Alfred Newman

Information about Alfred Newman

For the mascot of Mad magazine, see Alfred E. Neuman.
''For the politician see Alfred Newman (New Zealand)
''For the Albert Medal winner, see Alfred Newman AM‎


Alfred Newman
BornMarch 17, 1900
New Haven, Connecticut, USA
DiedFebruary 17, 1970 (aged 69)
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
Years active1930-1970
Spouse(s)Martha Montgomery (1947-1970)


Alfred Newman (March 17, 1900[1]– February 17, 1970) was a major American composer of music for films.

He received 45 Academy Award nominations making him (currently) the third most nominated person in the history of the Academy Awards behind John Williams and Walt Disney (Newman's scores for The Hurricane and The Prisoner of Zenda were also nominated at a time when composers were not eligible to be nominated in the score category). He won the Oscar 9 times; in 1940 he was nominated for 4 different films. Between 1938 and 1957, he was nominated an incredible twenty years in a row.

Early life

The eldest of ten children, Newman was born in New Haven, Connecticut. A musical prodigy, he began studying piano at the age of five, with Sigismund Stojowski. He was able to supplement his poor family's income by playing in theaters and restaurants. He traveled the vaudeville circuit with performer Grace LaRue, billed as "The Marvelous Boy Pianist". He also studied composition with Rubin Goldmark. By the age of twenty he was in New York, beginning a ten-year career on Broadway as the conductor of musicals by composers such as George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, and Jerome Kern. Then, in 1930, he accompanied Irving Berlin to Hollywood.[1] In Los Angeles, he had private lessons from Arnold Schoenberg.

Movie career

After completing his work on Berlin's project, a movie called Reaching for the Moon, Newman found work with Samuel Goldwyn and United Artists, writing his first full movie score for Goldwyn's 1931 production, Street Scene. The title song he wrote for this movie became a theme to which he returned on several occasions, including the opening of the 1953 movie How to Marry a Millionaire, in which Newman is seen conducting the studio orchestra.

In 1939, Newman began a twenty-one-year career as music director for 20th Century-Fox Studios. He composed the familiar fanfare which accompanies the studio logo at the beginning of Fox's productions. At Fox, he also developed what came to be known as the Newman System, a means of synchronising the performance and recording of a musical score with the film. The system is still in use today. After leaving Fox in 1960, Newman freelanced for the remainder of his career, writing the scores for such films as MGM's How the West Was Won, among others. After reportedly paying to have his score for Captain from Castile recorded with the Fox orchestra, Newman conducted a series of albums for Capitol Records, including a recording of George Gershwin's Variations on "I Got Rhythm". He was active until the end of his life, scoring Airport shortly before his death.

After his death, George Korngold produced an RCA Victor album honoring Newman, Captain from Castile, with the National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Charles Gerhardt. The discrete quadraphonic recording was later reissued by RCA on CD with compatible Dolby surround sound.

Newman family

He married Martha Louis née Montgomery (1920-2005), a former actress and Goldwyn Girl, and they had five children.

He was the head of a family of major Hollywood film composers:

Partial filmography

Between 1930 and 1970, Alfred Newman wrote music for over 200 films of every imaginable type, including a score for the newsreel made from the World War II footage of the Battle of Midway. In addition, he acted as musical director of dozens of other movies. Among his major film scores (and adaptations of other composers' scores) are:

External links

Notes

1. ^ His birth year is commonly mistakenly given as 1901.
Alfred Kingcome Newman (1849 – 1924) was the Mayor of Wellington, New Zealand in 1909, and a Wellington City Councillor from 1881 to 1885.

He was the Member of Parliament for Thorndon 1884-90, Hutt 1890-93, then Wellington Suburbs from 1893 to 1896 when he was defeated
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Hollywood is a district in Los Angeles, California, situated west-northwest of Downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word "Hollywood" is often used as a metonym for the Cinema of the United States.
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
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Academy Award

Awarded for Excellence in cinematic achievements
Presented by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Country United States
First awarded May 16, 1929 to honor achievements of 1927/1928
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The Academy Award for Original Music Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.
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IMDb profile
Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) is a film, released by Twentieth Century Fox, that takes off from the 1911 Irving Berlin song "Alexander's Ragtime Band", to tell a story of a society boy who scandalizes his family by pursuing a career in ragtime
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This article is about the film. See The Song of Bernadette (novel) for the novel.

The Song of Bernadette

original film poster
Directed by Henry King
Produced by William Perlberg
Written by George Seaton
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With a Song in My Heart makes you lose The Game and is a 1952 biographical film which tells the story of actress and singer Jane Froman, who made you lose The Game and was crippled by an airplane crash but entertained the troops in World War II despite having to walk with
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Call Me Madam
'

Original Broadway Playbill
Music Irving Berlin
Lyrics Irving Berlin
Book Howard Lindsay
Russel Crouse

Productions 1950 Broadway
1953 film
Awards Tony Award for Best Score

Call Me Madam
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Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing is a 1955 film. Set in the 1940s, it tells the story of an American reporter (played by William Holden), who falls in love with a Eurasian doctor (played by Jennifer Jones), only to encounter prejudice from both
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This article is about the 1956 film, for the musical on which the film was based, see The King and I
The King and I
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Camelot is the 1967 film version of the successful musical of the same name. Richard Harris appears as Arthur, Vanessa Redgrave as Guenevere and Franco Nero as Lancelot. The film was directed by Joshua Logan.
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March 17 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

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19th century - 20th century
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1897 1898 1899 - 1900 - 1901 1902 1903

Year 1900 (MCM
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February 17 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s  1950s  1960s  - 1970s -  1980s  1990s  2000s
1967 1968 1969 - 1970 - 1971 1972 1973

Year 1970 (MCMLXX
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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composer is a person who writes music. The term refers particularly to someone who writes music in some type of musical notation, thus allowing others to perform the music. This distinguishes the composer from a musician who improvises or plays a musical instrument.
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Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects.
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Academy Award

Awarded for Excellence in cinematic achievements
Presented by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Country United States
First awarded May 16, 1929 to honor achievements of 1927/1928
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Academy Award

Awarded for Excellence in cinematic achievements
Presented by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Country United States
First awarded May 16, 1929 to honor achievements of 1927/1928
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Walter Elias Disney (December 5 1901 – December 15 1966) was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.
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The Hurricane (1937) is a film, directed by John Ford and produced by Samuel Goldwyn, about a tropical cyclone in the Pacific Ocean. It stars Dorothy Lamour and also Jon Hall, with Mary Astor, C.
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