Jerry Goldsmith
Born: 10 February 1929, Carson, California.
Died: 21 July 2004.
Biography:
Jerrald Goldsmith was one of the most influential film composers in the history of the medium, who wrote groundbreaking scores of exceptional quality in a career that spanned almost 50 years. Jerry studied the piano with Jacob Gimpel and studied film composition at the University of Southern California under the tutelage of the legendary Hungarian composer Miklós Rózsa. Prodigiously talented, young Goldsmith found himself unable to secure a job in music full time so, in order to establish a foothold, he took a job at the American TV studio CBS, initially as a clerk typist, and slowly began to work his way up through the ranks. Eventually, he was given the opportunity to write for TV, and during the 1950s and 60s wrote for shows such as "Wagon Train", "Have Gun Will Travel", "The Twilight Zone", "Thriller", "Dr. Kildare", and "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.". It was his friendship with the legendary Alfred Newman that allowed Goldsmith to score his first feature film in 1957, a little known western called "Black Patch". He never looked back. Over the next 45 years, Goldsmith would go on write some of the most groundbreaking and brilliant film and television music in history. He was a true film music pioneer, blazing a trail in new and innovative compositional techniques, the advent of intelligent use of electronics, and the dramatic use of music as a cinematic language. He wrote music for over 200 films in every conceivable genre, and was nominated for eighteen Oscars (although he only won once, for "The Omen" in 1976), six Golden Globes, and numerous Emmys and other awards. He wrote some of the most famous and well-loved themes from some of the most successful movies of all time, and includes in his filmography titles such as "Freud" (1962), "Lilies of the Field" (1963), "The Blue Max" (1966), "The Sand Pebbles" (1966), "Planet of the Apes" (1968), "Patton" (1970), "Papillon" (1973), "Chinatown" (1974), "The Wind and the Lion" (1975), "Logan's Run" (1976), "The Omen" (1976), "Alien" (1979), "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (1979), "Poltergeist" (1982), "First Blood" (1982), "Gremlins" (1984), "Rambo: First Blood Part II" (1985), "Total Recall" (1990), "Sleeping With the Enemy" (1991), "Basic Instinct" (1992), "Rudy" (1993), "First Knight" (1995), "Star Trek: First Contact" (1996), "Air Force One" (1997), "L.A. Confidential" (1997), "Mulan" (1998), "The Mummy" (1999), "The Sum of All Fears" (2002) and “Looney Tunes: Back in Action” (2003), his last score. On television, Goldsmith wrote music for a number of successful and popular series, including the memorable main title themes for “The Waltons”, “Room 222”, “Barnaby Jones”, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Star Trek: Voyager”. He struck up famous partnerships with many eminent directors, the most notable amongst these being Franklin J. Schaffner, Joe Dante, Paul Verhoeven and Fred Schepisi. He was given the honour of writing 'Fanfare for Oscar', the first ever piece of music commissioned by the Academy, and has written concert works including the cantata "Christus Apollo" (1969, with text by Ray Bradbury), "Music for Orchestra" (1972), and "Fireworks", a piece written for the concert stage in 1999. Goldsmith died, aged 75, on 21 July 2004, at his home in Los Angeles, after a long battle with cancer. Click Here to read Goldsmith's obituary
Reviews:
Air Force One, Basic Instinct, Breakout, Capricorn One, Chain Reaction, The Challenge, City Hall, Congo, Contract on Cherry Street, Criminal Law, Deep Rising, The Edge, Executive Decision, Fierce Creatures, The Final Conflict, First Blood, First Knight, The Ghost and the Darkness, The Haunting, Hollow Man, L.A. Confidential, The Last Castle, Legend, Leviathan, Lionheart, Masada, Medicine Man, Mulan, The Mummy, Patton, Police Story, Poltergeist, Powder, Rudy, The Secret of NIMH, The Shadow, Small Soldiers, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek: Nemesis, The Sum of All Fears, Supergirl, The Thirteenth Warrior, Total Recall, Under Fire and U.S. Marshals.
Filmography:
Looney Tunes Back in Action (2003), Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), The Sum of All Fears (2002), Along Came A Spider (2001), The Last Castle (2001), Hollow Man (2000), The Haunting (1999), The Mummy (1999), The Thirteenth Warrior (1999), Deep Rising (1998), Mulan (1998), Small Soldiers (1998), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), U.S. Marshals (1998), Air Force One (1997), The Edge (1997), Fierce Creatures (1997), L.A. Confidential (1997), Chain Reaction (1996), City Hall (1996), Executive Decision (1996), The Ghost and the Darkness (1996), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Congo (1995), First Knight (1995), Powder (1995), Star Trek: Voyager (1995), Angie (1994), Bad Girls (1994), I.Q. (1994), The River Wild (1994), The Shadow (1994), Dennis the Menace (1993), Malice (1993), Matinee (1993), Rudy (1993), Six Degrees of Separation (1993), The Vanishing (1993), Basic Instinct (1992), Forever Young (1992), Love Field (1992), Medicine Man (1992), Mom and Dad Save the World (1992), Mr. Baseball (1992), Not Without My Daughter (1991), Omen IV: The Awakening (1991), Sleeping with the Enemy (1991), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), The Russia House (1990), Total Recall (1990), The Burbs (1989), Criminal Law (1989), Leviathan (1989), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), Warlock (1989), Rambo III (1988), Rent-a-Cop (1988), Extreme Prejudice (1987), Innerspace (1987), Lionheart (1987), Hoosiers (1986), Link (1986), Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986), Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (1985), Explorers (1985), King Solomon's Mines (1985), Legend (1985), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Gremlins (1984), Lonely Guy (1984), Runaway (1984), Supergirl (1984), Dusty (1983), Psycho II (1983), The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1983), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Under Fire (1983), The Challenge (1982), First Blood (1982), Inchon (1982), Poltergeist (1982), The Secret of NIMH (1982), The Final Conflict (1981), Night Crossing (1981), Outland (1981), Raggedy Man (1981), The Salamander (1981), Caboblanco (1980), Masada (1980), Alien (1979), The Great Train Robbery (1979), Players (1979), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), The Boys from Brazil (1978), Capricorn One (1978), Coma (1978), Damien: Omen II (1978), Magic (1978), The Swarm (1978), Contract on Cherry Street (1977), Damnation Alley (1977), High Velocity (1977), Islands in the Stream (1977), MacArthur (1977), Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977), The Cassandra Crossing (1976), The Last Hard Men (1976), Logan's Run (1976), The Omen (1976), Babe (1975), Breakheart Pass (1975), Breakout (1975), A Girl Named Sooner (1975), Medical Story (1975), Ransom (1975), The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975), Take a Hard Ride (1975), The Wind and the Lion (1975), Chinatown (1974), QB VII (1974), S*P*Y*S (1974), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1974), Winter Kill (1974), Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies (1973), The Don Is Dead (1973), Hawkins on Murder (1973), Indict and Convict (1973), One Little Indian (1973), Papillon (1973), Police Story (1973), The Red Pony (1973), Shamus (1973), The Culpepper Cattle Company (1972), Lights Out (1972), The Man (1972), The Other (1972), Pursuit (1972), The Brotherhood of the Bell (1971), Crawlspace (1971), Crosscurrent (1971), Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate (1971), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), The Going Up of David Lev (1971), The Homecoming - A Christmas Story (1971), The Last Run (1971), The Mephisto Waltz (1971), Wild Rovers (1971), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), Patton (1970), Rio Lobo (1970), A Step Out of Line (1970), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), The Traveling Executioner (1970), 100 Rifles (1969), The Chairman (1969), The Illustrated Man (1969), Justine (1969), Room 222 (1969), Bandolero! (1968), The Detective (1968), Nick Quarry (1968), Planet of the Apes (1968), Sebastian (1968), The Flim Flam Man (1967), Hour of the Gun (1967), In Like Flint (1967), The Karate Killers (1967), Warning Shot (1967), The Blue Max (1966), One of Our Spies Is Missing (1966), The Sand Pebbles (1966), Seconds (1966), Stagecoach (1966), To Trap a Spy (1966), The Trouble With Angels (1966), The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965), In Harm's Way (1965), Morituri (1965), Our Man Flint (1965), A Patch of Blue (1965), The Satan Bug (1965), Von Ryan's Express (1965), Fate Is the Hunter (1964), The Man from UNCLE (1964), Rio Conchos (1964), Seven Days in May (1964), Shock Treatment (1964), The Spy With My Face (1964), A Gathering of Eagles (1963), Lilies of the Field (1963), The List of Adrian Messenger (1963), The Prize (1963), The Stripper (1963), Take Her, She's Mine (1963), Freud (1962), Lonely Are the Brave (1962), The Spiral Road (1962), The Crimebusters (1961), The General with the Cockeyed ID (1961), The Expendables (1960), Studs Lonigan (1960), City of Fear (1959), Face of a Fugitive (1959), Black Patch (1957), Don't Bother to Knock (1952).
Highest Grossing Films (adjusted for inflation):
Gremlins ($290.1m), Rambo: First Blood Part II ($278.8m), Patton ($265.3m), Air Force One ($247.9m), Basic Instinct ($218.2m), Star Trek: The Motion Picture ($215.6m), The Mummy ($201.3m), Papillon ($198.0m), The Omen ($188.2m), Total Recall ($185.7m).
Awards:
1976 Academy Awards - Winner, Best Original Score - The Omen
1998 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Musical or Comedy Score - Mulan
1997 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Dramatic Score - L.A. Confidential
1992 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - Basic Instinct
1986 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - Hoosiers
1983 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - Under Fire
1982 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - Poltergeist
1979 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - Star Trek: The Motion Picture
1978 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - The Boys from Brazil
1976 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Song - "Ave Satani" from The Omen
1975 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - The Wind and the Lion
1974 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - Chinatown
1973 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - Papillon
1970 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - Patton
1968 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - Planet of the Apes
1966 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - The Sand Pebbles
1965 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - A Patch of Blue
1962 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - Freud
1998 Golden Globes - Nominee, Best Original Score - Mulan
1997 Golden Globes - Nominee, Best Original Score - L.A. Confidential
1992 Golden Globes - Nominee, Best Original Score - Basic Instinct
1979 Golden Globes - Nominee, Best Original Score - Alien
1979 Golden Globes - Nominee, Best Original Score - Star Trek: The Motion Picture
1974 Golden Globes - Nominee, Best Original Score - Chinatown
1997 BAFTA Awards - Nominee, Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music - L.A. Confidential
1979 BAFTA Awards – Nominee, Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music – Alien
1975 BAFTA Awards – Nominee, Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music – The Wind and the Lion
1974 BAFTA Awards – Nominee, Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music – Chinatown
1980 Grammy Awards – Nominee, Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television – Alien
1995 Emmy Awards – Winner, Outstanding Main Title Music – Star Trek: Voyager
Emmy Awards – Winner, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini– Series, Movie, or Special – Masada
1976 Emmy Awards – Winner, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini– Series, Movie, or Special – Babe
1975 Emmy Awards – Winner, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini– Series, Movie, or Special – QB VII
1973 Emmy Awards – Nominee, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini– Series, Movie, or Special – The Red Pony
1972 Emmy Awards – Nominee, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini– Series, Movie, or Special – Homecoming: A Christmas Story
Links:
Deconstructing Goldsmith by Tom and Sami
Henrik Stender's Jerry Goldsmith Page
As Good As Goldsmith
The Jerry Goldsmith Film Music Society
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