Leonard Rosenman
About
Biography
Filmography
Notes
Rosenman has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony, Orchestra of RAI, Santa Cecelia Orchestra and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He has taught and been a guest lecturer at the University of Southern California, California Institute of the Arts, University of Illinois, University of California at Berkeley, UCLA, University of Massachusettes, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Claremont College, Harvard University, New School in New York and Yale University.
Awarded an honorary Doctorate of Philosophy by John F Kennedy University, Orinda, CA
Biography
Leonard Rosenman made quite a career for himself as an Academy Award-winning musician. Rosenman began his entertainment career with his music featured in films like the dramatic adaptation "East of Eden" (1955) with Julie Harris, "The Cobweb" (1955) with Richard Widmark and the drama "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955) with James Dean. His music also appeared in the Alan Ladd adaptation "The Big Land" (1957), the James MacArthur dramatic adaptation "The Young Stranger" (1957) and the Natalie Wood romance "Bombers B-52" (1957). In the seventies, Rosenman's music continued to appear on the silver screen, including in films like the crime feature "The Todd Killings" (1971) with Robert F Lyons and "Battle For the Planet of the Apes" (1973). Rosenman won an Academy Award for "Barry Lyndon" in 1975 Rosenman's music was also featured in the dramatic adaptation "Promises in the Dark" (1979) with Marsha Mason, the sci-fi feature "Prophecy" (1979) with Talia Shire and the James Caan drama "Hide in Plain Sight" (1980). His music was also featured in the Neil Diamond adaptation "The Jazz Singer" (1980) and the drama "Making Love" (1982) with Michael Ontkean. Rosenman was most recently credited in the Ben Affleck blockbuster dramatic adaptation "Argo" (2012). Rosenman was married to Kay Scott. Rosenman passed away in March 2007 at the age of 83.
Filmography
Music (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Music (Special)
Music (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1955
Film scoring debut, Kazan's "East of Eden", starring Dean
1955
Composed the first atonal score for a Hollywood commercial film, Vincente Minelli's "The Cobweb"
1959
Twisted an ancient Chinese melody into a sardonic commentary on war for "Porkchop Hill"
1962
Conductor in Rome, Italy (dates approximate)
1966
Returned to Hollywood, writing the quirky, dreamlike score for "Fantastic Voyage," his first film project in four years
1970
Distorted old hymns to create the unsettling brutal world of "Beneath the Planet of the Apes"; also returned for "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" (1973), the last of the series
1970
Scored "A Man Called Horse"
1975
Won his first Oscar for adapting period music for Stanley Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon"
1976
Brought home a second Oscar for "Bound for Glory" and an Emmy for "Sybil" (NBC)
1978
Scored "The Lord of the Rings"
1979
Received a second Emmy for "Friendly Fire" (ABC)
1983
Earned an Oscar nomination for score of "Cross Creek"
1986
Fourth and final (to date) Oscar nomination, "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home"
1990
Scored Michael Landon's TV movie "Where Pigeons Go to Die"
1995
Provided music for the CBS movie "The Face on the Milk Carton"
1997
First feature film score in six years, "Levitation"
1997
World premiere of his Violin Concerto No 2 with the American Composers Orchestra and violinist Elmar Oliveira
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Bibliography
Notes
Rosenman has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony, Orchestra of RAI, Santa Cecelia Orchestra and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He has taught and been a guest lecturer at the University of Southern California, California Institute of the Arts, University of Illinois, University of California at Berkeley, UCLA, University of Massachusettes, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Claremont College, Harvard University, New School in New York and Yale University.
Awarded an honorary Doctorate of Philosophy by John F Kennedy University, Orinda, CA
On why James Dean picked him as a piano teacher: "I think what he really wanted was to get close to me. For some reason he just admired me enormously. He treated me almost like I was his father, even though I was only a few years older than he was. I remember one time he said, 'Let's go out and play some basketball.' I said, 'I'm writing.' He kept saying, 'Let's go out and play basketball.' I asked him why he wanted me to play basketball with him so badly. He said, 'You know, it's like when you really want your father to play ball with you.' I said. 'I'm not your father. Your father is still alive. Why don't you call your father?' If I read a book on philosophy, he'd carry the book around and make people believe he was reading it. It was sweet, because at the time all the admiration he was getting from the public was for the things he didn't like about himself. He really wanted to be an intellectual." --Leonard Rosenman to Time Out New York, May 8-15, 1997.
