Composer/conductor/music director Alfred Newman (1901-1970), born into a musical family in New Haven, Conn., was a concert pianist by age seven. As an adult, he conducted symphony orchestras and Broadway musicals before entering films in 1930. He went on to score some 200 movies of every conceivable genre, mostly for 20th Century Fox, where he served as head of the music department and created the famous studio fanfare. He was nominated for Oscars® more times (45) than any other musician in Hollywood. Four of them came in the same year (1940). In all, he won nine Oscars®.

One of Newman's most famous early scores was that for Street Scene (1931), which included a haunting theme that would be used in numerous films to follow, becoming a kind of musical symbol for New York City. His Oscar®-winning score for The Song of Bernadette (1943), considered one of his masterpieces, was given credit for providing that film with much of its spiritual uplift. His Oscar®-nominated score for George Stevens' The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) also added a delicate layer of emotion.

Newman's other Oscars® came for Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938), Tin Pan Alley (1940), Mother Wore Tights (1947), With a Song in My Heart (1952), Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1955) and adapted scores for the film versions of the Broadway musicals Call Me Madam (1953), The King and I (1956) and Camelot (1967).

Newman was the brother of composers Lionel and Emil Newman, the father of composers Thomas, Maria and David Newman, and the uncle of composer Randy Newman.

The films in TCM's tribute to Alfred Newman are The Seven Year Itch (1955), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), The Song of Bernadette (1943) and Street Scene (1931).

by Roger Fristoe