Alfred Newman
b. 17 March 1901, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, d. 17 February 1970, Hollywood, California, USA. An important figure in the history of film music, Newman was a composer, conductor, arranger and musical director. A child prodigy on the piano, he went to New York before he was 10 years old, to study piano and harmony. At the age of 13 he was playing in several vaudeville shows a day, while also fitting in appearances as a soloist with various classical orchestras. In the '20s he conducted for the Broadway Theatre, and contributed the occasional song to shows such as JACK AND JILL (Voodoo Man) (1923). In 1930 he moved to Hollywood, shortly after the movies had started to talk and worked as an arranger, then as a composer for United Artists, on films such as THE DEVIL TO PAY, INDISCREET, THE UNHOLY GARDEN and ARROWSMITH. His ‘immortal’ melancholy title theme for STREET SCENE (1931), echoed through the years in many a later film depicting urban decay. His scores for other '30s films included I COVER THE WATERFRONT (1933), NANA (1934), THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (1934), CLIVE OF INDIA (1935), LES MISERABLES (1935), DODSWORTH (1936), THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937), THE GOLDWYN FOLLIES (1938), THE COWBAY AND THE LADY (1938), TRADE WINDS (1938), GUNGA DIN (1939), WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939), YOUNG MR. LINCOLN (1939) and BEAU GESTE (1939). He also served as musical director for Sam Goldwyn (1933-39), and won Academy Awards for Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938), TIN PAN ALLEY (1940), Mother Wore Tights(1947), With A Song In My Heart (1952), Call Me Madam(1953), The King And I (1956, with co-writer Ken Darby), Camelot (1967, again with Darby) and Hello, Dolly! (1969, with Lennie Hayton). 
He gained further Oscars, for his complete background scores, for THE SONG OF BERNADETTE (1943) and LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING (1955). His film credits during the '40s included THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940), THE BLUE BIRD (1940), LILLIAN RUSSELL (1940), HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1941), CHARLEY'S AUNT (1941), LIFE BEGINS AT EIGHT THIRTY (1942), THE BLACK SWAN (1942), HEAVEN CAN WAIT (1943), CLAUDIA (1943), THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM (1944), WILSON (1944), LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (1945), A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN (1945), THE RAZOR'S EDGE (1946), CAPTAIN FROM CASTILLE (1947), CENTENNIAL SUMMER (1946), UNFAITHFULLY YOURS (1948), THE SNAKE PIT (1948), A LETTER TO THREE WIVES (1949), YELLOW SKY (1948), TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH and PINKY (1949). During the '40s Newman spent several years as musical director for 20th Century Fox with his brothers, Lionel and Emil, working for him. In 1950 while still at Fox, Newman wrote the score for ‘the wittiest, most devastating, adult and literate motion picture ever made’, ALL ABOUT EVE, starring Bette Davis and George Sanders. The remainder of his '50s music was of a superb standard, too, for films such as PANIC IN THE STREETS (1950), DAVID AND BATHSHEBA (1951), WHAT PRICE GLORY? (1952), THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO (1952), THE ROBE (1953), THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH (1955), ANASTASIA (1956), BUS STOP (1956, with Cyril Mockridge), A CERTAIN SMILE (1958), THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (1959) and THE BEST OF EVERYTHING (1959). The last film's title song (lyric by Sammy Cahn) became popular for Johnny Mathis, and several other earlier pieces of Newman's film music had lives of their own apart from the soundtrack, such as Moon From Manakoora (lyric by Frank Loesser), sung by Dorothy Lamour in HURRICANE and popularized by her Road buddy, Bing Crosby; Through A Long And Sleepless Night (words by Mack Gordon), from COME TO THE STABLE; and the title songs from HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY, ANASTASIA and THE BEST OF EVERYTHING. In the '60s his rousing scores for HOW THE WEST WAS WON and THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD spawned best-selling albums. His music for the melodramatic AIRPORT (1970), which included the popular theme, was the last of Newman's works for the big screen. He died in February 1970, in Hollywood. Recordings include: CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE-CLASSICAL FILM SCORES. His son, David Newman (b. 1954), composed a number of television and feature film scores in the '80s and '90s, including THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN, BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, THE WAR OF THE ROSES, MADHOUSE, THE FRESHMAN and MARRYING MAN.