Michel Legrand
Known For: Sound
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: February 24, 1932
Day of Death: January 26, 2019 (87 years old)
Place of Birth: Bécon-les-Bruyères, Paris, France
Michel Jean Legrand (24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many songs. His scores for the films of French New Wave director Jacques Demy, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), earned Legrand his first Academy Award nominations. Legrand won his first Oscar for the song "The Windmills of Your Mind" from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). Legrand was born in Paris to his father, Raymond Legrand, who was himself a conductor and composer, and his mother, Marcelle Ter-Mikaëlian, who was the sister of conductor Jacques Hélian. Raymond and Marcelle were married in 1929. His maternal grandfather was Armenian. Legrand composed more than two hundred film and television scores. He won three Oscars and five Grammys. He studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris from age 11, working with, among others, Nadia Boulanger and graduated with top honors as both a composer and a pianist. He burst upon the international music scene at 22 when his album I Love Paris (album) became a surprise hit. He established his name in the United States by working with such jazz stars as Miles Davis and Stan Getz. His sister Christiane Legrand was a member of The Swingle Singers and his niece Victoria Legrand is a member of the dream pop band Beach House. Legrand composed music for Jacques Demy's films The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), and appeared and performed in Agnès Varda's Cléo from 5 to 7 (1961). He also composed music for Joseph Losey's Eva (1962), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) (which features "The Windmills of Your Mind"), Ice Station Zebra (1968), The Picasso Summer (1969), The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun (1970), The Go-Between (1971), Summer of '42 (1971), Clint Eastwood's Breezy (1973), The Three Musketeers (1973), Orson Welles's last-completed film F for Fake (1974) and would later compose the score for Welles's posthumously-released movie The Other Side of the Wind (2018). He also composed the score for Yentl (1983), as well as the film score for Louis Malle's film Atlantic City (1980). His instrumental version of the theme from Brian's Song charted 56th in 1972 on the Billboard's pop chart. Legrand died of sepsis, during the night of 25–26 January 2019, at the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, where he had been hospitalized for two weeks for a pulmonary infection. His funeral was held in Paris at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral on 1 February 2019. He was interred at the Père Lachaise Cemetery. He remained active until his death and had concerts scheduled to take place in the spring. In 1997, Legrand composed the score for the musical Le Passe-muraille, with a book by Didier Van Cauwelaert. It premiered on Broadway in 2002 as Amour and was translated into English by Jeremy Sams and was directed by James Lapine. This musical was his Broadway debut and he was nominated for a Tony Award in 2003 for Best Score. Later he recorded Legrand Affair with Melissa Errico, a 100-piece symphony orchestra that included songs with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. ... Source: Article "Michel Legrand" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Original Music Composer
The Three Musketeers
Original Music Composer
Breezy
Original Music Composer
A Doll's House
Original Music Composer
A Slightly Pregnant Man
Music
The Hostage Gang
Original Music Composer
Cops and Robbers
Original Music Composer
40 Carats
Original Music Composer
Bequest to the Nation
Conductor
A Doll's House
Original Music Composer
F for Fake
Music
Story of a Love Story
Music
The Adventures Of Don Quixote
1972
Actor Grondin
A Time for Loving
Original Music Composer
Hearth Fires
Original Music Composer
A Time for Loving
Conductor
One Is a Lonely Number
Original Music Composer
The Outside Man
Original Music Composer
One Is a Lonely Number
Original Music Composer
The Old Maid
Conductor
The Old Maid
Music
Not Dumb, the Bird
Original Music Composer
Lady Sings the Blues
Original Music Composer
Portnoy's Complaint
Music
La Vie sentimentale de Georges le tueur
1971
1970
1969
1968
Original Music Composer
The Thomas Crown Affair
Music Director
The Man in the Buick
Music
The Man in the Buick
Original Music Composer
Ice Station Zebra
Original Music Composer
Sweet November
Original Music Composer
How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life
Music
A Hatful of Rain
Conductor
The Thomas Crown Affair
Conductor
Ice Station Zebra
1967
1966
1965
1964
Actor Self
Cinépanorama: Jacques Demy et Michel Legrand
Actor Jean (singing voice) (uncredited)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Original Music Composer
Band of Outsiders
Original Music Composer
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Original Music Composer
Le Grand Escroc
Original Music Composer
Agent 38-24-36
Original Music Composer
The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers
Music
From a Distant Gaze
Music
The Lovers of the France
Conductor
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Songs
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
1963
1962
Actor Bob, the Pianist
Cléo from 5 to 7
Original Music Composer
Vivre Sa Vie
Music
La colère
Music
L'Envie
Sound
La Gourmandise
Original Music Composer
Eva
Original Music Composer
Cléo from 5 to 7
Original Music Composer
Lust
Songs
Cléo from 5 to 7
Original Music Composer
The Seven Deadly Sins
Music
Playtime in Paris
Original Music Composer
La Paresse
Music
The Gentleman from Epsom