Elmer Bernstein

Elmer Bernstein

1922-04-04

Biography

Elmer Bernstein (April 4, 1922 – August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career which spanned fifty years, he composed music for hundreds of film and television productions. His most popular works include the scores to The Magnificent Seven, The Ten Commandments, The Great Escape, To Kill a Mockingbird, Ghostbusters, The Black Cauldron, Airplane!, and The Rookies. Bernstein won an Oscar for his score to Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) and was nominated for fourteen Oscars in total. He also won two Golden Globes and was nominated for two Grammy Awards. Bernstein wrote the theme songs or other music for more than 200 films and TV shows, including The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Ten Commandments (1956), The Man with the Golden Arm, To Kill a Mockingbird, Robot Monster, and the fanfare used in the National Geographic television specials. His theme for The Magnificent Seven is also familiar to television viewers, as it was used in commercials for Marlboro cigarettes. Bernstein also provided the score to many of the short films of Ray and Charles Eames. In 1961 Bernstein co-founded Äva Records an American record label based in Los Angeles together with Fred Astaire, Jackie Mills and Tommy Wolf.

Also appears in

From Noon Till Three

From Noon Till Three

6.0

Frank Sinatra Memorial

Frank Sinatra Memorial

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Making ’Taxi Driver’

Making ’Taxi Driver’

6.9

The Making of ’Cape Fear’

The Making of ’Cape Fear’

7.3

The Yearbook: An Animal House Reunion

The Yearbook: An Animal House Reunion

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The Bible According to Hollywood

The Bible According to Hollywood

6.0

Guns for Hire: The Making of ’The Magnificent Seven’

Guns for Hire: The Making of ’The Magnificent Seven’

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Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann

Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann

6.5

Fearful Symmetry

Fearful Symmetry

4.3

Innocence and Experience: The Making of ’The Age of Innocence’

Innocence and Experience: The Making of ’The Age of Innocence’

5.5