Movatterモバイル変換

[0]ホーム
URL:

Jump to content
WikipediaThe Free Encyclopedia
Search

Leslie Bricusse

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
English composer, lyricist and playwright (1931–2021)

Leslie Bricusse
Born
Leslie Charles Bricusse

(1931-01-29)29 January 1931
Southfields, London, England
Died19 October 2021(2021-10-19) (aged 90)
Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Alpes-Maritimes, France
Occupations
Years active1952–2021
Spouse
Musical artist

Leslie Charles BricusseOBE (/ˈbrɪkəs/BRIK-əss;[1] 29 January 1931 – 19 October 2021) was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatremusicals and wrotetheme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the filmsDoctor Dolittle;Goodbye, Mr. Chips;Scrooge;Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory;Tom and Jerry: The Movie; the titularJames Bond film songs "Goldfinger" and "You Only Live Twice"; "Can You Read My Mind? (Love Theme fromSuperman)" (withJohn Williams) fromSuperman; and "Le Jazz Hot!" (withHenry Mancini) fromVictor/Victoria.

Early life and education

[edit]

Bricusse was born inSouthfields, London on 29 January 1931, the son of Annie Mary (née Mills)[a] and Cedric Bricusse, who already had a daughter. His paternal grandfather wasBelgian, whilst his mother's father came fromBelfast inNorthern Ireland.[3] His father was employed byKelmsley Newspapers for most of his working life.[4] When Bricusse was two years old, his parents relocated toPinner,Middlesex,[b] and he was educated atUniversity College School,Hampstead.[3]

After completing a two-year period ofNational Service with theRoyal Army Service Corps,[5] he studied Modern and Medieval Languages atGonville and Caius College, Cambridge.[6][7] He was secretary ofFootlights in 1952–53, and president the following year.[8][9] He also formed the Cambridge University Musical Comedy Club, and wrote the lyrics for its first production,Lady at the Wheel, in 1953.[10][11] It was during his college drama career that Bricusse began working forBeatrice Lillie.[12] After later starring in her stage showAn Evening with Beatrice Lillie for a year, he decided to concentrate on writing rather than performing.[13]

Career

[edit]

In the 1960s and 1970s, Bricusse enjoyed a fruitful partnership withAnthony Newley. They wrote the musicalStop the World – I Want to Get Off (1961), which was the basis of a 1966 film version and featured theGrammy-winningSong of the Year “What Kind of Fool Am I?” Also in collaboration with Newley, Bricusse wrote the showThe Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd (1965) and music for the filmWilly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), based on the children's bookCharlie and the Chocolate Factory byRoald Dahl. For the latter, they received anAcademy Award nomination forBest Original Song Score. When he collaborated with Newley, the two men referred to themselves as "Brickman and Newburg" – nicknames which arose after an unsuccessful attempt to create a musical based onIngmar Bergman's film comedySmiles of a Summer Night.[14] "Newburg" concentrated mainly on the music and "Brickman" on the lyrics, whilstIan Fraser often did their arrangements.[citation needed]

Working solely as a lyricist, he collaborated with composerCyril Ornadel onPickwick (1963), based onCharles Dickens'The Pickwick Papers, a successful vehicle forHarry Secombe. His later collaborators includedHenry Mancini (Victor/Victoria in 1982 andTom and Jerry: The Movie in 1992) andJohn Williams (Home Alone in 1990 andHook in 1991).

Bricusse composed the music and lyrics for the songs in the 1967 filmDoctor Dolittle, which co-starred Newley, and also wrote its screenplay. Although the movie flopped at the box-office,[15] "Talk to the Animals" earned him anAcademy Award forBest Original Song. He also scored the filmGoodbye, Mr. Chips (1969).[citation needed]

Sammy Davis Jr. had hits with two songs by Bricusse, "What Kind of Fool Am I?" (1962), fromStop the World - I Want to Get Off, and "The Candy Man" (1972), fromWilly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. In the United States, the latter release topped theBillboard Hot 100 singles chart for three weeks, and was the singer's biggest hit.[16][17]

Other recording artists who recorded successful versions of his songs includeNina Simone ("Feeling Good"),Matt Monro andFrank Sinatra ("My Kind of Girl"),Shirley Bassey ("Goldfinger"),Harry Secombe ("If I Ruled the World"),Nancy Sinatra ("You Only Live Twice"),The Turtles ("A Guide for the Married Man"),Maureen McGovern ("Can You Read My Mind"), andDiana Krall ("When I Look in Your Eyes").[18]

Bricusse partnered withGeorge Tipton to write the opening theme of the American television sitcomIt's a Living.[19]

Pure Imagination: The World of Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse, devised and directed byBruce Kimmel, opened at thePacific Resident Theatre inVenice, California, on 7 December 2013. In 2015, it went to theSt James Theatre, London.[20]

Bricusse was inducted into theSongwriters Hall of Fame in 1989.[21] On 29 October 2001, he was awarded theOrder of the British Empire (OBE) for "services to the film industry and the theatre"[22] fromQueen Elizabeth II at aBuckingham Palace investiture ceremony.[23]

In 2015, he released a memoir entitledPure Imagination: A Sorta-Biography, with a foreword byElton John.[24]

Personal life

[edit]

Bricusse lived inCalifornia and in London, in an apartment overlooking theRiver Thames.[citation needed] He married actressYvonne "Evie" Romain on 18 October 1958 at St James's Church,Marylebone.[25] The couple's son, Adam Cedric (born 4 April 1964),[26] pursued a career as an artist after studyingfine art atMerton College, Oxford.[27][28]

Death

[edit]

Bricusse died in his sleep inSaint-Paul-de-Vence,France, on 19 October 2021, aged 90.[29][30] In 2024, his wife donated his papers, including 225 notebooks, to theLibrary of Congress.[31][32]

Works

[edit]

Musicals

[edit]

Songs

[edit]

Source:[40]

Awards

[edit]

Source:[41]

Nominations

[edit]

Source:[41]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^When Bricusse's parents were married, on 23 June 1923, his mother was a widow with the surname Vilander.[2]
  2. ^Pinner is now in theLondon borough ofHarrow

References

[edit]
  1. ^"Say How: B". National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled. Retrieved20 October 2021.
  2. ^"London Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1938". London Metropolitan Archives. P90/CTC2/022 – viaAncestry.com.
  3. ^abBricusse (2015), pp. 10–12.
  4. ^"Cedric Bricusse Writer's Father Dies In England".The Hamilton Spectator. Vol. 114, no. 95. 23 April 1959. p. 8 – viaNewspapers.com.
  5. ^"Leslie Bricusse obituary".The Times. London. 20 October 2021. Retrieved11 December 2024.
  6. ^"Oscar-winning Caian Leslie Bricusse (1931-2021) | Gonville & Caius".www.cai.cam.ac.uk.
  7. ^Le Moignan, Nick (2015)."Pure Magic".Once a Caian. No. 15. Cambridge: Gonville & Caius College. pp. 10–11. Retrieved10 December 2024 – viaIssuu.
  8. ^"Official site".LeslieBricusse.com. Retrieved22 September 2014.
  9. ^Hewison (1983), p. 206.
  10. ^G. R. (10 November 1953)."A Musical by Undergraduates".The Daily Telegraph. No. 30685. London. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^Hewison (1983), p. 107.
  12. ^Genzlinger, Neil (20 October 2021)."Leslie Bricusse, Prolific Songwriter for Stage and Screen, Dies at 90".The New York Times.ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved24 October 2021.
  13. ^Bardsley, Garth (2003).Stop the World: The Biography of Anthony Newley. London: Oberon Books. pp. 75–76.ISBN 1840022744.
  14. ^Harris, Mark (2009).Scenes from a Revolution: The Birth of the New Hollywood. Edinburgh: Canongate. p. 89.ISBN 978-1847671219.
  15. ^Silverman, Stephen M. (1988).The Fox That Got Away: The Last Days of the Zanuck Dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox. Syracuse, NJ: Lyle Stuart Inc. p. 326.ISBN 978-0818404856.
  16. ^Bronson, Fred (2003). "Sammy Davis, Jr.".The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th ed.). New York: Billboard Books. p. 313.ISBN 0823076776.
  17. ^Fishgall, Gary (2003).Gonna Do Great Things: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr. New York: Scribner. p. 277.ISBN 0743227417.
  18. ^"Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka".Kennedy-center.org. Archived fromthe original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved22 September 2014.
  19. ^"DEF: George Tipton and Leslie Bricusse "Theme from It's a Living"".Tunesmate.com. 17 February 2012.
  20. ^Shenton, Mark (24 September 2015)."Mark Shenton's theatre picks: September 24".Thestage.co.uk. Archived fromthe original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved23 March 2018.
  21. ^"Songwriters Hall Of Fame To Induct 5 New Members".Billboard. Vol. 101, no. 3. New York. 21 January 1989. p. 84.
  22. ^"Order of the British Empire". Supplement No. 1.The London Gazette. No. 56237. London. 16 June 2001. pp. B24–B25.
  23. ^"Leslie Bricusse, songwriter who wrote lyrics for the Bond films and was best known for Doctor Dolittle and Willy Wonka – obituary".Msn.com.
  24. ^"Goldfinger and Pure Imagination songwriter Leslie Bricusse dead at 90".Torontosun.com. Retrieved24 October 2021.
  25. ^"Television Romance".Harrow Observer and Gazette. No. 5430. 23 October 1958. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^Bricusse (2015), pp. 145–146.
  27. ^Bricusse (2015), p. 417.
  28. ^Mills, Simon (13 April 1999)."Why the A-list hang Adam".Evening Standard. London. p. 34 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^"Leslie Bricusse: 'Lyrical genius' of film dies aged 90".BBC News. BBC. 20 October 2021.
  30. ^Burlingame, Jon (19 October 2021)."Leslie Bricusse, 'Willy Wonka,' 'Goldfinger' Songwriter, Dies at 90".Variety Magazine.
  31. ^"Library of Congress Acquires Papers of Academy Award-Winning Songwriter Leslie Bricusse".Library of Congress. Washington, D.C. 13 February 2024.Archived from the original on 22 February 2024. Retrieved10 December 2024.
  32. ^Mondello, Bob (5 July 2024)."Take a sneak peek into a legendary songwriter's creative process".North Country Public Radio. Canton, NJ.Archived from the original on 5 July 2024. Retrieved12 December 2024. (Includes transcript of segment fromNPR news programAll Things Considered).
  33. ^"Stage productions".Songwritershalloffame.org. Archived fromthe original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved22 September 2014.
  34. ^"Film Scores".Songwritershalloffame.org. Archived fromthe original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved22 September 2014.
  35. ^Snelson, John (2017). "'We Said We Wouldn't Look Back': British Musical Theatre, 1935–1969". In Everett, William A. &Laird, Paul R. (eds.).The Cambridge Companion to the Musical (Third ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 159–184.ISBN 978-1107114746.
  36. ^Wright (2017), p. 268.
  37. ^"Stage listing".LeslieBricusse.com. Retrieved22 September 2014.[permanent dead link]
  38. ^Wright (2017), p. 293.
  39. ^Jones, Kenneth (29 July 2009)."A New 'Candy Man': Tony Nominee Babatundé Will Be Sammy in New Musical".Playbill.com. Archived fromthe original on 16 July 2012.
  40. ^"Song catalog".Songwritershalloffame.org. Archived fromthe original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved22 September 2014.
  41. ^abc"Awards and nominations list".Songwritershalloffame.org. Archived fromthe original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved22 September 2014.
  42. ^"Golden Raspberry Awards: 1986".Lebeauleblog.com. 12 November 2015.

Sources

[edit]
  • Bricusse, Leslie (2015).Pure Imagination: The Life and Good Times of a Songwriter – A Sorta-biography. London: Faber Music.ISBN 978-0571539307.
  • Hewison, Robert (1983).Footlights! A Hundred Years of Cambridge Comedy. London: Methuen.ISBN 0413560503.
  • Wright, Adrian (2017).Must Close Saturday: The Decline and Fall of the British Musical Flop. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press.ISBN 978-1783272358.

External links

[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related toLeslie Bricusse.
Wikiquote has quotations related toLeslie Bricusse.
Awards for Leslie Bricusse
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
1934–1940
1941–1950
1951–1960
1961–1970
1971–1980
1981–1990
1991–2000
2001–2010
2011–2020
2021–present
Awarded to songwriters
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
International
National
Academics
Artists
People
Other
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leslie_Bricusse&oldid=1328680768"
Categories:
Hidden categories:
[8]ページ先頭
©2009-2026 Movatter.jp