Alex North (born Isadore Soifer; December 4, 1910 – September 8, 1991) was an American composer best known for his many film scores, including ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...

'' (one of the first jazz-based film scores), ''

Viva Zapata! ''Viva Zapata!'' is a 1952 American biographical Western film directed by Elia Kazan, dramatizing the life of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata from his peasant upbringing through his rise to power in the early 1900s and his death in 1919. I ...

'', ''

Spartacus Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts o ...

'', ''

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

'', and ''

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of middle-aged couple Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they rece ...

'' He received fifteen

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nominations for his work as a composer; while he did not win for any of his nominations, he received an

Honorary Academy Award The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scienc ...

in 1986, the first for a composer. He wrote the music for the Oscar-nominated song "

Unchained Melody "Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the prison film '' Unchained'' (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack.Robert ...

", which was used in the 1955 prison film '' Unchained''. The song became a

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...

and one of the most recorded of the 20th century, with over 1,500 recordings made by more than 670 artists, in multiple languages.

Early life

North was born Isadore Soifer in

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (also known as the Delaware Valley) on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. ...

, to

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

parents Jesse and Beila (Bessie). They had emigrated from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

to the U.S. around 1906. Jesse was originally from

Bila Tserkva Bila Tserkva ( ; , ) is a city in central Ukraine. It is situated on the Ros (river), Ros River in the historical region of right-bank Ukraine. It is the largest city in Kyiv Oblast (which does not include the city of Kyiv) and serves as the ...

and Bessie from

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

(both cities are now in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

). In Chester, Jesse worked as a blacksmith and skilled mechanic, and Bessie ran a small grocery store. In 1915, Jesse died on the operating table during surgery for

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

, leaving Bessie with financial hardships. In the late 1920s, Isadore's older brother Jacob began writing articles for radical labor publications. To shield his family from political peril, Jacob adopted the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

" Joseph North". Soon the family followed his lead, and Isadore Soifer became Alex North. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Alex served as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

Special Services division from 1942 to 1946.Cleopatra Symphony (U.S. premiere): Alex North
www.hollywoodbowl.com. Retrieved August 12, 2021. There, he was responsible for "self-entertainment" programs in mental hospitals. He also composed music for more than twenty-six documentary films for the

Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...

. While in the service, he wrote the score for the documentary short, ''A Better Tomorrow'' (1945).

Career

North managed to integrate his

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

into typical film music

leitmotif A leitmotif or () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is a partial angliciz ...

structure, rich with themes. One of these became the famous song "

". Nominated for fifteen

Oscars The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence i ...

but unsuccessful each time, North is one of only two film composers to receive the Lifetime Achievement Academy Award, the other being

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone ( , ; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, Orchestration, orchestrator, conductor, trumpeter, and pianist who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 film score, scores for cinema and televisi ...

. North's frequent collaborator as orchestrator was the avant-garde composer

Henry Brant Henry Dreyfuss Brant (September 15, 1913 – April 26, 2008) was a Canadian-born American composer. An expert orchestrator with a flair for experimentation, many of Brant's works featured spatialization techniques. Biography Brant was born ...

. He won the 1968

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

award for his music to ''

The Shoes of the Fisherman The Shoes of the Fisherman may refer to: * ''The Shoes of the Fisherman'' (novel), a 1963 novel by the writer Morris West * ''The Shoes of the Fisherman'' (film), a 1968 film based on the novel {{disambiguation ...

'' (1968). His best-known film scores include ''

'', ''

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by the American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a ...

'', ''

'', '' The Rainmaker'', ''

'', '' The Misfits'', ''

'', ''

Dragonslayer A dragonslayer is a person or being that slays dragons. Dragonslayers and the creatures they hunt have been popular in traditional stories from around the world: they are a type of story classified as type 300 in the Aarne–Thompson classifica ...

'' and ''

Under the Volcano ''Under the Volcano'' is a novel by the English writer Malcolm Lowry (1909–1957) published in 1947. It tells the story of Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic British Consulate general, consul in the Mexican city of Cuernavaca, Quauhnahuac on the D ...

''. His music for ''

The Wonderful Country ''The Wonderful Country'' (aka ''The Wonderful Country, A Novel'') is a 1952 Western novel written by Tom Lea. The book is set in Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico, and Texas and New Mexico in the United States. It was filmed in 1959. After the ...

'' makes use of Mexican and American motifs. His commissioned score for '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968) is notorious for having been discarded by director

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

late in the production process. Although North subsequently incorporated motifs from the rejected score for ''

'', ''

Shanks Shanks may refer to: People with the surname * Alison Shanks (born 1982), New Zealand professional racing cyclist * Bill Shanks, American sports broadcaster and writer * Bruce Shanks (1908–1980), American editorial cartoonist * Charles G. ...

'' and ''

'', the score itself remained unheard until composer

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer, conductor and orchestrator with a career in film and television scoring that spanned nearly 50 years and over 200 productions, between 1954 and 2003. He was consid ...

re-recorded it for

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and cast recording, original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as ...

in 1993. In 2007,

Intrada Records Intrada is an American record company based in Oakland, California, founded by Douglass Fake (1952-2024). The company specializes in movie and television soundtracks, notably those by the late Jerry Goldsmith. Intrada was founded in 1985 by pro ...

released the 1968 recording sessions on CD from North's personal archives. North was also commissioned to write a jazz score for ''

Nero Wolfe Nero Wolfe is a brilliant, obese and eccentric fictional armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery (fiction), mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Principality of Montenegro, Montenegro and keeps his past murky. He lives in a ...

'', a 1959 CBS-TV series based on

Rex Stout Rex Todhunter Stout (; December 1, 1886–October 27, 1975) was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. His best-known characters are the detective Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin, who were featured in 33 novels and ...

's Nero Wolfe characters, starring

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

as Archie Goodwin and

Kurt Kasznar Kurt Kasznar (born Kurt Servischer; August 13, 1913 – August 6, 1979) was an Austrian-American stage, film and television actor who played roles on Broadway, appearing in the original Broadway productions of '' Waiting for Godot'', ''The ...

as Nero Wolfe. A pilot and two or three episodes were filmed, but the designated time slot was, in the end, given to another series. North's unheard score for ''Nero Wolfe'' and six recorded tracks on digital audio tape are in the UCLA Music Library Special Collections. The film score researcher identifies 30 CBS digital audio tapes in the UCLA Music Library Special Collections (p. 168), with tracks 86–91 of DAT #11 being the ''Nero Wolfe'' music of Alex North (p. 174). The score, CPN5912, is in Box #105 (p. 51). He wrote the music for various other TV shows, such as the anthologies ''

Climax! ''Climax!'' (later known as ''Climax Mystery Theater'') is an American television anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS pro ...

'' and ''

Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' is an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 134 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of t ...

''. Though North is best known for his work in Hollywood, he spent years in New York writing music for the stage; he composed the score for the original Broadway production of ''

''. It was in New York that he met

Elia Kazan Elias Kazantzoglou (, ; September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003), known as Elia Kazan ( ), was a Greek-American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one of the most honored and inf ...

(director of ''Salesman''), who brought him to Hollywood in the 1950s. North was one of several composers who merged the sound of contemporary concert music into film, in part marked by an increased use of dissonance and complex rhythms. But there is also a lyrical quality to much of his work which may be connected to the influence of

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

, with whom he studied in 1936–37. His classical works include two symphonies and a ''Rhapsody for Piano, Trumpet obbligato and Orchestra''. His music for the 1976 television miniseries '' Rich Man, Poor Man'' was a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nominee and an Emmy Award winner. He went on to score the sequel ''

Rich Man, Poor Man Book II ''Rich Man, Poor Man Book II'' is an American television miniseries that aired on ABC in one-hour episodes at 9:00pm ET/PT on Tuesday nights between September 21, 1976 and March 8, 1977. A sequel to '' Rich Man, Poor Man'' that had aired the pre ...

'' as well as the 1978 miniseries '' The Word''. North is also known for his opening to the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

television anthology series ''

'' and the 1965

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

television miniseries ''FDR''.

Legacy and recognition

North was recognized for his lifetime achievement in 2004 from the Sammy Film Music Awards. In 2016, the Library of Congress added North's 1951 recording of his score to "A Streetcar Named Desire" to its National Recording Registry.

Death

North died on September 8, 1991, in Los Angeles, California. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.

Awards

The

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

ranked North's score for ''

'' #19 on their list of the greatest film scores. His scores for the following films were also nominated for the list: *''

'' (1963) *'' The Misfits'' (1961) *''

'' (1960) *''

'' (1952) *''

'' (1966) North was nominated for fifteen Academy Awards throughout his career, one for

Best Original Song The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best ...

, the rest in the Best Original Score category, making him the most-nominated composer to have never won. He was however awarded an

in 1986; he was the first composer to receive it. *Nominated - ''

'' (1951) *Nominated - ''

'' (1952) *Nominated - ''

The Rose Tattoo ''The Rose Tattoo'' is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams in 1949 and 1950; after its Chicago premiere on December 29, 1950, he made further revisions to the play for its Broadway premiere on February 2, 1951, and its publication b ...

'' (1955) *Nominated - Best Original Song (with

Hy Zaret Hy Zaret (born Hyman Harry Zaritsky; August 21, 1907 – July 2, 2007) was an American Tin Pan Alley lyricist and composer who wrote the lyrics of the 1955 hit "Unchained Melody", one of the most-recorded songs of the 20th century. Personal lif ...

) "

" (1955) *Nominated - '' The Rainmaker'' (1956) *Nominated - ''

'' (1960) *Nominated - ''

'' (1963) *Nominated - '' The Agony and the Ecstasy'' (1965) *Nominated - ''

'' (1966) *Nominated - ''

'' (1968) *Nominated - ''

'' (1974) *Nominated - ''

Bite the Bullet "Biting the bullet" is a metaphor which is used to describe a situation, often a debate, where one accepts an inevitable impending hardship or hard-to-refute point, and then endures the resulting pain with fortitude. It has been suggested that i ...

'' (1975) *Nominated - ''

'' (1981) *Nominated - ''

'' (1984) *Winner - Honorary Oscar "in recognition of his brilliant artistry in the creation of memorable music for a host of distinguished motion pictures." (1986)

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...

for Original Score: *Nominated - ''Spartacus'' (1960) *Winner - ''

'' (1968)

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

Award for Original Score: *Winner - Lifetime Achievement (1986) *Winner - ''

Good Morning, Vietnam ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' is a 1987 American war comedy film written by Mitch Markowitz and directed by Barry Levinson. Set in Saigon in 1965, during the Vietnam War, the film stars Robin Williams as an Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) D ...

'' (1987)

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for Music Composition: *Winner - '' Rich Man, Poor Man'' (1976) *Nominated - '' The Word'' (1978) *Nominated - ''

'' (1985)

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

for Original Score: *Nominated - ''

'' (1963) *Nominated - ''

'' (1966) *Nominated - ''Rich Man, Poor Man'' (1976)

Selected filmography

*''

'' (1951) *''

'' (1952) *''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'' (1952) *'' Désirée'' (1954) *'' Unchained'' (1955) *''

'' (1955) *''

I'll Cry Tomorrow ''I'll Cry Tomorrow'' (1955) is a biopic that tells the story of Lillian Roth, a Broadway star who rebels against the pressure of her domineering mother and struggles with alcoholism after the death of her fiancé. It stars Susan Hayward, Rich ...

'' (1955) *'' The Bad Seed'' (1956) *'' The Rainmaker'' (1956) *''

The King and Four Queens ''The King and Four Queens'' is a 1956 American DeLuxe Color western adventure comedy/mystery film starring Clark Gable as adventurer Dan Kehoe and Eleanor Parker as wife/widow Sabina McDade. It was filmed on location in CinemaScope. Directed ...

'' (1956) *''

The Long, Hot Summer ''The Long, Hot Summer'' is a 1958 American drama film starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa and Orson Welles. It was directed by Martin Ritt, with a screenplay by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr., based in part on three ...

'' (1958) *'' Stage Struck'' (1958) *'' Hot Spell'' (1958) *''

The Sound and the Fury ''The Sound and the Fury'' is a novel by the American author William Faulkner. It employs several narrative styles, including stream of consciousness. Published in 1929, ''The Sound and the Fury'' was Faulkner's fourth novel, and was not immedi ...

'' (1959) *''

'' (1960) *'' The Misfits'' (1961) *''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

'' (1961) *'' The Children's Hour'' (1961) *'' All Fall Down'' (1962) *''

'' (1963) *''

Cheyenne Autumn ''Cheyenne Autumn'' is a 1964 American epic Western film starring Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, James Stewart, and Edward G. Robinson. It tells the story of a factual event, the Northern Cheyenne Exodus of 1878–79, told with artistic licen ...

'' (1964) *''

The Outrage ''The Outrage'' is a 1964 American Western film directed by Martin Ritt and starring Paul Newman, Laurence Harvey, Claire Bloom, Edward G. Robinson and William Shatner. It is a remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1950 Japanese film '' Rashomon'', ba ...

'' (1964) *'' The Agony and the Ecstasy'' (1965) *''

'' (1966) *'' The Devil's Brigade'' (1968) *''

'' (1968) *''

Hard Contract ''Hard Contract'' is a 1969 American drama mystery film written and directed by S. Lee Pogostin and starring James Coburn and Lee Remick. It premiered on April 30, 1969 in Panavision. Plot CIA assassin John Cunningham, a cold-blooded killer wit ...

'' (1969) *'' A Dream of Kings'' (1969) *'' Willard'' (1971) *''

Pocket Money ''Pocket Money'' is a 1972 American buddy-comedy film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, from a screenplay written by Terrence Malick and based on the 1970 novel ''Jim Kane'' by J. P. S. Brown. The film stars Paul Newman and Lee Marvin and takes ...

'' (1972) *''

'' (1974) *''

'' (1975) *'' Journey into Fear'' (1975) *''

Somebody Killed Her Husband ''Somebody Killed Her Husband'' is a 1978 American comedy–mystery film directed by Lamont Johnson and written by Reginald Rose. It starred Farrah Fawcett and Jeff Bridges. Also in the cast were John Wood, Tammy Grimes and John Glover. Plot T ...

'' (1978) *''

Wise Blood ''Wise Blood'' is the first novel by American author Flannery O'Connor, published in 1952. The novel was assembled from disparate stories first published in '' Mademoiselle'', ''The Sewanee Review'' and ''Partisan Review''. The first chapter is ...

'' (1979) *''

Carny Carny, also spelled carnie, is an informal term used in North America for a traveling carnival employee, and the language they use, particularly when the employee operates a game ("joint"), food stand ("grab", "popper", or "floss wagon"), or rid ...

'' (1980) *''

'' (1981) *''

'' (1984) *''

Prizzi's Honor ''Prizzi's Honor'' is a 1985 American black comedy crime film directed by John Huston, starring Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner as two highly skilled mob assassins who, after falling in love, are hired to kill each other. The screenplay co- ...

'' (1985) *''

The Dead The Dead may refer to: * The dead, those who have experienced death Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * The Dead (Higson novel), ''The Dead'' (Higson novel), 2010 novel by Charlie Higson * The Dead (Kracht novel), ''The Dead'' (Kracht nov ...

'' (1987) *''

'' (1987) *'' The Penitent'' (1988)

References

External links

* * *
Unchained Melody Publishing LLC
is the publishing administrator for "Unchained Melody".
Alex North papers
Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences {{DEFAULTSORT:North, Alex 1910 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American classical composers Academy Honorary Award recipients American film score composers American jazz composers American male classical composers American male film score composers American male jazz composers American people of Russian-Jewish descent Classical musicians from Pennsylvania Golden Globe Award–winning musicians Jazz-influenced classical composers Jazz musicians from Connecticut Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania Jewish American classical composers Jewish American military personnel Military personnel from Pennsylvania Musicians from Delaware County, Pennsylvania People from Chester, Pennsylvania People from Ridgefield, Connecticut Primetime Emmy Award winners RCA Victor artists Varèse Sarabande Records artists United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War II