Leslie Charles Bricusse
January 29, 1931 - October 19, 2021
British composer, lyricist, and playwright
Theater musicals & theme music for films
Best known for writing the music and lyrics for such films as -
Doctor Dolittle
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Scrooge
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Tom and Jerry: The Movie
James Bond film songs - "Goldfinger' & "You Only Live Twice"
Love theme from Superman - "Can You Read My Mind?" (with John Williams)
"Le Jazz Hot!" (with Henry Mancini) from Victor/Victoria
- Career -
Partnership with Anthony Newley (English actor, director, comedian, singer, and composer) - 1960s and 1970s
- Wrote the musical Stop the World - I Want to Get Off (1961)
- 1966 film version and Grammy-winning Song of the Year - "What Kind of Fool Am I?"
- The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd (1965)
- Music for Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
As a lyricist, Bricusse collaborated with composer Cyril Ornadel.
- Pickwick (1963) ... based on Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers
Other collaborators -
Henry Mancini - Victor/Victoria (1982) & Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992)
John Williams - Home Alone (1990) & Hook (1991)
Other compositions -
Music and lyrics for the songs in the 1967 film Doctor Dolittle (as well as the screenplay) ... Box-office failure ... "Talk to the Animals" earned Bricusse an Academy Award for Best Original Song
Scored the 1969 film Goodbye, Mr. Chips
"The Candy Man" (1972, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory) - No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 as performed by Sammy Davis Jr.
Partnership with George Tipton for the opening theme to the American sitcom, It's a Living
Pure Imagination: The World of Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse
- Directed by Bruce Kimmel
- Pacific Resident Theater (Venice, California, 2013)
- St. James Theater (London, 2015)
Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1989)
Order of the British Empire from Queen Elizabeth II (2001)
Pure Imagination: A Sorta-Biography (2015 release, foreword by Elton John)
- Works -
Musicals, Songs, Awards/Nominations
(5 Tony Award Nominations, 8 Academy Award Nominations, 1 Golden Raspberry Award Nomination)
Every film and television series written, produced, and directed is not entirely possible without a score composition. The opening creates anticipation with a song. The climax furthers interest and intrigue with a song. The ending drives emotion with a song. The pace throughout is kept up with music. Scores maintain the flow of the plot and character development where otherwise sitting still with so much time of pure dialog can be exhausting.
Broadway and off-Broadway musicals can be viewed the same way.
Just consider how valuable music is to visual entertainment and early radio variety programs. Think of your favorite movie or television show and then think of integrated music. What do you notice? Does the music have a positive or negative impact on what you are watching?
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