Leonard Rosenman Leonard Rosenman

Born: 7 September 1924, Brooklyn, New York.
Died: 4 March 2008.

Biography:
New York born composer and conductor Leonard Rosenman originally intended to become a painter and artist, but switched his area of interest to music after serving in Pacific with the Army Air Forces in World War II. He studied in New York and in Europe with Arnold Schoenberg, who influenced young Rosenman with his avant-gardeist musical tendencies, earned a bachelor's degree in music from the University of California, Berkeley, and also studied composition with Roger Sessions and Luigi Dallapiccola. Rosenman was encouraged to enter the world of film music by his friend James Dean, whom he had taught piano, and had an immediate impact, composing the first ever twelve-tone score for his first film, "The Cobweb" in 1955. Rosenman's subsequent work as a film composer and arranger was relatively small but consistently challenging and of high quality. His credits includef the classic James Dean features "East of Eden" (1955) and "Rebel Without A Cause" (1955), "Fantastic Voyage" (1966), "A Man Called Horse" (1970), Stanley Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon" (1975, for which he won his first Oscar), Bound for Glory (1976, for which he won his second Oscar), the animated "Lord of the Rings" (1978), Neil Diamond's "The Jazz Singer" (1980), "Cross Creek" (1983), "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986), and "Robocop 2" (1990), his last major cinematic work. A prolific television composer, Leonard Rosenman also wrote incidental music for such series as "The Defenders", "The Twilight Zone", "Gibbsville" and "Marcus Welby M.D.", and won Emmys for his music for the made-for-TV movies "Sybil" (1976) and "Friendly Fire" (1979). In the mid 1990s Rosenman was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, a degenerative brain condition with symptoms similar to Alzheimer's disease, and as a result was forced to retire from composing. He died on March 4, 2008, of a heart attack at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. He is survived by his wife, Judie Gregg Rosenman, three children, and four grandchildren.

Reviews:
The Cobweb and Robocop 2

Filmography:
Jurij (2001), Levitation (1997), Mrs. Munck (1995), The Color of Evening (1994), The Face on the Milk Carton (1994), Keeper of the City (1991), Aftermath: A Test of Love (1991), Ambition (1991), Robocop 2 (1990), Body Wars (1989), Promised ad Miracle (1988), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), First Steps (1985), Sylvia (1985), Heart of the Stag (1984), Heartsounds (1984), Cross Creek (1983), Miss Lonelyhearts (1983), Making Love (1982), Murder in Texas (1981), City in Fear (1980), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), The Jazz Singer (1980), Friendly Fire (1979), Promises in the Dark (1979), Prophecy (1979), The Lord of the Rings (1978), September 30 1955 (1978), The Car (1977), The Possessed (1977), An Enemy of the People (1977), Bound for Glory (1976), Sybil (1976), Barry Lyndon (1975), Race with the Devil (1975), Judge Dee and the Monastery Murder (1974), The Phantom of Hollywood (1974), Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973), Banyon (1971), A Man Called Horse (1970), Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), The Todd Killings (1970), Any Second Now (1969), Hellfighters (1968), Countdown (1968), A Covenant with Death (1967), Stranger on the Run (1967), Fantastic Voyage (1966), Hell Is for Heroes (1962), The Chapman Report (1962), The Outsider (1961), The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960), Pork Chop Hill (1959), Lafayette Escadrille (1958), Bombers B-52 (1957), Edge of the City (1957), Rebel Without a Cause (1955), East of Eden (1955), The Cobweb (1955).

Highest Grossing Films (adjusted for inflation):
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ($209.4m), Robocop 2 ($79.5m), The Lord of the Rings ($72.1m), The Jazz Singer ($71.3m), Beneath the Planet of the Apes ($70.5m), Barry Lyndon ($60.9m), Prophecy ($52.3m), also Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden, Fantastic Voyage.

Awards:
1977 Academy Awards - Winner, Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score - Bound for Glory
1976 Academy Awards - Winner, Original Song Score and/or Adaptation - Barry Lyndon
1987 Academy Awards - Nominees, Best Original Score - Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
1984 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - Cross Creek
1979 Golden Globes - Nominee, Best Original Score - The Lord of the Rings
1979 Emmy Awards – Winner, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini– Series, Movie, or Special – Friendly Fire
1977 Emmy Awards – Winner, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini– Series, Movie, or Special – Sybil

Barry Lyndon Battle for the Planet of the Apes Beneath the Planet of the Apes The Cobweb/Edge of the City East of Eden/Rebel Without a Cause Fantastic Voyage The Jazz Singer Jurij Keeper of the City The Lord of the Rings Robocop 2 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home


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