52 Facts About Randy Newman

Randall Stuart Newman was born on November 28,1943 and is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his non-rhotic Southern-accented singing style, early Americana-influenced songs, and various film scores.

In 1968, he made his formal debut as a solo artist with the album Randy Newman, produced by Lenny Waronker and Van Dyke Parks.

Since the 1980s, Randy Newman has worked mostly as a film composer.

Randy Newman has scored nine Disney-Pixar animated films, including all four Toy Story films, A Bug's Life, both Monsters, Inc films, and the first and third Cars films, as well as Disney's James and the Giant Peach and The Princess and the Frog.

Randy Newman has won three Emmys, seven Grammy Awards and the Governor's Award from the Recording Academy.

Randy Newman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002 and to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.

Randy Newman was born to a Jewish family on November 28,1943, his father's 30th birthday, in Los Angeles.

Randy Newman is the son of Adele "Dixie", a secretary, and Irving George Newman, an internist.

Randy Newman lived in New Orleans, Louisiana, as a small child and spent summers there until he was 11 years old, when his family returned to Los Angeles.

Randy Newman graduated from University High School in Los Angeles.

Randy Newman's parents were non-observant Jews: Randy Newman himself is an atheist.

Randy Newman has said that religion or any sense of religious identity was completely absent in his childhood.

Randy Newman accepted the invitation but was disinvited by the girl's father, who told Newman that his daughter should never have invited him because Jews were not allowed at the club.

Randy Newman hung up the phone, then went to ask his own father what a "Jew" was.

Randy Newman has been a professional songwriter since he was 17.

The single flopped and Randy Newman chose to concentrate on songwriting and arranging for the next several years.

The band recorded six Randy Newman compositions, including "Simon Smith" and "Happyland," during their short initial career.

Randy Newman's 1968 debut album, Randy Newman, was a critical success but never entered the Billboard Top 200.

In 1970, Harry Nilsson recorded an entire album of Randy Newman compositions called Nilsson Sings Randy Newman.

Randy Newman made his first foray into music for films at this time, writing and performing the theme song "He Gives Us All His Love" for Norman Lear's 1971 film Cold Turkey.

Randy Newman's 1974 release Good Old Boys was a set of songs about the American South.

An album that received lavish critical praise, Good Old Boys became a commercial breakthrough for Randy Newman, peaking at No 36 on Billboard 200, spending 21 weeks there.

In September 1977, the British music magazine NME reported the following interview with Randy Newman talking about his then-new release.

In 1985 Randy Newman performed a set at the first Farm Aid concert that included a duet with Billy Joel on facing grand pianos.

Randy Newman separated from his wife of nearly 20 years, Roswitha.

Randy Newman released four albums of new material as a singer-songwriter since that time: Land of Dreams, Bad Love, Harps and Angels, and Dark Matter.

Randy Newman continues to perform his songs before live audiences as a touring concert artist.

Randy Newman released his much anticipated new album, Dark Matter in August 2017.

Randy Newman's earliest scoring work was for television, creating background music for a 1962 episode of TV's The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, and later working briefly on the 1960s TV shows Lost in Space, Peyton Place, and Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea and more extensively on Judd For The Defense.

Randy Newman co-wrote the title song for the 1970 drama Cover Me Babe.

Randy Newman co-wrote pop songs for films as early as 1964, co-penning "Look At Me" with Bobby Darin for The Lively Set, and "Galaxy-a-Go-Go, or Leave It To Flint" with Jerry Goldsmith for Our Man Flint.

Randy Newman returned to film work with 1981's Ragtime, for which he was nominated for two Academy Awards.

Randy Newman co-wrote the 1986 film Three Amigos with Steve Martin and Lorne Michaels, wrote three songs for the film, and provided the voice for the singing bush.

Randy Newman has earned at least one Academy Award nomination for six of the nine films he has scored for Pixar, winning the award for Monsters, Inc and Toy Story 3, both times in the category of Best Original Song.

Additional scores by Randy Newman include Avalon, Parenthood, James and the Giant Peach, Seabiscuit, Awakenings, The Paper, Meet the Parents, and its sequel, Meet the Fockers.

Randy Newman's score for Pleasantville was an Academy Award nominee.

Randy Newman wrote the songs for Turner's Cats Don't Dance.

Randy Newman had the dubious distinction of receiving the most Oscar nominations without a single win.

Randy Newman's losing streak was broken when he received the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2002, for the Monsters, Inc song "If I Didn't Have You", beating Sting, Enya and Paul McCartney.

Randy Newman composed the Emmy Award-winning song "When I'm Gone" for the final episode.

Randy Newman wrote the music for Walt Disney Animation Studios' The Princess and the Frog.

Randy Newman was accompanied by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

In total, Randy Newman has received 22 Academy Award nominations with two wins, both for Best Original Song.

Randy Newman's Faust had a one-time performance at the City Center in New York City on July 1,2014.

In 2010, the Center Theatre Group staged Harps and Angels, a musical revue of the Randy Newman songbook, interspersed with narratives reflecting on Newman's inspirations.

Randy Newman was married to German-born Roswitha Schmale from 1967 to 1985, and they had three sons, Eric, Amos, and John.

Randy Newman has been married to Gretchen Preece since 1990, with whom he has two children, Patrick, and Alice.

Randy Newman endorsed Democratic President Barack Obama for reelection in 2012 and wrote a satirical song about voting for white candidates.

Randy Newman has received three Emmys, seven Grammy Awards, and the Governor's Award from the Recording Academy.

Randy Newman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.

Randy Newman was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.

In September 2014, Randy Newman received a Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award and performed at the annual film music gala Hollywood in Vienna for the first time together with his cousin David Randy Newman.