HENRY MANCINI BIOGRAPHY
Mancini born 1924 in Cleveland ,Ohio, learnt flute and piano at a young age.
After High School he attended Julliard School of Music in Manhattan NY.{we can assume he was a very competent player with ambitions} . In 1943 after 1 year there he was drafted into the Army.
After the war he became the pianist and arranger for the Glenn Miller Band, led by Tex Beneke.He also studied serious composing with Ernst Krenek and Mario Castelnuovo‐Tedesco. It was this, as well as his passion for jazz and swing music , that saw him join Universal Studios music dept as a house composer writing for such hits as Creature from the Black Lagoon , It came from Outer Space , Tarantula, followed by The Glenn Miller Story, The Benny Goodman Story , and Orson Welles Touch of Evil.
He left Universal Studios in 1958 , working as an independent writer. He soon established a working relationship with Producer Blake Edwards { see Peter Sellers movie with Goeffrey Rush for character insights} . This produced nearly 30 films, the first being a tv series titled Peter Gunn.
Other movies include Breakfast at Tiffanys, Days of wine and Roses, Pink Panther et al, The Party. Also Hatari, Victor/Victoria. Interestingly, Alfred Hitchcock rejected and replaced his work on the 1972 film Frenzy. He wrote many scores to TV shows, themes and ads, he recorded over 90 albums in styles ranging from Big Band to Classical to Pop. He at the time revolutionised the use of jazz in romantic and orchestral film and TV scores. He penned what have become jazz standards – Dreamsville, days of wine and roses, moon river , as well as easy listening hits such as Two for the road, Pink Panther, Peter Gunn , Baby elephant Walk.
With a powerful and loyal team around him ; Joe Reisman producing and Ethel Gabriel aiding in marketing at RCA over 20 years , he was able to make many easy listening albums that continually found an audience/use, be it latin versions of previous hits , Christmas versions [a merry Mancini Christmas] , Hawaiian band versions , Mancini with strings, Classical Mancini, Country Mancini, mancini with Sousa Marches…etc.
He also collaborated with many artists, including Brazil 66, Herb Albert, Michel le Grand, Oscar Petersen, Frank Sinatra and many others, that firmly established Mancini as a true heavyweight in the music/film industry for 30 years .
He maintained a performing schedule, conducting the London Symph, Boston Pops, Los Angeles Phil, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, touring with Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams‐2 major vehicles for his vocal work. Nominated for 72 Grammys, winning 20 and winning 4 Academy Awards. He died in 1994.
References Websites: Wikipedia, IMDB, Mancini/Movie, Henry Mancini Website.