Oscar-winning composer, Alfred Newman, David Newman was born in Los Angeles in 1954. He trained in violin and piano from an early age and earned degrees in orchestral conducting and violin from the University of Southern California.- Music Department
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David Shire was born on 3 July 1937 in Buffalo, New York, USA. He is a composer and writer, known for Zodiac (2007), Short Circuit (1986) and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974). He has been married to Didi Conn since 11 February 1984. They have one child. He was previously married to Talia Shire.- Music Department
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Don Randi was born on 25 February 1937 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a composer and actor, known for Stacey (1973), World on a String and Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle (2009). He has been married to Norma Waterman since 1964. They have four children. He was previously married to Miti Carmizia.- Music Department
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Composer ("It Don't Mean a Thing if It Ain't Got That Swing", "Sophisticated Lady", "Mood Indigo", "Solitude", "In a Mellotone", "Satin Doll"), pianist and conductor, holder of an honorary music degree from Wilberforce University and an LHD from Milton College, Duke Ellington led his own orchestra by 1918, and came to New York in 1923, appearing at the Cotton Club between 1927 and 1932. Making his first European tour in 1933, he followed with his annual Carnegie Hall concerts between 1943 and 1950, and then a Middle East tour (under the auspices of the State Department), including an appearance at the International Fair in Damascus in 1963. His stage scores include "Jump for Joy" and "Beggars Holiday" (Broadway). He made many records.
Joining ASCAP in 1953, his chief musical collaborators included Billy Strayhorn, Irving Mills, Mitchell Parish, Mann Curtis, Barney Bigard, Henry Nemo , Bob Russell, Don George, Lee Gaines , Paul Francis Webster, Edgar De Lange, Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Juan Tizol and his own son, Mercer Ellington. His other popular song and instrumental compositions include "Blind Man's Buff", "Creole Love Call", "Black and Tan Fantasy", "I Let a Song Go Out of my Heart", "Rockin' in Rhythm", "Caravan", "Pyramid", "Creole Rhapsody", "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good", "I'm Beginning to See the Light", "In a Sentimental Mood", "East St. Louis Toodle-oo", "Birmingham Breakdown", "Black Beauty", "Flaming Youth", "Awful Sad", "The Duke Steps Out", "Saturday Night Function", "Old Man Blues", "Ring Dem Bells", "Drop Me Off in Harlem", "Daybreak Express", "Delta Serenade", "Reminiscing in Tempo", "In a Jam", "Clarinet Lament", "Echoes of Harlem", "Dusk on the Desert", "Lost in Meditation", "Blue Reverie", "I've Got to Be a Rug Cutter", "Please Forgive Me", "Chatterbox", "Harmony in Harlem", "If You Were in My Place", "Skronch", "Braggin' in Brass", "Blue Light", "Buffet Flat", "The Gal from Joe's", "Subtle Lament", "Old King Dooji", "Boy Meets Horn", "Stevedore's Serenade", "You Gave Me the Gate and I'm Swinging", "Grievin'", "The Sergeant Was Shy", "Tootin' Through the Roof", "Rumpus in Richmond", "Jack the Bear", "Me and You", "Flaming Sword", "Harlem Air Shaft", "Bojangles", "Portrait of Bert Williams", "Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me" (Concerto for Cootie), "Kind of Moody" (Serenade to Sweden), "Morning Glory", "Blue Goose", "Cotton Tail", "Conga Brava", "Chocolate Shake", "Rocks in My Bed", "San Juan Hill", "Crescendo in Blue", "Diminuendo in Blue", "Dusk", "C Jam Blues", "Main Stem", "I Didn't Know About You", "Just a-Sittin' and a-Rockin'", "Jazz Convulsions", "I'm Just a Lucky So and So", "The Blues", "Come Sunday", "Magenta Haze", "Just Squeeze Me", "Happy-Go-Lucky Local", "Takle Love Easy", "Tomorrow Mountain", "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'", "Money Jungle", "Prelude to a Kiss", "Jump for Joy", "I'm Checking Out, Goom-Bye", "The Mooche", "Warm Valley", "Blue Serge", "I Wish I Was Back in My Baby's Arms", "Lament for a Lost Love", "It Shouldn't Happen to a Dream", "Afro-Bosso", "In the Beginning, God" and "Christmas Surprise".- Composer
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Earle Hagen was born on 9 July 1919 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for I Spy (1965), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and Tango & Cash (1989). He was married to Laura Roberts (Gunn) and Lou Sidwell. He died on 26 May 2008 in Rancho Mirage, California, USA.- Composer
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Co-leader of the famed Sauter-Finegan Orchestra (1952-1958), composer, arranger and conductor, he was educated at Columbia University and Juilliard, and studied under Stefan Wolpe, Bernard Wagenaar, and Louis Gruenberg. He joined the Archie Bleyer Orchestra in 1932, and arranged for Red Norvo, Mildred Bailey (1925-1939), Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, The Benny Goodman Orchestra (1940-1945) and Ray McKinley. He arranged for film, television, Broadway musicals and records. He joined ASCAP in 1952, and his popular-music compositions include "Superman"; "Benny Rides Again"; "The Man With the Flaccid Air"; "I'm Late, I'm Late"; "Night Rider"; "A Summer Afternoon"; and "All The Cats Join In". His other musical works include "Concerto for Jazz Band and Symphony Orchestra", and "Focus".- Music Department
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Elliot Goldenthal is an Academy Award-winning composer best known for his original music scores for such films as Frida (2002) and Across the Universe (2007), among his other works.
He was born on May 2, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a house-painter, and his mother was a seamstress. Young Goldenthal was fond of music and theatre, he played with his school rock band during the 1960s. In 1968, he staged his first ballet at John Dewey High School in Brooklyn, from which he graduated in 1971. He attended the Manhattan School of Music, studied under Aaron Copland and John Corigliano, and earned his MA in composition.
Among Goldenthal's most notable works are his original music scores for numerous films, such as Julie Taymor's Frida (2002), Clark Johnson's S.W.A.T. (2003), Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997). Goldenthal also has been collaborating with director Neil Jordan on five films, among those are Michael Collins (1996), and Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), for which he earned two Oscar nominations.
Since the early 1980s, Elliot Goldenthal has been working together with Julie Taymor. Their partnership in film and in life has been one of the most rewarding in film business; the couple made such acclaimed films as Titus (1999), Frida (2002) and Across the Universe (2007), among their other works, earning numerous awards and nominations for their highly innovative creativity.- Composer
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Elliot Kaplan was born on 14 July 1931 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was a composer, known for The Rocketeer (1991), The Food of the Gods (1976) and Passages from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake (1966). He died on 7 May 1992 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Music Department
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Elmer Bernstein was educated at the Walden School and New York University. He served in the US Army Air Corps in World War II, writing scores for the service radio unit. He also wrote and arranged musical numbers for Glenn Miller's Army Air Force Band. A prolific and respected film music composer, he was a protégé of Aaron Copland, who studied music with Roger Sessions and Stefan Wolpe. Bernstein worked in various artistic endeavors, including painting and the theatre and also performed as an actor and dancer. Among his early composition work were scores for United Nations radio programs and television and industrial documentaries. His original scores for films range over an enormous variety of styles, with his groundbreaking jazz score for The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), light musical comedies such as his Oscar-winning Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) score, and perhaps his most familiar score, for the western The Magnificent Seven (1960). Between 1963 and 1969, Bernstein served as vice president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
A few years before before his death, he acquired something of a cult status among fans of English football when his familiar main theme for The Great Escape (1963) was adopted by them and hummed and played, lustily, during matches.- Music Department
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Frank DeVol was born to Herman Frank DeVol and Minnie Emma (Humphreys) DeVol in Moundsville, West Virginia, on September 20, 1911 and grew up in Canton, Ohio. His father had a "pit" orchestra at the local movie house, and his mother had a sewing shop in Canton. His father was also an accountant. Frank De Vol graduated from McKinley High School in 1929. He attended Miami University (in Ohio) for six weeks. His parents had wanted him to be a lawyer, but he wanted a musical career. He was a member of the musicians' union from the age of 14 and worked for his father in the theatre orchestra. His instruments were violin, saxophone at first. After his stint in college, he joined Emerson Gill's orchestra in Ohio and traveled the state.
Later, he joined Horace Heidt's band and not only was he a musician but he also became an arranger for the band. Later, he traveled with Alvino Rey's band. This affiliation led to long-time friendships with The King Family. Finally, in 1943, he settled in California and started his own band, appearing on KHJ radio and accompaniment to many radio shows, such as Jack Carson and Jack Smith. With the advent of television, he moved to working on The Betty White Show (1958) and The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1956), among others. In the 1950s, he broke into movie composing and composed the score for 50 films. In addition, he composed the music for a number of television shows, such as Family Affair (1966), The Smith Family (1971), My Three Sons (1960), and The Brady Bunch (1969). De Vol joined ASCAP in 1964. He collaborated musically with Mack David and Bobby Helfer, and his popular-song compositions include "I've Written A Letter to Daddy", "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?", "Hush ... Hush Sweet Charlotte", "I and Claudie", "My Chinese Fair Lady", and "The Chaperone".
Also a character actor, he appeared in both films and TV. In the late 1970s, he performed a parody of himself as band leader Happy Kyne on Fernwood Tonight (1977) and then America 2-Night (1978), both shows starring Martin Mull. After his first wife, Grayce, died, he married Helen O'Connell. Sadly, Helen O'Connell De Vol died two years later from cancer. Frank was survived by two daughters and four grandchildren when he died October 27, 1999, in Lafayette, California.- Music Department
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Fred Karger was born in New York City, New York, USA. He is known for From Here to Eternity (1953) and The Caine Mutiny (1954). He was married to Elizabeth Derrick, Jane Wyman and Patti Sacks. He died on August 5, 1979 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Composer
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Fred Karlin was born on 16 June 1936 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Fred was a composer and editor, known for Westworld (1973), Licorice Pizza (2021) and Lovers and Other Strangers (1970). Fred was married to Megan Wells-Stagg. Fred died on 26 March 2004 in Culver City, California, USA.- Composer
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Composer Fred Myrow was born on July 16, 1939 in Brooklyn, New York. His grandfather was music publishing giant, producer and manager Irving Mills and his father was noted composer Josef Myrow (he wrote the popular hit song "You Make Me Feel So Young"). He moved to Hollywood, California at age six. Fred studied with Darius Milhaud in Aspen in 1956 and took courses in conducting and composition at the University of California, where his instructors included Ingolf Dahl, Muriel Kerr and Gwendolyn Koldolfsky. In 1959 Myrow wrote "Symphonic Variations" for the Young Musicians Foundation; this piece premiered at the Hollywood Bowl and was subsequently performed at the L.A. Philharmonic, B.B.C., and Concerts Colonne, Paris, where it was conducted by Lawrence Foster. Fred returned to America in 1964. He was the composer, pianist, and conductor for the Center for Creative and Performing Arts in Buffalo, New York. He appeared regularly with Evenings For New Music at Carnegie Hall under Lukas Foss. Myrow's composition "Songs From the Japanese" was performed at such places as Tanglewood, the Monday Evening Concerts in Los Angeles, and the B.B.C. London. It was then recorded by Nonesuch with soprano Phylis Bryn-Julson and conductor Arthur Weisberg. Fred wrote "Music for Orchestra I" for the Fromm Foundation, where it premiered at the Tanglewood Festival and was conducted by Gunther Schuller. This was followed by "Music for Orchestra II." In 1969 Myrow studied music from other cultures and worked as a composer for various media. He collaborated with Jim Morrison by writing the music for the movie "Highway." In addition, Myrow both arranged and conducted the album "Subway to the Country" for Elektra Records. Fred also wrote orchestrations for Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks and served as a mentor to such Los Angeles musicians as jazz pianist Brad Meldahl and producer Daniel Lanois. Myrow's first film score was for the John Boorman picture "Leo the Last." Fred composed an effectively offbeat and unconventional score for the grim futuristic science fiction feature "Soylent Green." Fred is probably best known for his superbly spooky, stirring and imaginative score for the outstanding low-budget independent horror cult favorite "Phantasm." He had previously collaborated with "Phantasm" writer/director Don Coscarelli on both "Jim the World's Greatest" and "Kenny & Company." Fred subsequently worked with Coscarelli on three "Phantasm" sequels and "Survival Quest." Myrow both composed the music and co-wrote song lyrics for the 1990 stage musical "Stevie Wants to Play the Blues;" it starred Paula Kelly and Amy Madigan and was directed by Simon Callow. "Beyond the Veil" was presented by L.A. Classic Theatreworks in December of 1990. He owned a recording music studio that was stocked with keyboard instruments, synthesizers, and computers. Fred Myrow died of a heart attack at age 59 on January 14, 1999.- Composer
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Born in Oregon in 1914, George Bruns was the son of a sawmill worker. He took music lessons as a child, becoming proficient on the piano, tuba and trombone. He attended Oregon State Agricultural College, and in order to pay tuition he played in the ROTC band. Deciding on a musical career, he left college to be a full-time musician, and was soon playing with the likes of Jack Teagarden.
After World War II, he began playing with various swing and jazz bands, then formed his own group (among whom was a trumpet player named Doc Severinsen). In addition to having his own band, he was also musical director at several Portland (OR) radio stations. In 1948 he left Portland for Los Angeles, where he played for orchestras such as the Turk Murphy Band. In 1953 he was hired by UPA Studios as the composer for a cartoon called Little Boy with a Big Horn (1953). The award-winning short launched his career, and over the next few years he composed music for a dozen more pictures.
He was hired by Walt Disney Studios in 1953 to compose the score for Sleeping Beauty (1959). While working on that, he was asked to come up with a song to fill a 3.5-minute gap in a multi-part TV series the studio was shooting. He got together with lyricist Thomas W. Blackburn, and they came up with what would become a landmark song and series of the 1950s: "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" from Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier (1955).
Bruns was then assigned by Disney to write songs for its upcoming childrens show, The Mickey Mouse Club (1955). He spent nearly 20 years at the studio, working on the scores of nearly 40 films and several TV series and specials. He received an Academy Award nomination for his scores for "Sleeping Beauty", Babes in Toyland (1961) and The Sword in the Stone (1963), and another nomination for the song "Love" from Robin Hood (1973).
He retired in 1976, moved back to Oregon, and died of a heart attack in Portland on May 23, 1983.- Music Department
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He was born Jacob Gershowitz, 26 September 1898, in Brooklyn, New York, of Russian-Jewish immigrants. As a boy he could play popular and classical works on his brother Ira's piano by ear. In 1913 he quit school to study music and began composing for Tin Pan Alley; by 1919 he had his first hit "Swanee" and his first Broadway show "La, La, Lucille." In less than three weeks in 1924 he composed "Rhapsody in Blue," originally for Paul Whiteman's relatively small swing band and later orchestrated by Ferde Grofé. "Concerto in F" followed the next year, and his musical success "Oh, Kay!" (which included "Someone to Watch Over Me") the year after that. Success continued: "Funny Face" (1927), the tone poem "American in Paris" (1928), "Girl Crazy" (1929), "Of Thee I Sing" (1931 the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize), and the first true American opera: "Porgy and Bess" (1935). He moved to Hollywood were his songs were performed by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. In 1937 he fell in love with Paulette Goddard, then married to Charlie Chaplin. He was heartbroken that she would not leave her husband for him. When he fell ill, that June, it was written off as stress. A month later he died of a brain tumor, five hours after a failed surgical attempt to remove it. Funerals were hold in both Hollywood and New York.- Music Department
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George A. Hormel was the son of Jay Catherwood and Germaine (DuBois) Hormel, CEO's of the George A. Hormel Company in Austin, Minnesota, the creators of Spam. He was the grandson of George A. Hormel, the founder of the Hormel meat packing plant in Austin. In his parent's Chateau-style home near Austin Geordie operated a hotel and restaurant known as Kingswood. He also operated with a friend a Tavern in Austin which featured the fireman's pole from the old Mankato Fire Station in Mankato, Minnesota.- Composer
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A recording artist, song writer, jazz musician and composer, Gil Melle launched his career in the sixties. He first displayed his talent for art work and was also a regular jazz performer in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1969, Gil Melle displayed his musical talent for NBC's series "Night Gallery" and then composed scores for four of the "Columbo Mystery Films" for ABC and later did the chilling score for television's "Kolchak: The Night Stalker".
He also worked with major filmmakers including a young Steven Spielberg, for whom Melle scored his first two films "The Psychiatrist" and "Savage". With Larry Cohen, he composed a thundering score for "Bone" and next did the Sidney Poitier suspense thriller "The Organization" and ABC's motion picture "The Six Million Dollar Man".
After leaving television, Melle displayed his talents again for such major motion pictures including "The Manipulator", Warner Brothers' "The Ultimate Warrior" and Melle's best-known score for Universal Pictures, the 1971 science fiction thriller "The Andromeda Strain". Upon returning to television in the early eighties, he did NBC's "The Intruder Within" and later "The Case of the Hillside Stranglers", where Melle used lower-register instruments to create a chilling score.
Other films for the eighties include "Blood Beach", "The Last Chase" and "Hot Target". Melle's work has been recorded by The Toronto Symphony Orchestra, The New Zeland Symphony Orchestra, The Los Angeles Symphony and The National Philharmonic Orchestra of London. In all, he composed music for a remarkable 125 motion pictures.
In 1994, Gil Melle retired but still continued his talented work in both music and art until his passing in 2004.- Composer
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Harry Betts is known for Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Nighthawks (1981) and Black Mama White Mama (1973).- Actor
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Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the son of Anita Frances (Levy), a lawyer and judge, and Harry Connick, Sr. (Joseph Harry Fowler Connick), who served as District Attorney of New Orleans from 1973 to 2003. His father is of Irish, English, and German ancestry, and his maternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Vienna, Austria and Minsk, Belarus. Harry, Jr.'s mother died of ovarian cancer when he was 13.
His parents owned a record store and encouraged their son's interest in music - piano at age three, with a New Orleans jazz band aged ten. He won piano competitions while playing French Quarter clubs and attending the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts. At eighteen, he studied at New York's Hunter College and later on at the Manhatan School of Music. At nineteen, he released his first album for Columbia Records and began an extended run performing at the Algonquin's Oak Room, followed a year later by his second album. He wrote the score and sang several songs for Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally... (1989), the soundtrack for which went multi-platinum. So far, while bringing back swing and big band music, he has earned one gold, four platinum and three multi-platinum albums, plus two Grammies. His film acting debut was as B-17 tail-gunner Clay Busby in Memphis Belle (1990). He played mass-murderer Daryll Lee Cullum in the Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter film Copycat (1995) and Captain Jimmy Wilder ("Let's kick the tires and light the fires, big daddy!") in Independence Day (1996).
Harry lives in Connecticut, is married to the former model Jill Goodacre, and has three daughters, Georgia Tatom, Sara Kate and Charlotte.- Music Department
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Harry Nilsson was born on 15 June 1941 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Magnolia (1999), Punch-Drunk Love (2002) and Contact (1997). He was married to Una Mary O'Keeffe, Diane Clatworthy and Sandra Lee McTaggart. He died on 15 January 1994 in Agoura Hills, California, USA.- Composer
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Hugo Montenegro was born on 2 September 1925 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer, known for Strange Days (1995), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) and Labor Day (2013). He died on 6 February 1981 in Palm Springs, California, USA.- Actor
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Jack Ackerman was born on 20 September 1931 in New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Shadows (1958), Faces (1968) and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976). He died on 27 April 1991 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Composer
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Jack Nitzsche was born on 22 April 1937 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), The Exorcist (1973) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). He was married to Buffy Sainte-Marie and Gracia Ann May. He died on 25 August 2000 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Music Department
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James Horner began studying piano at the age of five, and trained at the Royal College of Music in London, England, before moving to California in the 1970s. After receiving a bachelor's degree in music at USC, he would go on to earn his master's degree at UCLA and teach music theory there. He later completed his Ph.D. in Music Composition and Theory at UCLA. Horner began scoring student films for the American Film Institute in the late 1970s, which paved the way for scoring assignments on a number of small-scale films. His first large, high-profile project was composing music for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), which would lead to numerous other film offers and opportunities to work with world-class performers such as the London Symphony Orchestra. With over 75 projects to his name, and work with people such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Oliver Stone, and Ron Howard, Horner firmly established himself as a strong voice in the world of film scoring. In addition, Horner composed a classical concert piece in the 1980s, called "Spectral Shimmers", which was world premiered by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Horner passed away in a plane crash on June 22, 2015, two months short of his 62nd birthday.- Composer
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Jay Chattaway was born on 8 July 1946 in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a composer, known for Star Trek: Voyager (1995), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) and Star Trek: Enterprise (2001).- Composer
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Composer, author, conductor and arranger. He was educated at the Becker Conservatory, and studied under Edmund Ross and Joseph Schillinger. For his work on "The Seeing Eye", he was presented with the New York International Film Fest Award. He joined ASCAP in 1952, and his chief musical collaborators included Jack Brooks and Larry Orenstein. His popular songs include "Soothe My Lonely Heart"; "The Wings of Eagles"; "Ballad for Beatnicks"; "Troubled Man"; and "Blues About Manhattan". His classicel works include "Yellow & Brown" (for symphony orchestra); "Divertimento for Viola, Piano"; and "Suite for Flute, Strings".- Composer
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A three-time Oscar nominee, Jerry Fielding was among the boldest and most experimental of all Hollywood film composers. His music typically utilized advanced compositional procedures, producing dense, often richly dissonant orchestral textures, sometimes flavored with jazz. Fielding's film music career was marked by enduring and rewarding collaborations with Sam Peckinpah, Michael Winner and Clint Eastwood.
Born Joshua Feldman in Pittsburgh in 1922 to immigrant Russian parents, Jerry Fielding was brought up in a music-loving but non-musical household. As a home-bound, somewhat sickly teenager, Fielding derived early inspiration from the radio productions of Orson Welles, with their groundbreaking Bernard Herrmann scores. He was also fascinated by the increasingly advanced orchestrations being done for the swing bands of the time, with their heavy reliance on aspects of classical music. The young Fielding joined the studio of Max Adkins, the noted director of theatrical music who also included Henry Mancini and Murray Gerson among his students. After picking up vital arranging skills, Fielding toured with some of the leading dance bands of the 1940s. This led to Hollywood, where his radio and television assignments included conducting and arranging for many of the most popular variety shows of the time, including those of Groucho Marx.
At this time the shadow of McCarthyism was looming over America and Fielding, a self-confessed "loud-mouthed crusader", found himself among its many victims. His hiring of black musicians for his television orchestra (unheard of in those days) brought criticism and threats. His progressive affiliations brought him to the attention of the FBI and HUAC. Despite his strong liberal beliefs, Fielding said that McCarthy's men were probably more interested in getting him to name Groucho Marx as a "fellow traveler". He took the Fifth Amendment and promptly found his Hollywood career in ruins. He eventually found employment in the safe haven of Las Vegas, where he became musical director for the stage shows of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Fisher and others. He also began recording the first of many pop and swing LPs, such as "Fielding's Formula", "Sweet With A Beat" and "Hollywood Brass".
The approach of the 1960s saw the end of McCarthyism and Fielding's return to Hollywood. In 1962, at the suggestion of his writer friend Dalton Trumbo, Fielding was hired by Otto Preminger for the film Advise & Consent (1962), a tale of political intrigue amid the halls of Washington, DC. It was a remarkable debut score that combined light orchestral lyricism with hints of the richer, almost ethereal textures of his later work. It was also drenched in Fielding's own brand of dark irony--a trademark of the composer.
Around this time Fielding, hungry to expand his compositional technique, enrolled as a student of the venerated composer and teacher Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, who, incidentally, had given similar instruction to Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams. More television work followed, including scores to Mission: Impossible (1966) and Star Trek (1966). In 1967 Fielding scored Noon Wine (1966), a contemporary western for television directed by Sam Peckinpah. It was the first in a legendary though sometimes tumultuous partnership. In 1969 came The Wild Bunch (1969). This landmark western was Peckinpah's and Fielding's breakthrough movie. The composer caught the weariness, dust, dirt and blood of a vanishing West in a rich underscore that interspersed sprightly action cues with wistful Mexican folk melodies and nostalgic, bittersweet dirges. However, as always, the nostalgia was tempered with Fielding's characteristically steely irony. It earned him his first Oscar nomination. A second came with Peckinpah's Straw Dogs (1971) in 1971. This controversial though somewhat garbled tale of the violence lurking within a meek man saw Fielding's music take a new direction. Inspired by Igor Stravinsky's "Histoire Du Soldat", and with a large orchestra supplying dense, yearning sound clusters, this remarkable work gives voice to both the characters' inner turmoil and the desolate Cornish landscapes of the film's setting.
Fielding provided another sensitive, beautifully forlorn score for Peckinpah's proxy self-portrait, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). However, some Peckinpah collaborations were not so happy. Fielding's music for The Getaway (1972) was rejected in favor of a score by Quincy Jones. Then in 1973 Fielding backed out of working with Bob Dylan on the score for Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973).
Fielding's association with Michael Winner began in 1970 with Lawman (1971), for which the composer supplied an epic score tinged with jazz--something of a first for a western! Then followed the searing, impressionistic music for Chato's Land (1972), The Mechanic (1972) and Scorpio (1973). A standout score was for Winner's gothic melodrama, The Nightcomers (1971). This gave Fielding a chance to indulge his love of 19th-century baroque music. The composer considered it among his finest works. His final score for Winner was for The Big Sleep (1978). It was an admirable consummation of the composer's various techniques.
Clint Eastwood was well served by Fielding's scores to The Enforcer (1976) and The Gauntlet (1977). The composer responded to their hard-edged urban milieu with full-on jazz compositions that featured some of the best jazz players in the business. In 1976 Fielding received his third and final Oscar nomination for Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976).
Jerry Fielding was a man who fought hard to get his brand of music into films. He was not a glad-hander. He was an uncompromising artist who perhaps sacrificed many choice assignments by spurning easy, producer-friendly routes. These stances may have taken their toll on him. From the mid-'70s onwards, the composer endured a series of heart attacks. In 1980 he suffered a fatal heart seizure while in Canada scoring Funeral Home. He was 57 years old. Jerry Fielding had an innately humane approach to film scoring. He eschewed traditional "mickey-mousing" techniques (i.e., slavishly following every on-screen action). Rather, his music sought to mirror and illuminate the motivations and deepest inner lives of the characters. This it did with great compassion, beauty and sensitivity. Producer Gordon T. Dawson touchingly described Fielding's music as being " . . . like a man in a green suit walking in a forest."
And so it is.- Music Department
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Born on February 10, 1929, Jerry Goldsmith studied piano with Jakob Gimpel and composition, theory, and counterpoint with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. He also attended classes in film composition given by Miklós Rózsa at the Univeristy of Southern California. In 1950, he was employed as a clerk typist in the music department at CBS. There, he was given his first embryonic assignments as a composer for radio shows such as "Romance" and "CBS Radio Workshop". He wrote one score a week for these shows, which were performed live on transmission. He stayed with CBS until 1960, having already scored The Twilight Zone (1959). He was hired by Revue Studios to score their series Thriller (1960). It was here that he met the influential film composer Alfred Newman who hired Goldsmith to score the film Lonely Are the Brave (1962), his first major feature film score. An experimentalist, Goldsmith constantly pushed forward the bounds of film music: Planet of the Apes (1968) included horns blown without mouthpieces and a bass clarinetist fingering the notes but not blowing. He was unafraid to use the wide variety of electronic sounds and instruments which had become available, although he did not use them for their own sake.
He rose rapidly to the top of his profession in the early to mid-1960s, with scores such as Freud (1962), A Patch of Blue (1965) and The Sand Pebbles (1966). In fact, he received Oscar nominations for all three and another in the 1960s for Planet of the Apes (1968). From then onwards, his career and reputation was secure and he scored an astonishing variety of films during the next 30 years or so, from Patton (1970) to Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) and from Chinatown (1974) to The Boys from Brazil (1978). He received 17 Oscar nominations but won only once, for The Omen (1976) in 1977 (Goldsmith himself dismissed the thought of even getting a nomination for work on a "horror show"). He enjoyed giving concerts of his music and performed all over the world, notably in London, where he built up a strong relationship with London Symphony Orchestra.
Jerry Goldsmith died at age 75 on July 21, 2004 after a long battle with cancer.- Composer
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James Herman Helms was born in Norfolk, Virginia. He graduated from California's San Diego State College in 1957, doing postgraduate work at UCLA from 1958 to 1960. He studied guitar with Howard Roberts, and recorded albums like ''12-String Guitar'' and ''Bossa Nova'' for Crown Records, 1963. He also was a guitarist and arranger for Rick Nelson, Randy Sparks, and Rod McKuen. Later he formed a music company with his wife, lyricist Norma Green, and singer-songwriter-producer Gary LeMel. They scored low-budget movies and composed music for TV commercials. In 1971, he was signed to do the ''Kung Fu'' pilot score, which didn't include the main-title music that became characteristic when the series began airing in 1972. Helms revised and re-recorded both the main and end-title music several times throughout the first season. An LP (later a CD) with music and dialogue from the first season was released in 1973. After the end of ''Kung Fu,'' Helms wrote concert music, and also scored TV movies, low-budget thrillers, and commercials, with relative success. He died in October 1991, reportedly of a heart attack. His death passed unnoticed, apparently without a published obituary.- Music Department
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Jimmie Haskell was born on 7 November 1936 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer, known for Big (1988), The Matrix (1999) and Airplane! (1980). He died on 4 February 2016 in Laguna Niguel, California, USA.- Music Department
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Acclaimed singer, songwriter and composer Jimmy Webb was born on August 15, 1946 in Elk City, Oklahoma. His father was a Baptist minister. An avid lover of music since he was a little boy, Webb made his first public appearance as a performer playing the organ at his father's church. He also improvised, rearranged and re-harmonized hymns. Jimmy began his composing career with religious songs and fronted his own rock'n'roll band. The Webb family moved to Colton, CA in 1964. Jimmy attended San Bernardino Valley College and studied music. Webb's first job in the music industry was transcribing other people's songs. The first song Webb wrote that was recorded was "My Christmas Tree" for the 1965 album, "Merry Christmas, the Supremes". In 1967, Jimmy really hit his stride as a songwriter; he penned the hit songs, "Up, Up and Away" for The 5th Dimension, and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" for Glen Campbell (this particular song had previously been recorded by Johnny Rivers on his 1966 album, "Changes"). Webb went on to write several more hit songs for Campbell: "Galveston", "Wichita Lineman" and "Where's the Playground, Susie". Other songs Jimmy has written are "MacArthur Park" for Richard Harris (Webb collaborated with Harris on the albums, "A Tramp Shining" and "The Yard Went on Forever"), "The Worst Thing That Could Happen" by Johnny Maestro and The Brooklyn Bridge, "All I Know" for Art Garfunkel, "Adios" and "Easy for You to Say" for Linda Ronstadt, and "The Moon's A Harsh Mistress" for Joe Cocker. In addition, the ballad "The Highwayman" was a big smash country success when it was covered by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson in the late 80s. In 1969, Webb wrote and arranged Thelma Houston's album, "Sunshower". Jimmy's songs have been either recorded or performed by such diverse artists as Frank Sinatra, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Rosemary Clooney, Reba McEntire, R.E.M., Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Tanya Tucker, Arlo Guthrie and Tony Bennett. Webb's solo albums, "Words and Music", "And So: On", "Letters", "Land's End", "El Mirage", "Angel Heart", "Suspending Disbelief", "Twilight of the Renegades" and "Live and At Large", were all praised by critics. In 1983, Jimmy wrote the cantata, "The Animals' Christmas". He composed the scores for the films, 'Doc' (1971), The Naked Ape (1973), Voices (1985), The Last Unicorn (1982), The Hanoi Hilton (1987) and Clean and Narrow (2000). Moreover, Webb has scored episodes of the TV shows, Amazing Stories (1985), Faerie Tale Theatre (1982) and Tales from the Crypt (1989). Jimmy's songs are featured on the soundtracks for a bunch of movies that include How Sweet It Is! (1968), American Pop (1981), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), The Santa Clause (1994), Get Shorty (1995), Heat (1995), The Kid (2000), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), View from the Top (2003) and Chicken Little (2005). He is a member of both the National Academy of Popular Music Songwriter's Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriter's Hall of Fame. Jimmy Webb was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1999 and subsequently inducted onto the Board of Directors for the Songwriters' Hall of Fame in early 2000.- Composer
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Joe Delia is best known for his extensive work as a composer for feature films and television. Born in Brooklyn New York, the fourth of thirteen children, his family moved to the suburbs in the fifties, and in time began studying piano. By age thirteen a group was formed with his older brothers and thus began a run of about four years of performing and recording. Originally called the Delia Brothers and eventually becoming the Bruthers, the group was signed to Sid Bernstein and then to RCA records, putting out one single called Bad Way to Go, which charted and eventually became a garage classic. Along the way, Joe became the first voice of the Muppets, both singing and co-writing the first Muppet performance on the Ed Sullivan show. Writing and performing jingles for national ads, appearing in national print ad campaigns and eventually being chosen by Bernard Gersten of the New York Shakespeare festival to star in Joseph Papp's production of the the show Lollapalooza which toured throughout the summer of 1967, were among his notable achievements as a teen.
When the group disbanded, Delia embarked on a career in the studios of New York as a pianist and arranger. Among the artists he was hired to play keyboards, arrange records and tour with were : Grace Slick, Pat Benetar, Adam Sandler, Richard Belzer, Helen Schneider, Dave Edmunds, Dusty Springfield, Cissy Houston, Cory Daye, Englebert Humperdinck, VIcky Sue Robinson, Little Eva, Chuck Berry, David Johansen, Johnny Thunders, Janice Ian, John Raitt, Stevie Wonder, Martin Short, Nathan Lane, and Bruce Springsteen.
Mr. Delia's film scoring career began in the eighties upon meeting director Abel Ferrara, which began a collaboration that lasts until today. The film credits with Ferrara include: The Bad Lieutenant, King of New York, The Addiction, The Blackout, Ms. 45,Fear City, The Funeral, Dangerous Game, Driller Killer, and Subway Stories (produced by Jonathan Demme). He performed in and wrote music for the Dutch Oven episode of Miami Vice which was also directed by Ferrara. Through that decade, Delia also collaborated with Danish superstar Kim Larsen, producing, performing and co-composing two albums that both went gold and platinum in Scandinavia (Jungledreams, and Sitting on a Time Bomb). Academia later came calling, and for two years was named composer in residence at Sarah Lawrence College under the direction of Shirley Kaplan, and June Ekart. He was co-founder and musical director (for six years) of the Buster Poindexter act, yielding the ubiquitous hit Hot, Hot, Hot, and the album of the same title, which he is credited as arranger and musical director.
From the nineties to the present day, he has scored full seasons of episodic TV shows including War of the Worlds for Paramount, Digging for the Truth for History Channel, the Dellaventura TV series starring Danny Aiello for CBS, the Emmy award winning documentary series for NBC/Time Life titled Lost Civilizations. Collaborations with long time friend Richard Belzer resulted in comedy specials for HBO and Showtime as well as regular concert tours. Delia also produced a series of Jazz records for Music Masters/BMG for artists Stanley Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard, Jim Hall and Louis Bellson. Other scoring credits include, a number of documentary series' for History and Discovery Channel and multiple episodes of Nova for PBS, produced by Paula Apsell. Delia also composed scores to other feature films including Carlito's Way (rise to power), The Substitute (2), Fever (directed by Alex Winter) and the Sundance award winning film The Tao of Steve produced by Ted Hope.
From 2016 to 2018 Joe Delia has composed scores for four new Abel Ferrara titles and is presently beginning to compose the score of Ferrara's up and coming feature titled Siberia, starring Willem Dafoe.- Music Department
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John Howard Carpenter was born in Carthage, New York, to mother Milton Jean (Carter) and father Howard Ralph Carpenter. His family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where his father, a professor, was head of the music department at Western Kentucky University. He attended Western Kentucky University and then USC film school in Los Angeles. He began making short films in 1962, and won an Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short Subject in 1970, for The Resurrection of Broncho Billy (1970), which he made while at USC. Carpenter formed a band in the mid-1970s called The Coupe de Villes, which included future directors Tommy Lee Wallace and Nick Castle. Since the 1970s, he has had numerous roles in the film industry including writer, actor, composer, producer, and director. After directing Dark Star (1974), he has helmed both classic horror films like Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), and The Thing (1982), and noted sci-fi tales like Escape from New York (1981) and Starman (1984).- Additional Crew
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John Corigliano was born on 16 February 1938 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a composer, known for The Red Violin (1998), Altered States (1980) and Revolution (1985).- Music Department
- Actor
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John Lurie is a musician, actor, and painter. In 1978, he formed The Lounge Lizards jazz ensemble with his brother Evan, and the band made music for 20 years. Lurie has also composed scores for films, and his soundtrack for Get Shorty (1995) was nominated for a Grammy award. He had starring roles in the 1980s Jim Jarmusch films Stranger Than Paradise (1984) and Down by Law (1986). In the early 1990s, Lurie wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the TV series Fishing with John (1991). Shortly afterward, he began suffering from Lyme disease. He has shifted his focus to painting, and his artwork has been shown in galleries and museums worldwide.- Music Department
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John Sebastian was born on 17 March 1944 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for The Postman (1997), Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) and Blow-Up (1966). He has been married to Catherine Barnett since 15 January 1971. They have two children. He was previously married to Loretta Kaye and Jean Webber.- Composer
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John Simon was born on 11 August 1941 in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA. He is a composer, known for Last Summer (1969), The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour (1971) and Waiting for the Miracle to Come (2018).- Music Department
- Composer
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As one of the best known, awarded, and financially successful composers in US history, John Williams is as easy to recall as John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland or Leonard Bernstein, illustrating why he is "America's composer" time and again. With a massive list of awards that includes over 52 Oscar nominations (five wins), twenty-odd Gold and Platinum Records, and a slew of Emmy (two wins), Golden Globe (three wins), Grammy (25 wins), National Board of Review (including a Career Achievement Award), Saturn (six wins), American Film Institute (including a Lifetime Achievement Award) and BAFTA (seven wins) citations, along with honorary doctorate degrees numbering in the teens, Williams is undoubtedly one of the most respected composers for Cinema. He's led countless national and international orchestras, most notably as the nineteenth conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra from 1980-1993, helming three Pops tours of the US and Japan during his tenure. He currently serves as the Pop's Conductor Laureate. Also to his credit is a parallel career as an author of serious, and some not-so-serious, concert works - performed by the likes of Mstislav Rostropovich, André Previn, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, Leonard Slatkin, James Ingram, Dale Clevenger, and Joshua Bell. Of particular interests are his Essay for Strings, a jazzy Prelude & Fugue, the multimedia presentation American Journey (aka The Unfinished Journey (1999)), a Sinfonietta for Winds, a song cycle featuring poems by Rita Dove, concerti for flute, violin, clarinet, trumpet, tuba, cello, bassoon and horn, fanfares for the 1984, 1988 and 1996 Summer Olympics, the 2002 Winter Olympics, and a song co-written with Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman for the Special Olympics! But such a list probably warrants a more detailed background...
Born in Flushing, New York on February 8, 1932, John Towner Williams discovered music almost immediately, due in no small measure to being the son of a percussionist for CBS Radio and the Raymond Scott Quintet. After moving to Los Angeles in 1948, the young pianist and leader of his own jazz band started experimenting with arranging tunes; at age 15, he determined he was going to become a concert pianist; at 19, he premiered his first original composition, a piano sonata.
He attended both UCLA and the Los Angeles City College, studying orchestration under MGM musical associate Robert Van Eps and being privately tutored by composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, until conducting for the first time during three years with the U.S. Air Force. His return to the states brought him to Julliard, where renowned piano pedagogue Madame Rosina Lhevinne helped Williams hone his performance skills. He played in jazz clubs to pay his way; still, she encouraged him to focus on composing. So it was back to L.A., with the future maestro ready to break into the Hollywood scene.
Williams found work with the Hollywood studios as a piano player, eventually accompanying such fare such as the TV series Peter Gunn (1958), South Pacific (1958), Some Like It Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960), and To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), as well as forming a surprising friendship with Bernard Herrmann. At age 24, "Johnny Williams" became a staff arranger at Columbia and then at 20th Century-Fox, orchestrating for Alfred Newman and Lionel Newman, Dimitri Tiomkin, Franz Waxman, and other Golden Age notables. In the field of popular music, he performed and arranged for the likes of Vic Damone, Doris Day, and Mahalia Jackson... all while courting actress/singer Barbara Ruick, who became his wife until her death in 1974. John & Barbara had three children; their daughter is now a doctor, and their two sons, Joseph Williams and Mark Towner Williams, are rock musicians.
The orchestrating gigs led to serious composing jobs for television, notably Alcoa Premiere (1961), Checkmate (1960), Gilligan's Island (1964), Lost in Space (1965), Land of the Giants (1968), and his Emmy-winning scores for Heidi (1968) and Jane Eyre (1970). Daddy-O (1958) and Because They're Young (1960) brought his original music to the big theatres, but he was soon typecast doing comedies. His efforts in the genre helped guarantee his work on William Wyler's How to Steal a Million (1966), however, a major picture that immediately led to larger projects. Of course, his arrangements continued to garner attention, and he won his first Oscar for adapting Fiddler on the Roof (1971).
During the '70s, he was King of Disaster Scores with The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Earthquake (1974) and The Towering Inferno (1974). His psychological score for Images (1972) remains one of the most innovative works in soundtrack history. But his Americana - particularly The Reivers (1969) - is what caught the ear of director Steven Spielberg, then preparing for his first feature, The Sugarland Express (1974). When Spielberg reunited with Williams on Jaws (1975), they established themselves as a blockbuster team, the composer gained his first Academy Award for Original Score, and Spielberg promptly recommended Williams to a friend, George Lucas. In 1977, John Williams re-popularized the epic cinema sound of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Franz Waxman and other composers from the Hollywood Golden Age: Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) became the best selling score-only soundtrack of all time, and spawned countless musical imitators. For the next five years, though the music in Hollywood changed, John Williams wrote big, brassy scores for big, brassy films - The Fury (1978), Superman (1978), 1941 (1979), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) ... An experiment during this period, Heartbeeps (1981), flopped. There was a long-term change of pace, nonetheless, as Williams fell in love with an interior designer and married once more.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) brought about his third Oscar, and The River (1984), Empire of the Sun (1987), The Accidental Tourist (1988) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) added variety to the 1980s, as he returned to television with work on Amazing Stories (1985) and themes for NBC, including NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (1970). The '80s also brought the only exceptions to the composer's collaboration with Steven Spielberg - others scored both Spielberg's segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) and The Color Purple (1985).
Intending to retire, the composer's output became sporadic during the 1990s, particularly after the exciting Jurassic Park (1993) and the masterful, Oscar-winning Schindler's List (1993). This lighter workload, coupled with a number of hilarious references on The Simpsons (1989) actually seemed to renew interest in his music. Two Home Alone films (1990, 1992), JFK (1991), Nixon (1995), Sleepers (1996), Seven Years in Tibet (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Angela's Ashes (1999), and a return to familiar territory with Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) recalled his creative diversity of the '70s.
In this millennium, the artist shows no interest in slowing down. His relationships with Spielberg and Lucas continue in A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), the remaining Star Wars prequels (2002, 2005), Minority Report (2002), Catch Me If You Can (2002), and a promised fourth Indiana Jones film. There is a more focused effort on concert works, as well, including a theme for the new Walt Disney Concert Hall and a rumored light opera. But one certain highlight is his musical magic for the world of Harry Potter (2001, 2002, 2004, etc.), which he also arranged into a concert suite geared toward teaching children about the symphony orchestra. His music remains on the whistling lips of people around the globe, in the concert halls, on the promenades, in album collections, sports arenas, and parades, and, this writer hopes, touching some place in ourselves. So keep those ears ready wherever you go, 'cause you will likely hear a bit of John Williams on your way.- Music Department
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Composer-pianist-arranger Johnny Green was born in Far Rockaway, New York. The son of musical parents, Green was accepted by Harvard at the age of 15, and entered the University in 1924. Between semesters, bandleader Guy Lombardo heard his Harvard Gold Coast Orchestra and hired him to create dance arrangements for his nationally famous orchestra. He gained a thorough education in music, history, economics, and government before returning to pursue a master's degree in the field of English literature. His father interrupted Johnny's education and forced him to become a stockbroker, and with great unhappiness, Johnny tried it for six months. His young bride Carol (to whom he dedicated Out of Nowhere) encouraged him to leave Wall Street and cultivate his many musical talents. She remarked, "We didn't have children, we had songs" (indeed, it was during his first marriage that most of his hit standards were composed, including "I Cover the Waterfront," You're Mine, You," "Easy Come, Easy Go," "Rain Rain Go Away" and "I Wanna Be Loved."). During the lean years, he arranged for dance orchestras, most notably Jean Goldkette on NBC. He was accompanist/arranger to stars such as James Melton, Libby Holman and Ethel Merman. It was while writing material for Gertrude Lawrence that he composed Body and Soul, the first recording of which was made by Jack Hylton and His Orchestra, eleven days before the song was copyrighted. 'Nathaniel Shilkret' and Paul Whiteman commissioned him to write larger works for orchestra, and he scored numerous films at Paramount's Astoria Studios. He conducted in East Coast theatres and toured vaudeville as musical director for Buddy Rogers. During his two-and-a-half years at Paramount Studios, he was able to learn more about arranging from veterans Adolph Deutsch and Frank Tours. In 1934, he returned from London, where he had composed a musical comedy for Jack Buchanan. At the age of 25, he had several hit songs under his belt. William Paley, the president of the Columbia Broadcasting System and an investor in New York's St. Regis Hotel, encouraged John W. Green to form what became known as Johnny Green, His Piano and Orchestra. (Green added, "My arm didn't need much twisting.") His orchestra made dance records for the Columbia and Brunswick companies, in a depressed era when record sales were inconsequential to a song's popularity. In 1935, Green starred on the Socony Sketchbook, sponsored by Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. He lured the young California songstress Virginia Verrill to headline with him on the Friday evening broadcasts. His "regular" cast of vocalists included former débutante Marjory Logan, Jimmy Farrell, and the four Eton Boys, all of whom appeared in films and on stage. Green's piano playing is intricate, and his musical ideas are exceedingly clever. Green was at the top of his field in New York, and he continued conducting on radio and in theatres into the 1940s, until he decided to move to Hollywood and make his mark in the film business. His credits as musical executive, arranger, conductor and composer are lengthy, but include such highlights as Raintree County (1957), Bathing Beauty (1944), Something in the Wind (1947), Easter Parade (1948) (Academy Award), Summer Stock (1950), An American in Paris (1951) (Academy Award), Royal Wedding (1951), High Society (1956) and West Side Story (1961) (Academy Award). Married three times, he had a daughter with actress Betty Furness and two daughters with MGM "Glamazon" Bunny Waters. He was a respected board member of ASCAP and guest conductor with symphonies around the globe, including the Hollywood Bowl, Denver Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and more. He was a chairman of the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and a producer of television specials.- Music Department
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Inducted into the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame in 2009 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame a year later, Johnny Mandel is perhaps best known as the composer of the iconic M*A*S*H (1972) theme song, "Suicide is Painless". Born and raised in Manhattan, he was the son of a garment manufacturer and an opera singer. Music was a major part of his family (an uncle was a writer of show tunes). Johnny learned to play piano, trumpet and trombone in quick succession and was mentored in arranging by Van Alexander. He refined his natural abilities by completing studies at the Manhattan School of Music and the prestigious Juilliard School. By his mid-teens, he worked with big bands, starting professionally in 1943 with the orchestra of violinist Joe Venuti. He became noted in the era as one of the most accomplished arrangers (also doubling on trombone until 1954), working for some of the most popular swing outfits like Artie Shaw, Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey, Charlie Barnet, Alvino Rey, and Buddy Rich. By the mid-50s, he devoted his time primarily to arranging and writing jazz compositions, among many others, for Stan Getz, Count Basie and Woody Herman. His songs include standards like "The Straight Life", "Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams" and the beautiful love theme for the motion picture The Sandpiper (1965), "The Shadow of Your Smile", which won him an Academy Award for Best Original Song (shared with lyricist Paul Francis Webster, with whom he also collaborated on An American Dream (1966)). Mandel has worked on numerous film and TV soundtracks as composer and/or conductor/orchestrator. As arranger, he worked with some of the most famous recording artists, including Quincy Jones, Frank Sinatra, Natalie Cole (her "Unforgettable" album) and Barbra Streisand. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Mandel was a member of ASCAP from 1956 and served on the Board of Directors from 1989.- Music Department
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Kenyon Hopkins was born on 15 January 1912 in Coffeyville, Kansas, USA. He was a composer, known for 12 Angry Men (1957), The Hustler (1961) and East Side/West Side (1963). He died on 7 April 1983 in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.- Music Department
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Composer Laurence Rosenthal was born in Detroit, Michigan. He studied piano and composition at the Eastman School of Music and later with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. His symphonic compositions have been premiered by Leonard Bernstein with the New York Philarmonic, among others. He has composed extensively for films and television. He has been nominated for two Oscars. Among his best-known film scores are A Raisin in the Sun (1961), The Miracle Worker (1962), Becket (1964), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977), The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976) and Peter Brook's Meetings with Remarkable Men (1979). He has won seven Emmys for miniseries, including Peter the Great (1986) and Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986), as well as for episodes of George Lucas's The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992).- Music Department
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Lennie Niehaus was born on 1 June 1929 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was a composer, known for Space Cowboys (2000), The Bridges of Madison County (1995) and Unforgiven (1992). He was married to Patricia Jarvis. He died on 28 May 2020 in Redlands, California, USA.- Music Department
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Lionel Newman was the youngest of a triumvirate of accomplished virtuosos, composers and conductors, who dominated the music department at 20th Century Fox for more than four decades. Already a highly regarded pianist by the age of 15, Lionel went on the national vaudeville circuit as accompanist for Mae West, before joining his siblings, Alfred and Emil, on the West Coast. He completed his music studies under Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco in Los Angeles and, by 1934, fronted his own musical ensemble, 'Newman's Society Orchestra', aboard the luxury cruise ship SS Rotterdam on the Holland-America Line.
Under the tutelage of older brother Alfred (who headed the music department at 20th Century Fox from 1939-60), Lionel gradually broke into the movie business. He was first commissioned to write the title song for the modern western, The Cowboy and the Lady (1938). For this, he shared an Oscar-nomination for Best Song with lyricist Arthur Quenzer. In 1942, Lionel was hired by Fox as rehearsal pianist and songwriter. He scored his first major hit in 1948 with the standard "Again" (written for the movie Road House (1948)), which rode high in the Hit Parade, and was covered by many top stars of the day, including Mel Tormé, Doris Day, Vera Lynn and Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra.
By the early 50's, Lionel was receiving more prestigious assignments, both as musical director and as composer. From the time they first worked together on Don't Bother to Knock (1952), he struck up a close working relationship (and subsequent friendship) with fellow Fox contract player Marilyn Monroe. He became her favorite conductor on some of her best films, including Niagara (1953) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). He also wrote the title song for River of No Return (1954) (with lyrics by Ken Darby), plus another piece from the movie, "Down in the Meadow" - both sung by Marilyn. Other notable films he worked on over the years, include North to Alaska (1960), Cleopatra (1963), The Sand Pebbles (1966) and Alien (1979). Among his compositions are the theme for The Proud Ones (1956) (with pre-Spaghetti western whistling) and (as co-writer with brother Alfred) the stirring opening theme for the gritty revenge western The Bravados (1958), starring Gregory Peck.
Following Alfred's departure from Fox in 1959, Lionel was promoted to music director, then to vice president in charge of feature and television music. During the following decade, he supervised the majority of musical segments at the studio, in addition to composing some classic TV music, such as the jazz-tinged theme from The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959). In 1969, Lionel won an Oscar (shared with Lennie Hayton) for Best Score of a Musical Picture for Hello, Dolly! (1969). The following year, Alfred died and Lionel took over the mantle of general director of music at Fox, a position he held until his own departure in 1985. He subsequently joined MGM/United Artists in a similar executive capacity for the remaining years of his life.
Known for his consummate perfectionism, as well as his often raucous sense of humor, Lionel was greatly respected by his peers and appreciated by up-and -coming film composers. A scholarship for young classical conductors is named in his honor.- Composer
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- Actor
Musical talent ran in Marvin Hamlisch's family - his father was an accordionist, and at seven Hamlisch was the youngest student ever accepted by Manhattan's Julliard School of Music. Hamlich furthered his education by taking night classes at Queens College and working during the day as a rehearsal pianist for Broadway shows. He eventually began composing songs for stage productions. In 1968 he met film producer Sam Spiegel, resulting in his first film score for The Swimmer (1968) (he had previously written some songs for a low-budget teen epic, Ski Party (1965), but did not do the score for it). Hamlisch became well versed in the very specialized field of film scoring. In addition to scoring films, he ventured into film production as co-producer of The Entertainer (1975). In 1976 he won a Tony award for his scoring of the Broadway show, A Chorus Line (1985).- Composer
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Michael Galasso was born on 5 April 1949 in Hammond, Louisiana, USA. He was a composer, known for In the Mood for Love (2000), Chungking Express (1994) and Seraphine (2008). He died on 9 September 2009 in Paris, France.- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Michael Kamen was born on 15 April 1948 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Don Juan DeMarco (1994) and X-Men (2000). He was married to Sandra Keenan. He died on 18 November 2003 in London, England, UK.- Composer
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Michael Stearns is a composer and soundtrack designer/producer. His credits include music and soundtrack production for television, feature films, theme parks, twenty one IMAX films and seventeen solo albums. He has created music for Disney Films, HBO, ABC's "The World of Explorers", 20/20, Ripley's Believe It or Not, and Ron Fricke's non-verbal global film masterpieces "Chronos", "Sacred Site", "Baraka" and "Samsara". His music has been used by NASA, Laserium, and choreographed by the Berkshire Ballet.
Michael has produced the soundtracks to Universal Studio's themed attractions "Earthquake" and "Back to the Future, The Ride", the latter utilizing motion control vehicles in an OMNIMAX theater. He produced the soundtrack to Paramount Picture's ride film "Star Trek, The Experience" and music for World's Fair/Expos in Korea, Japan and Spain.
Stearns works in his recording and post production facility The Guest House, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Studio 'A' has 9.2.4 (Dolby ATMOS, IMAX and special venue) monitoring capability for pre-dubbing and mixing. Studio 'B' is set up for composition and recording with stereo and 7.1 monitoring.- Composer
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Jazz legend Mundell Lowe learned to play guitar from the age of six, growing up in and around Laurel, Mississippi, the son of a Baptist minister. He helped his father hoe cotton on his farm but had no aspirations to work on the land. Aged ten, he acquired his first six-string guitar and became hooked on jazz. Having listening to Charlie Christian, he knew at once which style to emulate. Three years later, he absconded from home and headed for New Orleans where he frequented the Bourbon Street jazz clubs.
Although his father eventually caught up with him, Lowe ran away again -- this time to Nashville where he briefly joined the Pee Wee King band. In 1940, he graduated from school, had a stint with the orchestra of Jan Savitt and was in 1943 drafted for military service, posted at a camp near New Orleans. There, he had the good fortune to meet the resident entertainment officer, John Hammond Jr. Though assigned to Fort McPherson near Atlanta and posted to the Engineering Corps, Lowe's acquaintance with Hammond proved beneficial after his demobilization. In 1945, Hammond helped Lowe get a job with the Ray McKinley Orchestra (leader of the post-war Glenn Miller band). After that, Lowe worked in small combos, recording sessions and club dates with most of the big names of the genre, including Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Ben Webster and Red Norvo.
Between 1948 and 1965, Lowe was engaged as guitarist/arranger by the NBC Orchestra in New York and also acted as musical director on TV's Today Show. In 1965, he relocated to Los Angeles where the head of Screen Gems, Jackie Cooper, offered him work as conductor/composer of music for television. Lowe also subsequently branched out into music education. During the succeeding decades he was active as a teacher of film composition at the Grove School of Music in Studio City and at the Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles. In 1983, he formed a small group called TransitWest which performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival and included among its personnel bass player Monty Budwig and flutist Sam Most. Mundell Lowe was inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and received a Lifetime Achievement prize at the San Diego Music Awards in 2008.- Music Department
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Composer ("'Batman' Theme), conductor, arrager and trumpeter, educated in high school and through private music study. He was a trumpeter and arranger with dance orchestras including those of Harry James, Woody Herman, and Charlie Spivak between 1941 and 1951. He was a staff arranger and arranger for the "Arthur Godfrey Show" and the "Kate Smith Show" over ABC, and also formed his own orchestra, playing theatres, hotels, clubs and colleges, and made many recordings. Joining ASCAP in 1953, his oher popular song and instrumental compositions include "Coral Reef", "Cute", "Plymouth Rock", "Buttercup", "Two for the Blues", "Oh What a Night for Love", "Cherry Point", "The Kid from Red Bank", "Repetition", "Splanky", "Sunday Morning", "Hot Pink", "Little Pony", "Lake Placid", "Why Not?", "Blowin' Up a Storm", "I'm Shoutin' Again", "Eee Dee", "Jump for Johnny", "The Long Night", "The Good Earth", "Wildroot", "Late Date", "It's Always Nice to Be With You", "I Must Know", and "Girl Talk".- Music Department
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Versatile American arranger/conductor who started as a trombonist with several big bands, including Tommy Dorsey. In a long, distinguished career, he not only scored numerous films and television shows, but made many now-legendary recordings in collaboration with such people as Rosemary Clooney, Nat 'King' Cole, and, most notably, Frank Sinatra. With the latter, he recorded a series of albums now regarded as legendary ("Songs for Swingin' Lovers", "The Concert Sinatra", etc.). He recorded prolifically on his own, as well, scoring two top-ten hits with "Lisbon Antigua" (#1, 1956) and "Theme from 'Route 66'" (# 10, 1962). In his later years, he made a series of successful albums with pop diva Linda Ronstadt.- Composer
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Oliver Nelson began playing piano at age six and picked up the saxophone when he was eleven. Later he continued his musical education at Washington University in St. Louis, as well as studying with composer Elliott Carter. Nelson gained practical experience by playing in bands with Erskine Hawkins, Louie Bellson, Quincy Jones and Duke Ellington. In the late 1950s he began recording with his own ensemble and earned attention as a promising jazz artist with the release of LPs like "The Blues and the Abstract Truth" (1961). It might be difficult to compile a complete list of the films and TV shows Nelson contributed to, since it's common for arrangers and orchestrators to work without credit in Hollywood. One of his better-known efforts is the score for Alfie (1966), where he collaborated with sax man Sonny Rollins. Nelson's arrangements provide a buoyant, swinging backdrop for Rollins' assured playing. However, he is also sensitive to the film's quieter moments. The breadth of Nelson's ability as an arranger/orchestrator is demonstrated by his contribution to Last Tango in Paris (1972). In his work with Gato Barbieri on this film, Nelson moves from the melancholy ruminations of the opening cue to the brittle elegance of the tango to the driving sound of a large ensemble. The score for Zig Zag (1970) is an example of Nelson's work as a composer. In this soundtrack he creates tension by combining dense harmonies and aggressive percussion. It has been suggested that Nelson's hectic schedule, which included work as composer, arranger, performer and teacher, may have helped to bring about his early death. He suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 43.- Composer
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Patrick Williams is one of the most versatile composers in the music industry. Having composed well over 150 scores for theatrical features and television films, as well as records and concert works, Williams is a man of diverse talents. He has received twenty-one Emmy nominations, twelve Grammy nominations, been nominated for both the Academy Award and the Pulitzer Prize in music and has received four Emmys, two Grammys, and a CableACE Award. In addition, he is a recipient of the prestigious Richard Kirk Lifetime Achievement Award from B.M.I. Williams is also an accomplished recording artist and arranger with extensive credits. He was chosen by Frank Sinatra to act as Musical Director/Arranger for his final studio recordings, Duets and Duets II. Additionally, he has arranged for Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Gloria Estefan, Billy Joel, Brian Setzer and Barbra Streisand.- Music Department
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Paul Glass is known for One Life to Live (1968), General Hospital (1963) and La valle delle ombre (2009). He has been married to Penelope Margaret Mackworth-Praed since 12 July 1977. He was previously married to Marina Fistoulari Mahler.- Composer
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Paul Hoffert was born on 22 September 1943 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He is a composer and producer, known for Outrageous! (1977), The Rhapsody (2022) and Wild Horse Hank (1979).- Music Department
- Actor
- Composer
Known for timeless classics such as "We've Only Just Begun," "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Evergreen," "Just an Old Fashioned Love Song," and "Rainbow Connection," Paul Williams is responsible for what will remain part of our popular culture for many years to come. His music has been recorded by some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry.
Three Dog Night's versions of "Just an Old Fashioned Love Song," "Out in the Country," and "Family of Man" have sold millions of copies, worldwide. Karen Carpenter's rich vocals made "We've Only Just Begun," "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Let Me Be the One," and "I Won't Last a Day Without You," a part of our lives. Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Barbra Streisand, Willie Nelson, Kermit the Frog and Luther Vandross are among the hundreds of artists who have recorded Paul's songs.
Neal McCoy recently recorded Paul's "Party On," while Diamond Rio recorded and took "You're Gone" to the top of the charts. The video for "You're Gone" became Pick of the Week on Country Music Television. In 1997, Paul went back into the recording studio and recorded his CD, "Back to Love Again," which includes remakes of some of Paul's more classic hits such as "Rainbow Connection" and "I Won't Last a Day Without You," as well as new songs which contain the same quality, passion and depth that was heard and felt in his hits from the past. Richard Carpenter and Graham Nash appear as guest artists on the album, bringing to it a richness and a quality all its own. Critics, fans and the most famous in the music industry have all had positive reactions and reviews to the album.
No one sings a song like the songwriter who wrote it, and the same holds true for Paul's music. No one captures the emotion within the songs the way he can and does time and time again. Paul is one of the most celebrated songwriters of our time having won Academy, Grammy and Golden Globe Awards. His most recent accomplishments include his induction into the American Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Paul's reputation as a motion picture songwriter took hold in 1973, with an Academy Award nomination for "Nice to Be Around" (co-written with John Williams) from Cinderella Liberty (1973). 1975 brought Paul's second nomination for the soundtrack from Brian De Palma's cult classic, Phantom of the Paradise (1974). He not only wrote the words and music and produced the album for the rock cantata, but also held the audience captive with his devious portrayal of the evil Swan.
Paul went on to become the Music Supervisor for A Star Is Born (1976), bringing with it the challenge of working with three different composers to produce its award-winning score. Williams and Kenny Ascher won a Golden Globe Award for "Best Motion Picture Score." "Evergreen," co-written with Barbra Streisand, won the 1976 Oscar for "Best Song of the Year." In 1980, Paul was once again nominated by the Academy for the score from the box office smash hit, The Muppet Movie (1979), for "Best Original Score" as well as the song "Rainbow Connection" being nominated for "Best Song." "The Muppet Movie" soundtrack went on to win two Grammy Awards and became the biggest soundtrack album of the year, exceeding sales of one million units. Paul reunited with Henson Productions for the Disney feature film, The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992). He wrote and produced the songs for the soundtrack which brought with it yet another Grammy Award nomination for "Best Musical Album for Children."
Paul's other film credits include the songs and score for Bugsy Malone (1976), which starred Jodie Foster and Scott Baio. "Bugsy Malone" continues to be a favorite of children's playhouses and theaters, worldwide. He co-wrote the title song for "Flying Dreams" from The Secret of NIMH (1982), which was recently recorded as a duet by Kenny Loggins and Olivia Newton-John, and has written songs for The End (1978), Rocky IV (1985) and Ishtar (1987). Paul collaborated with Jerry Goldsmith on the title song for The Sum of All Fears (2002). The song is featured in the beginning of the movie with a Latin translation and again at the end in English, performed by Electra recording artist, Yolanda Adams. This may very well be the first time in entertainment history where a song has been presented in a film in two different languages. Paul Williams began his career as an actor with his portrayal of a 12-year-old prodigy in The Loved One (1965), playing opposite Jonathan Winters. He is probably best-known for his roles as Little Enos in the "Smokey and the Bandit" movies, as well as the orangutan Virgil in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973).
In 1995, Paul received stellar reviews for his starring role as a wheelchair-bound hostage in Headless Body in Topless Bar (1995). Paul is also remembered for his roles in Oliver Stone's The Doors (1991), People Like Us (1990) (the NBC miniseries based on the Dominick Dunne bestseller), as the fun-loving amphibian Gus in Frog (1988) and Frogs! (1993) and Freddie the Bomb in Solar Crisis (1990). He rarely passes up the opportunity to return to his early roots of acting and played an emergency room doctor in Roger Avary's The Rules of Attraction (2002). Paul is no stranger to the small screen. He has appeared on Picket Fences (1992), Dream On (1990), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show (1997), Boston Common (1996), Walker, Texas Ranger (1993) and The Bold and the Beautiful (1987).
Many people are unaware that Paul has provided voice-overs for countless animated series, some of which include his role as the Penguin in Batman: The Animated Series (1992), and his recurring appearances in Phantom 2040 (1994). Having obtained his certification from UCLA as a drug and alcohol counselor, Paul is very active on the speaker's circuit across the country. Speaking from his personal experiences with his own addiction and the knowledge that he gained through his education and his experience as a counselor, Paul continues to touch the lives and hearts of many people whose lives have been affected by drug abuse and/or alcoholism. He is actively involved with the Musician's Assistance Program and is on the Board of Directors for Community High School, a sober high school in Nashville, Tennessee which offers the teens assistance with their recovery as well as the education that they both strive for and deserve.
Paul has appeared on Prime Time Country (1996), The Geraldo Rivera Show (1987) and Primetime (1989), talking about the devastating effects of drugs and alcohol and the increased use of them amongst teens and pre-teens. Paul has been presented with the Global Arts Award from the Friendly House for his efforts on their behalf, the Spirit of Youth Award from the Pacific Boys Lodge for his efforts and contributions and the "Celebration of Hope" award given to him by Hazelden for his overall contribution in the recovery field. Recovery is not simply a field that Paul is active in, it is one that he is passionate about... this is just one way in which Paul gives of himself to others.- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Composer, songwriter, conductor and arranger, educated at the University of Michigan and the Cincinnati Conservatory. He was an arranger for singers and orchestras, then a conductor for radio and television, recordings and films. Joining ASCAP in 1957, his popular-song compositions include "The Mood I'm In," "A Night Out," "The Wide Open Spaces," "The Breaking Point," and "Whim of Fancy" and the instrumental "Lovers Rhapsody" among many more.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Peter Schickele is a renowned American composer. Inspired by the music of Spike Jones, as a young teenager, he also studied composition and music history at Juilliard. After graduating from Juilliard he asked himself what in the world he was going to do with a PhD in music history, and proceeded to rewrite it (history, that is) by discovering works by Johann Sebastian Bach's heretofore unknown 21st child, "last and by far the least", "a pimple on the face of music", P.D.Q. Bach. PDQ's music had its first public performance in 1965, and lectures by "Professor Schickele" (of the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople, or "U of SND at H" for short) have delighted audiences ever since. Although the first ten PDQ Bach albums on Vanguard hold his most inspired work, only his latest five albums (on Telarc) have earned him proper recognition, with four of the five winning Grammy Awards in comedy. In 1993 he stopped touring with PDQ Bach to devote himself more fully to 'real' composing (which he's done all along, in spite of the spectre of PDQ Bach which often resulted in even his most serious work eliciting laughter) and his radio show "Schickele Mix". His weekly show (of which there have been 168 episodes) features an eclectic mix of music from many cultures and centuries; he's perfectly happy to illustrate a musical point using a "suite" that combines music of seeming opposites: Bach and the Beatles; Heavy Metal bands and Classical string quartets. You can find him on the radio or in New York City every week after Christmas performing P.D.Q. Bach at Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center.- Composer
- Music Department
- Writer
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Glass worked in his father's radio store and discovered music listening to the offbeat Western classical records customers didn't seem to want. He studied the violin and flute, and obtained early admission to the University of Chicago. After graduating in mathematics and philosophy, he went to New York's Juilliard school, drove a cab, and studied composition with Darius Milhaud and others.
At 23, he moved to Paris to study under the legendary Nadia Boulanger, who taught almost all of the major Western classical composers of the 20th century. While there, he discovered Indian classical music while transcribing the works of Ravi Shankar into Western musical notation for a French filmmaker. A creative turning point, Glass researched non-Western music in India and parts of Africa, and applied the techniques to his own composition.
Back in the United States, Glass spent the late 1960s and early 1970s driving a taxi cab in New York and creating a major collection of new music. In 1976, his landmark opera "Einstein on the Beach" was staged by Robert Wilson to a baffling variety of reviews. His compositions were so avant-garde that he had to form the Philip Glass Ensemble to give them a venue for performance. Although called a minimalist by the Western classical mainstream, he denies this categorization. His major works include opera, theater pieces, dance, and song.
His work in film, beginning with Koyaanisqatsi (1982), gave filmmakers such as Godfrey Reggio and Errol Morris a new venue of expression through the documentary form. His many recordings have also widened his audience. He was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera to compose "The Voyage" for the Columbus quinquacentennial in 1992. In 1996, he composed original music for the Atlanta Olympic Games, which, perhaps, made Glass almost mainstream. Glass remains one of the most important American composers. His music is distinctive, haunting, and evocative. Either performed by itself or in collaboration with other media, his compositions move the listener to unexplored places. More recently, a major reexamination of Glass's oeuvre has led him to be labeled the Last Romantic by the musical press.- Music Department
- Producer
- Composer
Considered to be one of the greatest minds in music and television history, Quincy Delight Jones, Jr. was born on March 14, 1933 in Chicago, Illinois. He is the son of Sarah Frances (Wells), a bank executive, and Quincy Delight Jones, Sr., a carpenter.
Jones found his love for music while he was enrolled in grade school at Seattle's Garfield High School, this is also where he had met Ray Charles whom he later worked and became friends with. In 1951, Quincy Jones had won a scholarship to the Berklee College Of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Jones however dropped out when he got the opportunity to tour with Lionel Hampton's band as a trumpeter and conductor. Jones also worked for the European production of Harold Arlen's blues opera, Free and Easy in 1959. After Jones had worked on several projects overseas he returned to New York where he composed and arranged, and recorded for artists such as Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Dinah Washington, LeVern Baker, and Big Maybell. Jones was working with these artists while holding an executive position at Mercury Records, being one of the very few African Americans at the time to have such a position.
In 1963, Quincy Jones won his first Grammy award for his Count Basie arrangement of "I Can't Stop Loving You". In 1964, by the request of director Sidney Lumet, Jones composed the music for his movie, The Pawnbroker. This would be the first of many Jones composed for film scores. By the mid-1960's Quincy Jones became the conductor and arranger for Frank Sinatra's orchestra. Jones also conducted and arranged one of Sinatra's most memorable songs, Fly Me To The Moon. Jones appeared on a lot of film credits for his music such as The Slender Thread, Walk, Don't Run, In Cold Blood, In The Heat Of The Night, A Dandy In Aspic, Mackenna's Gold, and The Italian Job. In 1972 Quincy Jones was the theme song composer for the hit-sitcom, Sanford And Son.
Quincy Jones in 1978 worked on music for the Wiz, this is where he met icon, Michael Jackson. Jackson at the time was looking for a producer, Jones recommended some producers but in the end asked Jackson if he could do it, Jackson said yes. In 1982 as a result of this partnership, Jones had formed a tapestry with Jackson which was unbreakable it was called, Thriller. The Thriller album sold more than 100 million records world-wide. Jones continued working with Jackson with his Bad album in 1987. However after Jones recommended Jackson seek other producers to update his music. Jones referred Jackson to producer, Teddy Riley. This ended a partnership between two-greats, Jackson and Jones would never collaborate again.
In 1981 Jones had an album called, The Dude. In 1985 Jones scored the film adaptation of The Color Purple. Jones also was a philanthropist, in 1985 gathering multiple stars to participate in the song We Are The World to help raise money to help the victims of the Ethopian disaster.
In 1990 Jones composed a theme song for the new sitcom which was centered around Will Smith, The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air. Jones was also the executive producer of the show.
Quincy Jones will forever be remembered as someone who helped sculpt music in every form, he refined music and through the music he helped sculpt brought messages of peace, justice, love, funk, and hope.- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Randy Edelman was born on 10 June 1947 in Paterson, New Jersey, USA. He is a composer and actor, known for The Last of the Mohicans (1992), xXx (2002) and Anaconda (1997). He has been married to Jackie DeShannon since 3 June 1976. They have one child.- Composer
- Music Department
- Production Manager
Richard Howard Band is an American composer of film and television music. He has scored more than 100 films, including From Beyond which won the award for Best Original Soundtrack at the Sitges - Catalan International Film Festival. His score for Re-Animator was lauded by the magazine Music From the Movies, which said, "Band's music is dark and direct, creating an intense and eerie atmosphere, but always with a humorous touch... Surely, Richard Band is one of the most underrated composers in the film business."
By the mid-80's Band was renowned for scoring horror and Sci-Fi films by employing strong, memorable and most often very melodic themes all recorded with orchestra. Films like 'Mutant (1984)', 'The Alchemist (1983)', 'The House on Sorority Row (1983)', 'Troll (1986)' and 'The Day Time Ended (1979)' all feature beautiful and lyrical themes that seem to operate as the antithesis of the genre for which the films were produced. As Band explains in liner notes in some of his soundtrack releases, he believes that "film scores exist to add a third dimension to a two-dimensional medium".
As the son of independent film producer, director and writer Albert Band, Richard and his brother Charles Band pursued their father's ambitions in film. Where Charles became a prolific producer, director and distributor, Richard's music and cinematic talent led him into the realm of film composing. Becoming interested in music while living in Europe, Richard toured with various rock groups between 1965 and 1971 before returning to the US. After studying music formally for several years Richard made his scoring debut, alongside Jerry Goldsmith's son Joel Goldsmith, on Compass Films production of 'Laserblast (1978)'. Richard rapidly moved from electronic to orchestral music, resulting in a number of full-bodied, orchestral thematic soundtracks that gave melodic power to a number of movies several of which Charles produced for Empire Pictures, among them The Day Time Ended (1979), Troll (1986), Zone Troopers (1985), ReAnimator (1985), Prison (1987), Ghoulies (1985) and From Beyond (1986).
He also brought on famed composer Shirley Walker as conductor and co-orchestrator on his score for Ghost Warrior (performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, 1984) as well as Ghoulies (1985). It was for the Universal 3D release of Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn (1983), that Richard composed one of his most epic, and adventurous scores.
Beyond Charles' productions, Richard Band showed his diversity with the comedies Lunch Wagon (1981) and Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype (1980), while writing the chillingly melodic score for the slasher favorite The House on Sorority Row (1983). Richard found new acclaim when he teamed with filmmaker Stuart Gordon for the blackly comic Re-Animator (1985), a soundtrack famed for its tribute to the work of Psycho composer Bernard Herrmann. Band's H.P. Lovecraft-themed collaborations with Gordon include the otherworldly tonalities of From Beyond (1986) and the terrifying vengeance of Castle Freak (1995).
The director and composer also adapted the work of Edgar Allen Poe with darkly religious inquisition for their adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum (1991), with Band exploring one of Lovecraft's most terrifying works for director Dan O'Bannon on The Resurrected (1991).
When the direct-to-video label Full Moon Entertainment was launched, Richard would score some of the label's more ambitious productions, including numerous entries in the continuing PuppetMaster franchise, the twisted terror of Demonic Toys (1992) and Shrunken Heads (1994) with Danny Elfman. The children's' comedies Remote (1993), Prehysteria (1993) and the fantasy Dragonworld (1994) were films released through Paramount Pictures.
In the mid 1990's, Richard branched more into television co-scoring the A & E network's documentaries Weapons at War, Most Decorated as well as numerous episodes of Biography and The Civil War Journals. Later in the 90s Band scored multiple episodes of Stargate SG-1 (1997) and Walker, Texas Ranger (1997) His genre notoriety also saw him score three episodes of Masters of Horror, earning him his first Emmy nomination for the Stuart Gordon-directed episode of Dreams in The Witch House (2005).
Richard went on to work with the WB network creating promotional music for most of their prime-time shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, Dawson's Creek and Smallville amongst others. Band also scored over 200 animated vignettes for Orchestra for the WB's Kids Network.
During the mid 2000, Richard was one among some of the first Hollywood composers to delve into scoring Video Games some of which included Stonekeep, Casper, Waterworld, Star Trek:Judgment Rights, Descent under Mountain, Invictus: In the Shadow of Olympus and Clayfighter.
During this period Band continued to score various TV family films and comedies for Paramount such as In the Dog House (2001) My Horrible Year (2002) and Robo-Warriors while still scoring eccentric thrillers for his brother, including Head of the Family (1996), Unlucky Charms (2013), Trophy Heads (2015) and more recently Ravenwolf Towers (2016), a web series for Amazon.
More recently Richard scored the horror/comedy Exorcism@60,000 Feet (2019), Necropolis: Legend and The Deep ones (2020) for director Chad Ferrin.
Now with over 50 soundtracks to his credit, Richard Band's prolific and stylistic work has made him not only one of the most distinctive composers in the realms of horror and science fiction but arguably include comedy, family films and animation. Band's full-blooded talent remains vibrant to this day.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Composer, conductor, pianist and author Ronald Stein was educated at Washington University (BA), the Yale School of Music and the University of Southern California. In college he wrote musical shows. He was named the assistant musical director for the St. Louis Municipal Opera in 1950, 1951 and 1954. He served in the US Army Special Services at Fort Dix, NJ, from 1952-1954. Reurning home, he became the piano soloist for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 1955. From that year to 1959 he was the music director of American-International Pictures, and in 1964 became the associate musical director for Phoenix Star. He joined ASCAP in 1956 and his popular compositions include "Raymie"; "Mexico City"; "Romantic Idyll"; and "The Garden", plus the film themes for Dime with a Halo (1963), The Littlest Hobo (1958) and Of Love and Desire (1963).- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Rudy Vallee started his career as a saxophone player and singer and later became a bandleader. In the 1920s and early '30s he had a hit radio program, The Fleishmann's Yeast Hour (although his explosive, ego-driven personality made his cast and crew hate him). In the early 1930s he was ranked with the likes of Bing Crosby and the tragic Russ Columbo in the Hit Parade. A huge hit on radio in 1933 with his program, initially known as 'The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour,' Vallee was considered a slavedriver by his staff. He was known to instigate fist fights with virtually anyone who got on his nerves. During his show's run he slugged photographers, threw sheet music at pianists' heads, and socked hecklers in their noses. While audiences loved him, most of his staff hated him. As a very popular star in nightclubs, on records, and in movies, he helped other singers, such as Alice Faye--who was his band singer for a while--and Frances Langford to start their careers. In his early movies he often played the romantic lead, but later he switched to stuffy and comic parts. He also appeared on Broadway. The mid-'60s Broadway hit "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" was filmed in 1967 with him in his original Broadway role.- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Born in Santa Monica, Ca., Ry Cooder, at the age of four had an accident which left him blind in one eye. He became a bit secluded and began playing the guitar. His biggest influences include Blind Willie Johnson, Arthur "Blind" Blake, Joseph Spence and Curtis Mayfield. Cooder has played on several albums from the Rolling Stones, John Lee Hooker, Eric Clapton and Duane Eddy. He has one son, Joachim, who has played several percussive instruments on his recent albums and soundtracks.- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Sol Kaplan was born on 19 April 1919 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Sol was a composer, known for Virtuosity (1995), Coneheads (1993) and Star Trek (1966). Sol was married to Frances Heflin. Sol died on 14 November 1990 in Amagansett, New York, USA.- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Stanley Wilson was born on 25 November 1917 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer, known for Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), M Squad (1957) and Miracle (2004). He died on 12 July 1970 in Aspen, Colorado, USA.- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Steve Allen was born on 26 December 1921 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for Casino (1995), The Player (1992) and College Confidential (1960). He was married to Jayne Meadows and Dorothy Goodman. He died on 30 October 2000 in Encino, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Thomas Newman is an American film score composer. He was born in Los Angeles. His father was notable film score composer Alfred Newman (1900-1970). The Newman family is of Russian-Jewish descent, and includes several other well-known musicians. Thomas' mother Martha Louis Montgomery (1920-2005) wanted her sons to have a musical education. Thomas attended regular lessons in violin as a child. An older Thomas received his musical education while attending the University of Southern California and Yale University. Thomas Newman graduated as Bachelor of Arts in 1977, and a Master of Music in 1978.
Thomas originally composed music for theatrical productions in Broadway, working with his mentor Stephen Sondheim. His uncle Lionel Newman asked him to compose music for the television series "The Paper Chase" (1978-1979, 1986), which was Thomas' first credit in a television production.
In the 1980s, Thomas first worked in film. Composer John Williams, a close family friend, hired Thomas to work in the music department for space opera film "Return of the Jedi" (1983). Thomas' main work in the film was orchestrating the music in a scene where character Darth Vader dies. Afterwards, Thomas was approached by film producer Scott Rudin and hired to work as a film score composer in his own right. His first work in the field was the film score of romantic drama "Reckless" (1984).
While he worked regularly as a film score composer during the 1980s, Thomas reportedly felt he had to retrain himself for a hard and demanding job. It reportedly took him 8 years to not feel fraudulent in his efforts. In 1994, Thomas received his first Academy Award nominations, for the film scores of "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994) and "Little Women" (1994). He lost the Award to rival composer Hans Zimmer, who had been nominated for the film score of the animated film "The Lion King" (1994).
Newman was an established and increasingly famous composer in the 1990s. He received further Academy Award nominations, although he never actually won. Among his more notable works was the film score of the drama film "American Beauty" (1999), which earned Thomas both a Grammy and a BAFTA award. Newman had a good working relationship with the film's director Sam Mendes. Mendes has kept hiring Thomas as the composer for most of his films. The main exception being the comedy-drama film "Away We Go" (2009), which did not have a film score.
In the 2000s, Thomas continued working in high-profile films, such as "Road to Perdition" (2002), "Finding Nemo" (2003), and "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events". By 2006, he had been nominated eight times for an Academy Award, while never winning it. He started joking about his lack of victories in public.
In 2008, Thomas was nominated for two Academy Awards, for both the film score and an original song for the animated film "WALL-E" (2008). He won neither, though the hit song "Down to Earth" earned him a Grammy Award. He continues to work regularly in the 2010s. Among his more acclaimed works were the film scores for spy film "Skyfall" (2012) and period drama "Saving Mr. Banks" (2013). He has continued being nominated for Academy Awards. As of 2020, he has been nominated 15 times for the Academy Award. He is the most nominated living composer to have never actually won an Academy Award, tied with Alex North. He has won a total of 5 Grammy awards.- Music Artist
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- Composer
Thomas Alan Waits was born in Pomona, California, to schoolteachers Alma Fern (Johnson) and Jesse Frank Waits. Described as one of the last beatniks of the contemporary music, Waits in fact has two separate careers. From 1973 (LP "Closing Time") to 1983 ("One From The Heart" soundtrack), he recorded nine LPs for Asylum Records, writing songs mainly in the manner of Tin Pan Alley, mixing them with jazz and blues. Extraordinarily, he never produced a hit, but he earned a cult following all over the world. In 1983 he signed with Island Records, and released a series of albums that stunned the music world. Beginning with "Swordfishtrombones", he introduced a whole new orchestration, which included some of the instruments invented by Harry Partch. He found a new ground for his innovations, searching in sound fields that never before were searched. This second part of his career coincided with his marriage to Kathleen Brennan, a former writer for Francis Ford Coppola (Zoetrope (1999)). His LPs "Rain Dogs" (1985), "Big Time" (soundtrack) and "The Black Rider" are today what Kurt Weill's music was once. "The Black Rider" brings music written for the show directed by Bob Wilson and staged in Germany.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Vic Mizzy was born on 9 January 1916 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for The Addams Family (1964), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) and Deliver Us from Evil (2014). He died on 17 October 2009 in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
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Vincent Gallo. American-born, Buffalo, New York, 1961. Left home, moved to New York City in 1978, and began playing in the experimental musical group, Gray, with artist Jean Michel Basquiat. After leaving Gray, he formed the band, Bohack, and recorded the highly regarded avant-garde industrial noise album, "It Took Several Wives".
During the same period, Gallo also became known in New York City for his very unusual street performances, which were spontaneously executed in public and also witnessed by invited guests in the know. The One-Armed Man, The Man with No Face, Sandman, Boy Hit by a Car, and Boy Cries in Restaurant Window, to name a few. These radical public performances were upsetting and disturbing and were meant to provoke thought, self-reflection and consciousness. Gallo's invited guests could witness his performance's impact in this larger public context.
One invited guest, New York Underground filmmaker, Eric Mitchell, cast Gallo as the lead in his film, The Way It Is (1985), alongside newcomer Steve Buscemi. The Way It Is (1985) was Gallo's first appearance in a feature-length film, though previously he had directed himself in several short films, including If You Feel Froggy, Jump (1980), The Gunlover (1986) and Rocky 10, as well as the collaborations with filmmaker Michael Holman, Vincent Gallo as "Jesus Christ" (used in Julian Schnabel's Basquiat (1996)) and Vampire LeStat.
Since his early performance art days, Gallo has continued to create very conceptual performance pieces. Examples are a series of protesting of protests. Gallo has also created his own website, which upon closer examination, is actually a highly conceptual artwork resonating with his early performance work.
On his website www.vincentgallo.com in the merchandise section, Gallo is selling his sperm and sexual fantasies as conceptual works. Gallo's Internet art questions celebrity, procreation, ego, social agenda, and views of religion, race and sexuality. These public offerings are motivated by extreme sensitivity, concept and thoughtfulness, however their presentation appears crude and offensive. Misinterpretation of this work is common and Gallo is often incorrectly categorized as a racist, sexist, homophobe. Gallo has had over 25 one-man shows of his paintings, including several with famed New York art dealer, Annina Nosei, and 4 museum shows including one at the Hara Museum in Tokyo, Japan.
Gallo has also released several musical albums including 2 on the prestigious Warp Records label-When and Recordings of Music for Film. Gallo wrote, composed and performed the original music for the films Buffalo '66 (1998), The Agent (1990) and Promises Written in Water (2010).
In the 1980s, Gallo reached the professional level of Grand Prix motorcycle racing, though he did not win a national championship. Gallo is one of the actual motorcycle riders in his feature film, The Brown Bunny (2003).
For many years, Gallo has been known and highly respected in hi-fi and music recording circles and is considered by many professionals in the field as having world-class knowledge and experience. He has been published many times by specialty magazines focused on high fidelity designs and equipment as well as music recording techniques and equipment. His collection of vintage hi-fi and recording gear, as well as musical instruments, is amongst the largest and most refined in the world. Gallo is also a fanatic record collector, owning over 35,000 vinyl LP's.
Gallo has no agent, manager, assistant or intern and he makes his films without producers, and with extremely scaled down crews. He has self-distributed his movies and is directly involved in his films' sales for distribution. Gallo has also created all of his films' trailers and posters.
Gallo is one of the most misunderstood, misquoted, misrepresented talents in the past 25 years and a brief review of his IMDb page suggests he has also been incredibly prolific.- Music Department
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- Actor
Emmy- and Golden Globe-winner and ten-time Oscar-nominee Walter Scharf was born and raised in New York City, the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants. He started playing music at an early age, helping his uncle play the piano in theaters for silent films. His mother Bessie Zwerling was a well-known comedian in New York's Yiddish theater.
He got his first real Broadway gig at the age of 17, orchestrating George Gershwin's "Girl Crazy." He also played in several college shows written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Later he worked as a session musician in the early years of recording, along with Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Jimmy Dorsey. He took his earnings and studied at New York University, even spending a year and a half studying in Berlin, witnessing the rise of the Nazis in 1932.
Back in New York he became the accompanist for the legendary chanteuse Helen Morgan, who introduced him to the world of film with Manhattan Melodrama (1934). Her sometime substitute, Alice Faye, coaxed him to join Rudy Vallee's orchestra, playing at the Embassy Club, and eventually going to Hollywood with them to make Sweet Music (1935) at Warner Brothers. Throughout the 1930s he wrote music for over a dozen films, mostly without receiving screen credit. His first Oscar nomination came for the score of Mercy Island (1941), and his film music career continued through six decades. He worked extensively with stars such as Shirley Temple, Al Jolson, Irving Berlin, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand' and Michael Jackson.
Other Oscar nominations came for his work on Hans Christian Andersen (1952), Funny Girl (1968), Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Ben (1972), but he never won. His Emmy award came for his work on a National Geographic television special, and his Golden Globe award was won for his work on "Ben". He shared a credit for co-writing the "Ben" title song with Don Black.- Composer
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
Wendy Carlos, one of the great innovators in synthesized and electronic music, was born as Walter Carlos in Rhode Island on November 14, 1939. She underwent a sex-change operation in 1972, details of which she revealed during a surprise Playboy interview in 1979. Walter's last credited release is "Sonic Seasonings" (1972). Wendy's first credited release is the "Tron" soundtrack (1982), which was released on CD in 2002.- Composer
- Music Department
- Producer
Conductor, composer and songwriter, a music student of Frederick Converse and holder of an honorary Mus. D. from Dartmouth College and a Prix de Rome from The American Academy in Rome. He was associate conductor (with Arturo Toscanini) of the New York Philharmonic in 1934, and conducted symphony orchestras throughout the world. In 1940, he founded the Janssen Symphony in Los Angeles, which he conducted. He also conducted the Baltimore Symphony between 1937 and 1939, the Utah Symphony between 1946-1947, the Portland Symphony between 1947 and 1949, the San Diego Philharmonic between 1952 and 1954, the Symphony of the Air Orchestra in 1956, the Toronto Symphony in 1956 and 1957, and the Belgrade Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera Orchestra between 1959 and 1961. He was a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, and a Knight First Class of the Order White Rose in Finland. He also made many records. Joining ASCAP in 1922, his popular-song compositions include "Wisdom Tooth", "Without the One You Love", "At the Fireplace", and "Falling Leaves".- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
William Loose was born on 5 June 1910 in Michigan, USA. He was a composer, known for Cruel Intentions (1999), X2 (2003) and The Game (1997). He died on 22 February 1991 in Burbank, California, USA.