Elmer Bernstein

Life & Legacy

Elmer Bernstein ( BURN-steen; April 4, 1922 – August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 original film scores, as well as scores for nearly 80 television productions. For his work, he received an Academy Award for Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) and a Primetime Emmy Award. He also received seven Golden Globe Awards, five Grammy Awards, and two Tony Award nominations.
Bernstein composed and arranged over 100 film scores, including Sudden Fear (1952), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), The Ten Commandments (1956), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), The Magnificent Seven (1960), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), The World of Henry Orient (1964), The Great Escape (1963), Hud (1963), Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), True Grit (1969), My Left Foot (1989), The Grifters (1990), Cape Fear (1991), Twilight (1998), and Far from Heaven (2002). He is known for his work on the comedic films Animal House (1978), Meatballs (1979), Airplane! (1980), The Blues Brothers (1980), Stripes (1981), Heavy Metal (1981), Trading Places (1983), Ghostbusters (1984), Spies Like Us (1985), The Black Cauldron (1985) and Three Amigos (1986).
He also worked on frequent collaborations with directors Martin Scorsese, Robert Mulligan, John Landis, Ivan Reitman, John Sturges, Bill Duke, George Roy Hill, Richard Fleischer, John Frankenheimer, and Henry Hathaway.
In 1985, Bernstein composed the dark, orchestral score for Disney's animated feature The Black Cauldron. Utilizing the eerie electronic tones of the ondes Martenot, with no songs, his work marked a distinct musical shift for Disney animation, though a significant amount of his music was cut out due to last-minute revisions.