Lionel Newman

born on 4/1/1916 in New Heaven, CT, United States

died on 3/2/1989

Lionel Newman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Lionel Newman

Lionel Newman (January 4, 1916  February 3, 1989) was an American conductor, pianist, and film and television composer. He was the brother of Alfred Newman and Emil Newman, uncle of Randy Newman, David Newman, Maria Newman and Thomas Newman, and grandfather of Joey Newman.

Biography

Early life

Born in New Haven, Connecticut,[1] Newman was one of ten children, the youngest of seven boys, born to Russian immigrant Jewish parents. While the family had little money, the children's mother, Luba, was a strong woman who encouraged them to achieve. Newman migrated to Hollywood where, at the age of 16, he began conducting for impresario Earl Carroll. This was where he met his future wife, Beverly Carroll, an Earl Carroll Vanities showgirl, and niece of the impresario. Newman had formal training in New York, and after moving to Los Angeles, he continued his studies with Joseph Achron and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.

In the 1930s, Newman earned his stripes conducting national tours and working as the piano accompanist for Mae West. She used to scold him for holding his hands too high in the pit saying, "I'm the show, Newman, not you."

At the age of 18, he obtained a job playing piano on the Holland America ocean liner, the S.S.Rotterdam, with his "Newman's Society Orchestra". This trip had great significance for him, as he had always wanted to make another such trip to find his mother's home.

Career at 20th Century Fox

After serving an apprenticeship conducting and orchestrating live shows, Newman joined 20th Century Fox as a rehearsal pianist under the guidance of his brother, Alfred Newman, and by 1959, he had been promoted to Musical Director for Television there. This opened the doors to feature films. He was soon made vice president in charge of music for both television and features. This soon resulted in a promotion to senior vice president of all music for Twentieth Century Fox Films. He wrote several classic TV themes for Fox, including The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Adventures in Paradise, and Daniel Boone.

Lionel Newman's tenure with Twentieth Century Fox spanned 46 years with over 200 films to his credit, including How to Marry a Millionaire, North To Alaska, The Proud Ones, Road House, and Love Me Tender (Elvis Presley's first picture). He was musical director for all of Marilyn Monroe's films at Fox, in accordance with her request, including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, There's No Business Like Show Business, River of No Return, and Let's Make Love.

Awards and nominations

He received eleven Academy Award nominations, and won an Oscar for Hello Dolly! in 1969. He conducted the scores for Cleopatra, The Sand Pebbles, The Agony and the Ecstasy, The Long Hot Summer, The Young Lions, Alien, and The Omen. He was the musical supervisor for Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Monsignor, and The Fury. Although he did not consider himself a songwriter, he received a certificate of merit from Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) for over one million network performances of his 1948 hit, "Again", a pop standard that lived on long after its introduction in the film Road House.

Work with other composers

Newman's wit and humor were famous around the film capital. Frank Sinatra, in his biography, called Newman one of the funniest men in Hollywood. His meanness and harsh tongue were also renowned. Jerry Goldsmith recalls in his biography how Newman used to call him "Gorgeous" and act feminine behind his back, jealous of the female following Goldsmith had at the studio. Goldsmith also recounts that Newman nicknamed John Williams "Little Dimitri", after Dimitri Tiomkin.

Newman absolutely loved the film industry. In the world of film music, he worked very hard and rose to become one of its giants. He was a perfectionist, always making "just one more take" if some little detail could be improved. He wanted the Twentieth Century Fox Orchestra to reach the level of a great symphony orchestra, and it did, especially when he conducted. He was instrumental in the careers of John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Dominic Frontiere, Pat Williams, and many more.

Personal life

Newman was married to Beverly Carroll, who died October 21, 2010, and with whom he had three daughters. Carroll Newman, producer, is married to actor/writer Gary Frank and they have one daughter Jessica Marli Frank, who is a Director, Digital Marketing at Lions Gate Films; Deborah Newman Sharpe, VP, Sharpe and Associates, is married to Robert Sharpe, Owner, Sharpe and Associates located in Tucson, AZ They have three children; Sarah Newman (Independent Casting Director), Jennifer Newman Sharpe, Esq. (Law Offices of Jennifer Newman Sharpe NYC), Jeremy Sharpe, Community Liaison Rancho Sahuarita, AZ; and Jenifer Newman, a former professional ballet dancer and current Core Fusion teacher/National Trainer with Exhale Spa. She has one son, Joey Newman, a film and television composer/conductor married to Jerelyn Newman with three daughters, Ella, Ava and Leah.

Later life

During the last few years of his tenure at Fox, Newman conducted major symphony orchestras in the United States, Canada, the UK, and New Zealand. Newman retired in 1985 and died on February 3, 1989 from cardiac arrest.[1]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Result Category Film Other notes
1939 Academy Award Nominated Best Music, Original Song The Cowboy and the Lady Shared with Arthur Quenzer; for the song "The Cowboy and the Lady"
1951 Nominated Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture I'll Get By
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1952 Nominated Best Music, Original Song Golden Girl Shared with Eliot Daniel; for the song "Never"
1955 Nominated Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture There's No Business Like Show Business Shared with Alfred Newman
1957 Nominated Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture The Best Things in Life Are Free
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1959 Nominated Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Mardi Gras
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1960 Nominated Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Say One for Me
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1961 Nominated Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Let's Make Love Shared with Earle Hagen
1966 Nominated Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment The Pleasure Seekers Shared with Alexander Courage
1968 Nominated Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment Doctor Dolittle Shared with Alexander Courage
1969 Won

Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation) Hello, Dolly! Shared with Lennie Hayton
1958 Laurel Awards Nominated Top Music Director April Love Place 4th

References

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External links

This page was last modified 03.05.2014 07:21:31

This article uses material from the article Lionel Newman from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.