Elmer Bernstein

                                                                                 
                                                                       

       Born: April 4, 1922

                                                                               

       Died: August 18, 2004

Elmer Bernstein was born and raised in New York City and (it should be noted) is no relation to the famous conductor Leonard Bernstein. As a young man, Bernstein worked as a semi-professional dancer and actor before being taken by his piano teacher to meet composer Aaron Copland. Between 1939 and 1950, Elmer Bernstein performed as a concert pianist.

In Hollywood, Bernstein composed the music and/or theme songs for over 200 films. His work won him an Academy Award, an Emmy award and two Golden Globe awards.

Biography of Elmer Bernstein- Wikipedia     

Bernstein spent most of his life in California, eventually making his home in Santa Barbara. In 2004, he died in his sleep after a lengthy battle with cancer.

New York Times Obituary
The Official Site of Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein on IMDb







Notable Films
The Magnificent Seven- Wikipedia

The Magnificent Seven is often defined as THE Western, the one that defines the genre now and forever. Would you believe that this "Western of all Westerns" was actually adapted from a Japanese film? It's true! This story is based on a Kurosawa film called The Seven Samurai, where a poor village hires (you guessed it) seven samurai to protect them from bandits. The Western changes the setting from Japan to Mexico and gunslingers instead of samurai, but the premise is unchanged apart from that. Bernstein's title theme for the film is so well known that it occasionally reappears in modern advertising to this very day. If you're interested, check out the post on the overture to this film score.

The Great Escape- Wikipedia
The Ten Commandments
To Kill A Mockingbird
Ghostbusters
The Black Cauldron
Cape Fear