Bernard Herrmann Biography (1911-1975)

Born June 29, 1911, in New York, NY; died December 24, 1975, in New York, NY;married Lucille Fletcher (a writer), 1939 (divorced). Education: Attended New York University and Juilliard Graduate School of Music. Career: Composer, conductor, sound consultant, and actor. New Chamber Orchestra, organizer, 1931; CBS, conductor and composer, 1934-59, CBS Symphony Orchestra, chiefconductor, 1940-59. Awards, Honors: Academy Award, best score, 1941, for The Devil and Daniel Webster; Academy Award nomination, best score,1941, for Citizen Kane; Academy Award nomination, best score, 1946, for Anna and the King of Siam; Emmy Award nomination, best original music composed for television, 1955, for "A Christmas Carol," Shower of Stars; Academy Award nomination, best score, 1976, for Obsession; Academy Award nomination, best score, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award,best music, 1976, Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, British Academy Awards, 1977, all for Taxi Driver..

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Composer, conductor, sound consultant, actor
Birth Details: June 29, 1911; New York, New York, United States
Death Details: December 24, 1975; New York, New York, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Appearances
Himself (as conductor), The Man Who Knew Too Much,1956
Himself (archive footage), Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann,1992
Film Work
(Uncredited) Conductor, Citizen Kane,1941
Conductor, The Devil and Daniel Webster(also known as All ThatMoney Can Buy, A Certain Mr. Scratch, Daniel and the Devil, and Here Is a Man), 1941
Sound consultant, The Birds,1963
RECORDINGS
Albums
The Day the Earth Stood Still, Fox, 1951
Bernard Herrmann, Decca, 1975
The Mysterious Film World of Psycho, Unicorn, 1975
Sisters, Entr'acte, 1975
Taxi Driver, Varese Saraban, 1976
Torn Curtain, Warner Bros., 1978
North by Northwest, Varese Saraban, 1980
Psycho, Unicorn, 1989
Vertigo, Mercury, 1990
Symphony #1, Koch, 1992
Wuthering Heights, Unicorn-Kancha, 1992
Echoes String Quartet, Unicorn-Kancha, 1994
The Paradine Case, Koch, 1995
Marvelous Film World of Bernard Herrmann, Tsunami, 1996
The Four Faces of Jazz, Mobile Fidelit, 1996
Suites from Psycho & North by Northwest, Unicorn, 1996
Also recorded Film Scores, Milan; Film Scores, Sony Classical.
WRITINGS
Film Scores
The Devil and Daniel Webster(also known as All That Money Can Buy, A Certain Mr. Scratch, Daniel and the Devil, and Here Is a Man), 1941
Citizen Kane,1941
(Uncredited) Magnificent Ambersons,1942
Jane Eyre,1944
Hangover Square,1945
Anna and the King of Siam,1946
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir,1947
Portrait of Jennie(also known as Tidal Wave), 1948
On Dangerous Ground,1951
The Day the Earth Stood Still,1951
The Snows of Kilimanjaro,1952
5 Fingers(also known as Five Fingers and Operation Cicero), 1952
White Witch Doctor,1953
King of the Khyber Rifles,1953
Beneath the 12-Mile Reef,1953
Garden of Evil,1954
The Egyptian,1954
Prince of Players,1955
The Kentuckian,1955
The Trouble with Harry,1955
Williamsburg: The Story of a Patriot(short), 1956
The Man Who Knew Too Much,1956
The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit,1956
The Wrong Man,1956
A Hatful of Rain,1957
Vertigo,1958

The Naked and the Dead,1958
The Fiend Who Walked the West,1958
The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad,1958
Journey to the Center of the Earth(also known as Trip to the Center of the Earth), 1959
Blue Denim(also known as Blue Jeans), 1959
North by Northwest,1959
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver(also known as The Worlds of Gulliver), 1960
Psycho,1960
Jules Verne's Mysterious Island(also known as Mysterious Island), 1961
Tender Is the Night,1962
Cape Fear,1962
Jason and the Argonauts(also known as Jason and the Golden Fleece), 1963
Marnie,1964
Joy in the Morning,1965
Fahrenheit 451,1966
La mariee etait en noir(also known as The Bride Wore Blackand La Sposa in nero), 1967
Twisted Nerve,1968
Obsessions,1969
Bitka na Neretvi(also known as The Battle of Neretva, La Battaglia della Neretva, Battle of the River Neretva, and Die Schlacht an der Neretva), 1969
The Night Digger(also known as The Road Builder), 1971
Agatha Christie's Endless Night(also known as Endless Night), 1971
Sisters(also known as Blood Sisters), 1973
It's Alive,1974
Taxi Driver,1976
Obsession,1976
It Lives Again(also known as It's Alive II), 1978
Psycho II(also known as Psycose 2), 1983
It's Alive III: Island of Alive,1987
Cape Fear,1991
Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann,1992
Kika,1993
Reality Bites,1994
Twelve Monkeys(also known as 12 Monkeys), 1995
Psycho,1998
Television Scores
Movies
The Ethan Allen Story,1956
Companions in Nightmare,1967
Chambre 666,1982
Psycho IV: The Beginning,1991
Also scored The Restauration.
Television Scores, Except Where Indicated
Series
Studio One(also known as Studio One Summer Theatre, Studio Onein Hollywood, Summer Theatre, Westinghouse Studio One, and Westinghouse Summer Theatre), 1948
The Lineup(also known as San Francisco Beat), 1954
Climax!,1954
Playhouse 90,1956
And theme, Perry Mason,1957
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse(also known as Desilu Playhouse), 1958
Pursuit,1958
And theme, The House on K Street,1959
Theme, The Twilight Zone,1959
The Americans,1961
And theme, Convoy,1965
Lost in Space,1965
Also scored Landmark; and Forecast.
Television Scores
Episodic
"A Christmas Carol," Shower of Stars(also known as Chrysler Shower of Stars), 1954
"A Child is Born," General Electric Theater(also known as G.E.Theatre), 1955
"Harriet," Gunsmoke(also known as Marshall Dillon), 1955
"The Tall Trapper," Gunsmoke(also known as Marshall Dillon), 1955
"Kitty Shot," Gunsmoke(also known as Marshall Dillon), 1955
"Three Bells to Perdido," Have Gun Will Travel,1957
The Twilight Zone,1959
"Hammer Fist," The House on K Street(pilot), 1959
"Cave of the Dead," Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,1959
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,1962
"The Last Grave at Socorro Creek," The Virginian(also known as The Men from Shiloh), 1962
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre(also known as The Chrysler Theater and Universal Star Time), 1963
"The Secret," The Great Adventure,1963
"Nathan Hale," The Great Adventure,1963
"A Lion Amongst Men," Kraft Suspense Theatre,1963
"Pursuit," Rawhide,1965
"Knife in the Darkness," Cimarron Strip,1967
Also scored several episodes of Convoy; Collector's Item(pilot).
Radio Scores
War of the Worlds,1938
A Passage to Benares, CBS Radio, 1942
Stage Scores
(Ballets) Americana, Broadway production, New York City, 1932

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Bruce, Graham, Bernard Herrmann: Film Music and Narrative, Ann Arbor, MI, 1985.
Smith, Stephen C. A Heart at Fire's Center: The Life and Music ofBernard Herrmann, Berkeley, CA, 1991.
International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers: Writers and Production Artists, St. James Press, 1993, pp. 369-71.
Contemporary Musicians: Profiles of the People in Music, volume 14, 1995, pp. 103-06.

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