1994 movie biography of henry

The adult, sophisticated comedies and romances graced by Mancini scores are no longer made in modern Hollywood, but his songs have become standards, an indelible contribution to the soundtrack of our lives. His Italian immigrant father was a steelworker who loved music and insisted that his only child learn the flute and the piccolo. Young Hank played in the school band and also studied piano, but his most important instruction was self-administered: listening to recordings of the popular big bands, young Mancini taught himself how to arrange music.

More formal schooling came later from Pittsburgh theater arranger-conductor Max Adkins. Although Adkins created an opportunity for his student to audition an arrangement for the great Benny Goodman inthe famed clarinetist did not think the young man was ready yet for the big time. Mancini spent a fruitful year studying at the Julliard School of Music in New Yorkbut a draft notice interrupted his education.

A brief encounter with Glenn Miller saved the young man from the perilous duty of a tail-gunner and transferred him into an Air Force band. Following the war, Mancini became pianist and arranger for the newly-formed band of Miller veteran Tex Beneke, a move that proved decisive for Mancini's personal and professional life. O'Connor eventually joined another group, the Mello-Larks, and when the singers made a short film at Universal, Mancini got the assignment to arrange their music.

Joseph Gershenson, head of the studio's music department, offered the young musician a couple of weeks' work on an Abbott and Costello picture, and this assignment stretched into a six-year apprenticeship in the art and craft of film scoring. With his Beneke background, Mancini was a natural to assist Gershenson on 's The Glenn Miller Story, and their joint work was nominated for an Academy Award-the first of eighteen for Mancini.

He would eventually win four Oscars. Because the budgets often didn't allow for complete original scores, Mancini would frequently be assigned to cobble together music from the scores of older pictures. This afforded Mancini another opportunity for self-instruction, studying the work of such veteran film composers as Frank Skinner, Hans J. Salter, and Miklos Rozsa.

But Mancini was about to make his own distinctive mark on film scoring. The first sign of the new direction which Mancini would be taking film music came in with his score for Orson Welles ' Touch of Evil. A neglected film in its day, but regarded as a cult classic—particularly in the version which restores Welles' original editing— Touch featured a most unusual score.

For his gritty film noir set in American and Mexican border towns, Welles decided against the customary practice of providing a dramatic underscore. Instead, nearly all of the music heard in Touch was source music: the music which would realistically be heard coming from radios and jukeboxes. Nevertheless, with his jazz and pop expertise, Mancini managed to make this music suitably menacing.

In its way, it was as essential to the film's mood and as memorable as the famous zither source music in Carol Reed's The Third Man which had starred Welles. Unfortunately for Mancini, the influx of television was causing the movie studios to cut back on their payrolls, and, shortly after Touch of Evilthe composer was let go. Ironically, it was television that proved to be Mancini's salvation.

Bumping into Mancini by chance one day, on the spur of the moment Edwards offered Mancini the job of scoring his upcoming program. As a professional musician, Mancini was known to be modest and unpretentious. He made no time for musical elitism, claiming that he had written Moon River in a half hour and that his Italian background helped him musically.

Mancini had strong feelings about the role of music in film; he saw the film score as something which facilitated the film rather than standing on its own. Less was more, in his opinion. He hoped that he could "paint pictures with his music. In his last 1994 movie biography of henry, Mancini claimed that music writing was his therapy, because when he wrote, he thought of nothing else.

He continued conducting an average of 30 pops concerts a year and producing albums even after being diagnosed with cancer. Mancini died in at the age of seventy, from complications of liver and pancreatic cancer. When he died, he left behind a legacy of popular and artistic film music. Mancini, Henry gale. Learn more about citation styles Citation styles Encyclopedia.

Early Fascination with Film Music A sickly child, Mancini was afflicted by a number of childhood diseases, including rheumatic fever when he was a young teenager. Film scores Touch of Evil Charade The Pink Panther Two for the Road Darling Lili Silver Streak Lucky The Thorn Birds Periodicals Christian Science MonitorFebruary 9, New York TimesJune 15,p.

Newman That's Dancing! Photoplay LondonOctober HollywoodMay Millimeter New YorkJune Photoplay LondonMay Hollywoodvol. Dirigido por. BarcelonaJanuary Films in Review New YorkSeptember Ecran ParisSeptember Fistful of Soundtracks LondonOctober Fistful of Soundtracks LondonMay HollywoodMarch Films LondonOctober Obituary in Current BiographyAugust Obituary in Down BeatSeptember Obituary in SoundtrackDecember McKone, G.

Henry Mancini gale. Henry Mancini The composer, pianist, and theme song scorer Henry Mancini was a major figure in American music from until his death. Hollywood Start Mancini broke into Hollywood in when he was given a small two week job at Universal Studios to arrange the music for the Abbott and Costello comedy Lost in Alaska. Music Madea Difference Th e popular music for Peter Gunn was another breakthrough that served to get Mancini more widely recognized and stood apart as an example of a television show where the music really had an impact.

Contributed to Musical Trends Mancini's contribution to film music occurred during a time when changes were shaping the film industry and American culture. Personal Traits As a professional musician, Mancini was known to be modest and unpretentious. Independent, June 16, ; June 27, Journal of Popular Film and Television, March 1, USA Today, June 15, Mancini, Henry Nicole oxford.

1994 movie biography of henry

Pianist and arranger, Tex Beneke orch. On mus. Pictures, —8. Guest cond. More From encyclopedia. About this article Henry Mancini All Sources. Updated Aug 24 About encyclopedia. Henry John Heinz. Henry J. Henry IV, Roman Emperor. Henry IV, Part I. Read more on Wikipedia. Sincethe English Wikipedia page of Henry Mancini has received more than 3, page views.

His biography is available in 56 different languages on Wikipedia up from 53 in Soundtracks [ edit ]. Number One! Hobbs Takes a VacationIntrada special collection vol. Filmography [ edit ]. Hobbs Takes a Vacation Hatari! TV themes [ edit ]. Peter Gunn Mr. Bibliography [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. London: Guinness World Records Limited. ISBN Scarecrow Press.

July 24, First Edition Design Pub. Sony Music Entertainment. April 16, Retrieved June 7, Archived from the original on June 7, University of North Texas Digital Library. February The New York Times. Retrieved June 8, Los Angeles Times. Encyclopedia Britannica. April 12, Retrieved April 30, Encyclopedia of Television Pilots, — Retrieved September 16, It ruined a man's career".

The New Statesman. Archived from the original on May 14, Retrieved June 25, Wins Adapted Film Score". Margaret Herrick Library Digital Collections. Archived from the original on July 2, Retrieved July 1, Retrieved October 27, Frost School of MusicUniversity of Miami. American Academy of Achievement. San Francisco Chronicle. Associated Press.