37 Facts About Henry Mancini

Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flutist.

Henry Mancini's works include the theme and soundtrack for the Peter Gunn television series as well as the music for The Pink Panther film series and "Moon River" from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Henry Mancini scored a No 1 hit single during the rock era on the Hot 100: his arrangement and recording of the "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet" spent two weeks at the top, starting with the week ending June 28,1969.

Henry Mancini was born Enrico Nicola Mancini in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in West Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.

Originally from Scanno, Abruzzo, his father Quintiliano "Quinto" Henry Mancini was a laborer at the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company and amateur musician who first came to the US as a teenager around 1910.

Not only did Henry Mancini produce arrangements for the Stanley Theatre bands, but he wrote an arrangement for Benny Goodman, an up-and-coming bandleader introduced to him by Adkins.

Later that year, Henry Mancini transferred to the Juilliard School of Music in New York City following a successful audition in which he performed a Beethoven sonata and improvisation on "Night and Day" by Cole Porter.

Newly discharged from the military, Henry Mancini entered the music industry.

Henry Mancini's first hit as a pop songwriter was a single by Guy Lombardo and Henry Mancini's Royal Canadians titled "I Won't Let You Out of My Heart".

Henry Mancini composed for Howard Hawks, Martin Ritt, Vittorio de Sica, Norman Jewison, Paul Newman, Stanley Kramer, George Roy Hill, Arthur Hiller, Ted Kotcheff, and others.

Henry Mancini scored many TV movies, including The Moneychangers, The Thorn Birds and The Shadow Box.

Henry Mancini composed the "Viewer Mail" theme for Late Night with David Letterman.

Henry Mancini composed the theme for NBC Nightly News used beginning in 1975, and a different theme by him, titled Salute to the President was used by NBC News for its election coverage from 1976 to 1992.

Salute to the President was published only in a school-band arrangement, although Henry Mancini performed it frequently with symphony orchestras on his concert tours.

Songs with music by Henry Mancini were staples of the easy listening radio format from the 1960s to the 1980s.

The Anita Kerr Quartet won a Grammy award for their album We Dig Henry Mancini, a cover of his songs.

Henry Mancini recorded over 90 albums, in styles ranging from big band to light classical to pop.

Henry Mancini had a 20-year contract with RCA Victor, resulting in 60 commercial record albums that made him a household name among artists of easy listening music.

Henry Mancini was a concert performer, conducting over fifty engagements per year, resulting in over 600 symphony performances during his lifetime.

Henry Mancini conducted nearly all of the leading symphony orchestras of the world, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Henry Mancini appeared in 1966,1980 and 1984 in command performances for the British Royal Family.

Henry Mancini toured several times with Johnny Mathis and with Andy Williams, who had both sung many of Mancini's songs; Mathis and Mancini collaborated on the 1986 album The Hollywood Musicals.

Henry Mancini had an uncredited performance as a pianist in the 1967 film Gunn, based on the Peter Gunn television series.

Henry Mancini made a brief appearance in the title sequence of 1993's Son of the Pink Panther, allowing the panther to conduct Bobby McFerrin in performing the film's theme tune.

In 1969 at the 41st Academy Awards ceremony, Henry Mancini played the harpsichord in a special number.

Henry Mancini was the music director of the 41st Academy Awards broadcast.

Henry Mancini died of pancreatic cancer in Los Angeles on June 14,1994.

Henry Mancini was survived by his wife of 47 years, singer Virginia "Ginny" O'Connor, with whom he had three children.

Henry Mancini created a scholarship at UCLA and some of his library and works are archived in the music library at UCLA, with additional materials preserved at the Library of Congress.

The Henry Mancini Arts Academy is an evening-and-weekend performing arts program for children from pre-K to grade 12, with some classes available for adults.

Henry Mancini was nominated for 72 Grammy Awards and won 20.

Henry Mancini was nominated for 18 Academy Awards and won four.

Henry Mancini won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for two Emmy Awards.

In 1961, Henry Mancini won two Academy Awards, one for "Moon River" for Best Original Song and one for Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture for the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's.

In 1989, Henry Mancini received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.

In 1997, Henry Mancini was posthumously awarded an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music.

However, many Hollywood musicians were featured on Henry Mancini's albums recorded in RCA's Hollywood recording studios and faux "Original Soundtrack" albums.