Academy Award-winning Film Composer. Born in New York City, he studied at Juilliard and was a dancer, actor, painter, and concert pianist before he began writing music for films in the early 1950s. Versatile and prolific, Bernstein worked in every genre and his music was noted for its inspired lyricism, energy, and exceptional sensitivity to period. He won an Academy Award for "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (1967), with its ebullient use of 1920s-style jazz, and received 14 Oscar nominations, most recently for "Far From Heaven" (2002). Bernstein's other classic credits include "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), "Birdman of Alcatraz" (1962), "Walk On the Wild Side" (1962), "Hud" (1963), "The Great Escape" (1963), "Hawaii" (1966), "True Grit" (1969), "The Shootist" (1976), "National Lampoon's Animal House" (1978), "The Great Santini" (1979), "Airplane!" (1980), "An American Werewolf in London" (1981), "Ghostbusters" (1984), "My Left Foot" (1989), "The Grifters" (1990), "A River Runs Through It" (1992), and "The Age of Innocence" (1993). As a conductor Bernstein recorded several albums of other film composers' music and he adapted Bernard Herrmann's score of "Cape Fear" (1962) for the film's 1992 remake. In 1996 Bernstein received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and he was the subject of a month-long retrospective on Turner Classic Movies in 2001. He was not related to composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein. He died in his sleep at his home in Ojai, California.
Academy Award-winning Film Composer. Born in New York City, he studied at Juilliard and was a dancer, actor, painter, and concert pianist before he began writing music for films in the early 1950s. Versatile and prolific, Bernstein worked in every genre and his music was noted for its inspired lyricism, energy, and exceptional sensitivity to period. He won an Academy Award for "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (1967), with its ebullient use of 1920s-style jazz, and received 14 Oscar nominations, most recently for "Far From Heaven" (2002). Bernstein's other classic credits include "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), "Birdman of Alcatraz" (1962), "Walk On the Wild Side" (1962), "Hud" (1963), "The Great Escape" (1963), "Hawaii" (1966), "True Grit" (1969), "The Shootist" (1976), "National Lampoon's Animal House" (1978), "The Great Santini" (1979), "Airplane!" (1980), "An American Werewolf in London" (1981), "Ghostbusters" (1984), "My Left Foot" (1989), "The Grifters" (1990), "A River Runs Through It" (1992), and "The Age of Innocence" (1993). As a conductor Bernstein recorded several albums of other film composers' music and he adapted Bernard Herrmann's score of "Cape Fear" (1962) for the film's 1992 remake. In 1996 Bernstein received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and he was the subject of a month-long retrospective on Turner Classic Movies in 2001. He was not related to composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein. He died in his sleep at his home in Ojai, California.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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