31 Facts About Elmer Bernstein

Elmer Bernstein was an American composer and conductor.

Elmer Bernstein received seven Golden Globe Awards, five Grammy Awards, and two Tony Award nominations.

Elmer Bernstein composed and arranged scores for over 100 film scores, including Sudden Fear, The Man with the Golden Arm, The Ten Commandments, Sweet Smell of Success, The Magnificent Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird, The World of Henry Orient, The Great Escape, Hud, Thoroughly Modern Millie, True Grit, My Left Foot, The Grifters, Cape Fear, Twilight, and Far from Heaven.

Elmer Bernstein was not related to the celebrated composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, though they were friends.

Elmer Bernstein attended Manhattan's progressive Walden School and gravitated toward music.

Elmer Bernstein took him to play some of his improvisations for composer Aaron Copland, who was encouraging and selected Israel Citkowitz as a teacher for the young boy.

Elmer Bernstein was drafted into the United States Army Air Forces during the World War II era where he wrote music for the Armed Forces Radio.

Elmer Bernstein's music has some stylistic similarities to Copland's music, most notably in his western scores, particularly sections of Big Jake, in the Gregory Peck film Amazing Grace and Chuck, and in his spirited score for the 1958 film adaptation of Erskine Caldwell's novel God's Little Acre.

Elmer Bernstein had a lifelong enthusiasm for an even wider spectrum of the arts than his childhood interests would imply and, in 1959, when he was scoring The Story on Page One, he considered becoming a novelist and asked the film's screenwriter, Clifford Odets, to give him lessons in writing fiction.

Elmer Bernstein wrote the theme songs or other music for more than 200 films and TV shows, including The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Ten Commandments, True Grit, The Man with the Golden Arm, To Kill a Mockingbird, Robot Monster, Ghostbusters, Baby the Rain Must Fall, and the fanfare used in the National Geographic television specials.

Elmer Bernstein provided the score to many of the short films of Ray and Charles Eames.

In 1961 Elmer Bernstein co-founded Ava Records, an American record label based in Los Angeles together with Fred Astaire, Jackie Mills and Tommy Wolf.

One of Elmer Bernstein's tunes has since gained a lasting place in US college sports culture.

Elmer Bernstein was called by the House Un-American Activities Committee when it was discovered that he had written some music reviews for a Communist newspaper.

John Landis grew up near Elmer Bernstein, and befriended him through his children.

Years later, he requested that Elmer Bernstein compose the music for National Lampoon's Animal House, over the studio's objections.

Elmer Bernstein explained to Bernstein that he thought that Bernstein's score, playing it straight as if the comedic Delta frat characters were actual heroes, would emphasize the comedy further.

When Martin Scorsese announced that he was re-making Cape Fear, Elmer Bernstein adapted Bernard Herrmann's original score to the new film.

Elmer Bernstein leapt at the opportunity to work with Scorsese, as well as to pay homage to Herrmann.

Scorsese and Elmer Bernstein subsequently worked together on two more films, The Age of Innocence and Bringing Out the Dead.

Elmer Bernstein had previously conducted Herrmann's original unused score for Alfred Hitchcock's 1966 Torn Curtain.

Elmer Bernstein's partners included his assistant, Robert Helfer, and the wife of the Triad Stable's trainer Morton Lipton.

Later, they moved to a home in Ojai, California, where Elmer Bernstein died of cancer on August 18,2004.

Elmer Bernstein was survived by his wife Eve and their two daughters, Emilie and Elizabeth; by his two sons, Peter and Gregory Bernstein, from his earlier marriage to Pearl Glusman; and by five grandchildren.

Elmer Bernstein considered these artists as influences on his work: Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Dimitri Tiomkin, Duke Ellington, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Franz Waxman, Miklos Rozsa, Jimmie Lunceford, Max Steiner, Victor Young, Aaron Copland, Bernard Herrmann, Nino Rota, Roger Sessions, Stefan Wolpe.

Elmer Bernstein received 14 Academy Award nominations and was nominated at least once per decade from the 1950s until the 2000s, but his only win was for Thoroughly Modern Millie for Best Original Music Score.

Elmer Bernstein was recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association with Golden Globes for his scores for To Kill a Mockingbird and Hawaii.

Elmer Bernstein is the recipient of Western Heritage Awards for The Magnificent Seven and The Hallelujah Trail.

In 1996, Elmer Bernstein was honored with a star on Hollywood Boulevard.

Elmer Bernstein again was honored by ASCAP with its marquee Founders Award in 2001 and with the NARAS Governors Award in June 2004.

Elmer Bernstein was the subject of This Is Your Life in 2003 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel at London's Royal Albert Hall, after conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as part of his 80th year celebrations.