Marc Shaiman
Born: 22 October 1959, Newark, New Jersey.
Biography:
Marc Shaiman started his career as vocal arranger and musical director for Bette Midler and, during the early part of his career, arranged, produced and music-directed for many other artists including Barbra Streisand, Patti LuPone, Lauryn Hill, Martin Short, and Peter Allen. While writing special music material for "Saturday Night Live", Shaiman began his long association with Billy Crystal which, (by way of Rob Reiner) led to many fruitful collaborations with Harry Connick Jr, not least of which was his work as an arranger on "When Harry Met Sally" (1989). This collaboration led to the birth of his film music career and, although typecast as a romantic comedy composer, Shaiman actually made his debut writing the score for 1990 thriller "Misery". Since then, Shaiman has scored many successful movies, including "City Slickers" (1991), "The Addams Family" (1991), "A Few Good Men" (1992), "Sister Act" (1992), "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993), "The American President" (1995), "The First Wives Club" (1996), "George of the Jungle" (1997), "Patch Adams" (1998), "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" (1999) and "The Kid" (2000). Shaiman is a five-time Oscar nominee, a two-time Grammy nominee, an actual Emmy Award winner (for co-writing Billy Crystal's "Oscar Medleys"). Interestingly, Shaiman has appeared in many of the films he has worked on, including scene-stealing moments playing a lounge bar pianist in 'Hot Shots!', the conductor of a wedding orchestra in 'The Addams Family', a jingle writer in 'Broadcast News', a pianist in "The Wedding Planner", and - animated - as the pianist for Big Gay Al in the "South Park" movie. He resides in both Los Angeles and New York City with his partner, theatre director Scott Wittman, and has recently been the recipient of a Tony Award for his stage production of "Hairspray", which was one of the Broadway hits of 2002.
Click here to view at the totally offensive South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut lyrics archive!
Reviews:
The American President, The Bucket List, City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold, Forget Paris, George of the Jungle, Ghosts of Mississippi, Hairspray, In & Out, Misery, The Out-of-Towners, Patch Adams, South Park: Bigger, Loner and Uncut, The Story of Us and Team America: World Police
Filmography:
The Bucket List (2007), Hairspray (2007), Rumor Has It (2005), Alex and Emma (2003), The Cat in the Hat (2003), Down With Love (2003), Marci X (2003), 61* (2001), Get Over It (2001), One Night at McCool's (2001), The Wedding Planner (2001), What's the Worst That Could Happen? (2001), The Kid (2000), Jackie's Back (1999), The Out-of-Towners (1999), South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999), The Story of Us (1999), My Giant (1998), Patch Adams (1998), Simon Birch (1998), George of the Jungle (1997), In & Out (1997), Mother (1996), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), Bogus (1996), The First Wives Club (1996), The American President (1995), Forget Paris (1995), Stuart Saves His Family (1995), City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994), North (1994), Sister Act II: Back in the Habit (1994), Speechless (1994), That's Entertainment III (1994), Addams Family Values (1993), Heart and Souls (1993), Hocus Pocus (1993), Life With Mikey (1993), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), A Few Good Men (1992), For The Boys (1992), Sister Act (1992), Mr. Saturday Night (1992), The Addams Family (1991), City Slickers (1991), Scenes from a Mall (1991), Misery (1990), When Harry Met Sally... (1989), Beaches (1988), Big Business (1988), Divine Madness (1981).
Highest Grossing Films as at end of 2007 (adjusted for inflation):
A Few Good Men ($241.1m), Sister Act ($238.2m), Sleepless In Seattle ($216.6m), City Slickers ($208.6m), Patch Adams ($203.8m), The Addams Family ($190.9m), The First Wives Club ($169.0m), When Harry Met Sally
($165.5m), George of the Jungle ($162.4m), Hairspray ($122.1m)
Awards:
1999 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Song - "Blame Canada" from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
1998 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Musical or Comedy Score - Patch Adams
1996 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Musical or Comedy Score - The First Wives Club
1995 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Musical or Comedy Score - The American President
1993 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Song - "A Wink and a Smile" from Sleepless in Seattle
1993 BAFTA Awards Nominee, Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music Sleepless in Seattle
2007 Grammy Awards Nominee, Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media Hairspray
Links:
The Musical Mind of Marc Shaiman

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