Leslie Bricusse
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
Made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in June 2001.
Bricusse has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards: Best Song ("Talk to the Animals"--for which he received the Oscar) and Best Original Score for "Doctor Dolittle" (1967); Best Score of a Musical Picture for "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1969, shared with John Williams); Best Original Song Score (with Ian Fraser and Herbert Spencer) and Best Song ("Thank You Very Much") for "Scrooge" (1970); Best Scoring for "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (1971); Best Song Score for "Victor/Victoria" (1982, with Henry Mancini--which they won); Best Song Score for "That's Life!" (1986, with Mancini); Best Song ("Somewhere in My Memory") from "Home Alone" (1990, with John Williams); and Best Song ("When You're Alone") from "Hook" (1991, with Williams).
Biography
A prolific songwriter, composer and lyricist, Leslie Bricusse broke into showbiz right out of Cambridge when Beatrice Lillie chose him to appear with her in her revue "An Evening with Beatrice Lillie" (1954). The London native had begun to write sketches and songs for Cambridge's famed Footlight Revues, eventually serving as the group's president in 1954.
In his four-decade career, Bricusse has collaborated with several prominent figures and has written or co-written many songs that have entered the popular consciousness. His first major partnership was with Anthony Newley. The pair created two well-received stage productions, "Stop the World--I Want to Get Off" (1961) and "The Roar of the Greasepaint--The Smell of the Crowd" (1965). The duo created such well-known songs as the Grammy-winning "What Kind of Fool Am I?," "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)?," "The Candy Man" and the title song from the James Bond film "Goldfinger" (1964).
Solo, Bricusse earned the first of his ten Academy Award nominations for the score for "Doctor Dolittle," earning the statue for his bouncy patter song "Talk to the Animals." Two years later, he worked with John Williams on the musicalization of "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" and since then, the pair have collaborated on a number of movie theme songs, including "Somewhere in My Memory" from "Home Alone" (1990) and "When You're Alone" from "Hook" (1991). Additionally, Bricusse enjoyed a fruitful pairing with the late Henry Mancini on several Blake Edwards' films, including "Victor/Victoria" (1982), for which they earned a Best Song Score Oscar. (They later supplemented the film's soundtrack with new numbers for the 1995 stage adaptation.)
In the last decade, Bricusse wrote an ill-fated musical about "Sherlock Holmes" (1989) and spent the better part of the time polishing a stage version of "Jekyll and Hyde." First begun in 1990, "Jekyll and Hyde" went through a number of incarnations, including a concept album, several stage productions, a second album and finally a touring production that opened on Broadway to mixed reviews but cheering audiences in 1997.
Bricusse has also co-written a handful of screenplays, including "Charley Moon" (1956) and "Bachelor of Hearts" (1958). The latter was co-scripted by his university chum Frederic Raphael.
Filmography
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Writer (Special)
Music (Special)
Special Thanks (Special)
Misc. Crew (Special)
Life Events
1952
First contribution to a Cambridge Footlights show, music and lyrics to "Tip and Run"; also appeared as actor
1954
Appeared in the revue "An Evening with Beatrice Lillie"
1956
First screen credit, co-writer of "Charley Moon"; also scored
1961
First stage collaboration with Anthony Newley, "Stop the World--I Want to Get Off"; wrote book and lyrics and composed music
1963
Wrote lyrics for the British musical "Pickwick", based on Dickens' "The Pickwick Papers"
1964
Wrote title song for "Goldfinger" with Newley
1965
Collaborated with Newley on "The Roar of the Greasepaint--The Smell of the Crowd"
1966
Adapted the score of "Stop the World..." for the film version
1967
Wrote score for the feature "Doctor Dolittle"; won first Oscar
1969
First screen collaboration with composer John Williams, the score for the musical version of "Goodbye, Mr. Chips"
1978
Third stage collaboration with Newley, "The Travelling Music Show"
1982
With Henry Mancini, wrote the song score for "Victor/Victoria"; won second Oscar
1989
Wrote book and score for the musical "Sherlock Holmes"
1990
Began working on a stage version of "Jekyll and Hyde"; wrote book and lyrics; music by Frank Wildhorn
1996
Final collaboration with Henry Mancini; score for the stage musical adaptation of "Victor/Victoria"
1997
"Jekyll and Hyde" opened on Broadway
1998
Wrote book and score for London stage version of "Dr. Dolittle"
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in June 2001.
Bricusse has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards: Best Song ("Talk to the Animals"--for which he received the Oscar) and Best Original Score for "Doctor Dolittle" (1967); Best Score of a Musical Picture for "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1969, shared with John Williams); Best Original Song Score (with Ian Fraser and Herbert Spencer) and Best Song ("Thank You Very Much") for "Scrooge" (1970); Best Scoring for "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (1971); Best Song Score for "Victor/Victoria" (1982, with Henry Mancini--which they won); Best Song Score for "That's Life!" (1986, with Mancini); Best Song ("Somewhere in My Memory") from "Home Alone" (1990, with John Williams); and Best Song ("When You're Alone") from "Hook" (1991, with Williams).
He has received eight Ivor Novello Awards for film composition.
