Alex North
Alex North | |
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Birth name | Isadore Soifer |
Born | Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S. | December 4, 1910
Died | September 8, 1991 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 80)
Genres | Film score, theatre, classical, jazz |
Occupation(s) | Composer |
Website | www |
Alex North (born Isadore Soifer, December 4, 1910 – September 8, 1991) was an American composer best known for his many film scores, including
He wrote the music for Unchained Melody as the theme for the prison film Unchained (1955),[2] It has become a standard and one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, with over 1,500 recordings made by more than 670 artists, in multiple languages.[3]
Early life
North was born Isadore Soifer in
Career
North managed to integrate his
His best-known film scores include A Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, Viva Zapata!, The Rainmaker, Spartacus, The Misfits, Cleopatra, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Dragonslayer and Under the Volcano.[1] His music for The Wonderful Country makes use of Mexican and American motifs.
His
North was also commissioned to write a jazz score for Nero Wolfe, a 1959 CBS-TV series based on Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe characters, starring William Shatner as Archie Goodwin and Kurt Kasznar as Nero Wolfe.[7] A pilot and two or three episodes were filmed, but the designated time slot was, in the end, given to another series.[8][9] North's unheard score for Nero Wolfe and six recorded tracks on digital audio tape are in the UCLA Music Library Special Collections.[10] He also wrote the music for various other television shows, such as the anthologies Climax! and Playhouse 90.[1]
Though North is best known for his work in Hollywood, he spent years in New York writing music for the stage; he composed the score, for the original Broadway production of Death of a Salesman. It was in New York that he met Elia Kazan (director of Salesman), who brought him to Hollywood in the 1950s. North was one of several composers who brought the influence of contemporary concert music into film, in part marked by an increased use of dissonance and complex rhythms. But there is also a lyrical quality to much of his work which may be connected to the influence of Aaron Copland, with whom he studied.[citation needed]
His classical works include two symphonies and a Rhapsody for Piano, Trumpet obbligato and Orchestra. He was nominated for a
Legacy and recognition
North was recognized for his lifetime achievement in 2004 from the Sammy Film Music Awards.
In 2016, the Library of Congress added North's 1951 recording of his score to "A Streetcar Named Desire" to its National Recording Registry.
Death
North died on September 8, 1991, in Los Angeles, California. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.
Awards
The American Film Institute ranked North's score for A Streetcar Named Desire #19 on their list of the greatest film scores. His scores for the following films were also nominated for the list:
- Cleopatra (1963)
- The Misfits (1961)
- Spartacus (1960)
- Viva Zapata! (1952)
- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
North was nominated for fifteen Academy Awards throughout his career, one for
- Nominated - A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
- Nominated - Death of a Salesman (1951)
- Nominated - Viva Zapata! (1952)
- Nominated - The Rose Tattoo (1955)
- Nominated - Best Original Song (with Hy Zaret) "Unchained Melody" (1955)
- Nominated - The Rainmaker (1956)
- Nominated - Spartacus (1960)
- Nominated - Cleopatra (1963)
- Nominated - The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)
- Nominated - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
- Nominated - The Shoes of the Fisherman(1968)
- Nominated - Shanks (1974)
- Nominated - Bite the Bullet (1975)
- Nominated - Dragonslayer (1981)
- Nominated - Under the Volcano (1984)
- Winner - Honorary Oscar for memorable achievement in a host of distinguished motion pictures (1986)
Golden Globe Awards for Original Score:
- Nominated - Spartacus (1960)
- Winner - The Shoes of the Fisherman(1968)
- Winner - Lifetime Achievement (1986)
- Winner - Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
Grammy Awards for Original Score:
- Nominated - Cleopatra (1963)
- Nominated - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
- Nominated - Rich Man, Poor Man (1976)
Selected filmography
- A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
- Death of a Salesman (1951)
- Viva Zapata! (1952)
- Les Misérables (1952)
- Désirée (1954)
- Unchained (1955)
- The Rose Tattoo (1955)
- I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955)
- The Bad Seed (1956)
- The Rainmaker (1956)
- The King and Four Queens (1956)
- The Long, Hot Summer (1958)
- Stage Struck (1958)
- Hot Spell (1958)
- The Sound and the Fury (1959)
- The Wonderful Country (1959)
- Spartacus (1960)
- The Misfits (1961)
- Sanctuary (1961)
- The Children's Hour (1961)
- All Fall Down (1962)
- Cleopatra (1963)
- Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
- The Outrage(1964)
- The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)
- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
- The Devil's Brigade (1968)
- The Shoes of the Fisherman(1968)
- Hard Contract (1969)
- A Dream of Kings (1969)
- Willard (1971)
- Pocket Money (1972)
- Shanks (1974)
- Bite the Bullet (1975)
- Journey into Fear (1975)
- Somebody Killed Her Husband (1978)
- Wise Blood (1979)
- Carny (1980)
- Dragonslayer (1981)
- Under the Volcano (1984)
- Prizzi's Honor (1985)
- The Dead (1987)
- Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
- The Penitent (1988)
References
- ^ ISBN 1-85227-937-0.
- ^ "Unchained". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
- ^ "Unchained Melody". Unchained Melody Publishing LLC.
- ISBN 9780786443338.
- ^ a b ALEX NORTH, Hollywood Film Composer, Talking to Howard Lucraft in 1987. www.jazzprofessional.com. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
- ^ Cleopatra Symphony (U.S. premiere): Alex North www.hollywoodbowl.com. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
- ^ The Billboard, April 20, 1959, pp. 38 + 40
- ^ Shepard, Richard F., The New York Times, April 9, 1959
- ^ Ewald, William F., Television in Review (syndicated column), April 9, 1959
- ^ Wrobel, Bill, Film Score Rundowns, "CBS Collection 072 UCLA," Blog 42, June 25, 2010. The film score researcher identifies 30 CBS digital audio tapes in the UCLA Music Library Special Collections (p. 168), with tracks 86–91 of DAT #11 being the Nero Wolfe music of Alex North (p. 174). The score, CPN5912, is in Box #105 (p. 51).
External links
Archives at | ||||
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How to use archival material |
- Official website
- Alex North at IMDb
- Alex North at the Internet Broadway Database
- Alex North website maintained by his family.
- Unchained Melody Publishing LLC is the publishing administrator for "Unchained Melody".
- Alex North papers, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences