Michel Legrand
Encyclopedia
Michel Jean Legrand is a French
musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist. His father Raymond Legrand was a conductor and composer renowned for hits such as Irma la douce and his mother, Marcelle Der Mikaëlian (sister of conductor Jacques Hélian), who married Legrand Senior in 1929, was descended from the Armenian bourgeoisie.
Legrand is probably best known for his often haunting film music and scores, such as The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
(1964) and The Thomas Crown Affair
(1968), which features the song "The Windmills of Your Mind
."
s and has been nominated for an Emmy
. He was twenty-two when his first album, I Love Paris, became one of the best-selling instrumental albums ever released. He is a virtuoso jazz and classical pianist and an accomplished arranger and conductor who performs with orchestras all over the world.
He studied music at the Paris Conservatoire from 1943-50 (ages 11–18), working with, among others, Nadia Boulanger
, who also taught many other composers, including Aaron Copland
and Philip Glass
, and Ástor Piazzolla
. Legrand graduated with top honors as both a composer and a pianist.
, John Coltrane
, Bill Evans
, Phil Woods
, Ben Webster
, Hank Jones
, and Art Farmer
in an album of inventive orchestrations of jazz standards titled Legrand Jazz. The following year, back in Paris with bassist Guy Pedersen and percussionist Gus Wallez, he recorded an album of Paris-themed songs arranged for jazz piano trio, titled Paris Jazz Piano. Nearly a decade later he recorded At Shelly's Manne-Hole (1968), an exciting live trio session with bassist Ray Brown
and drummer Shelly Manne
, in which four of the compositions were improvised on the spot. Legrand also provided an odd scat vocal on "My Funny Valentine." Legrand returned to his role as jazz arranger for the Stan Getz
album Communications '72 and resumed his collaboration with Phil Woods on Jazz Le Grand (1979) and After the Rain (1982); then, he collaborated with violinist Stephane Grappelli
on an album in 1992. Not as well received as his earlier work in the field of jazz was a 1994 album for LaserLight titled Michel Plays Legrand. More recently, in 2002, he recorded a masterful solo jazz piano album reworking fourteen of his classic songs, Michel Legrand by Michel Legrand. His jazz piano style is virtuosic and eclectic, drawing upon such influences as Art Tatum
, Erroll Garner
, Oscar Peterson
, and Bill Evans
.
A number of his songs, including "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?," "Watch What Happens," "The Summer Knows," and "You Must Believe in Spring," have become jazz standards covered frequently by other artists.
, Vancouver
, Montreal
, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Denver. He recorded more than one hundred albums with international musical stars (spanning the genres of jazz, variety, and classical) and worked with such diverse musicians as Phil Woods
, Ray Charles
, Claude Nougaro
, Perry Como
, Neil Diamond
, Ella Fitzgerald
, Aretha Franklin
, Lena Horne
, James Ingram
, Jack Jones
, Kiri te Kanawa
, Tamara Gverdciteli, Frankie Laine
, Tereza Kesovija
, Johnny Mathis
, Jessye Norman
, Diana Ross
, Frank Sinatra
, Barbra Streisand
, Sarah Vaughan
, Shirley Bassey
, Regine Velasquez
, and Natalie Dessay
.
Legrand has also recorded classical piano pieces by Erik Satie
and American composers such as Amy Beach
, George Gershwin
, Aaron Copland
, John Cage
, and Conlon Nancarrow
.
His sister, Christiane Legrand
, was a member of the Swingle Singers
, and his niece Victoria Legrand
is a member of the indie rock duo Beach House.
, Richard Brooks
, Claude Lelouch, Clint Eastwood
, Robert Altman
, Joseph Losey
, and many others. Legrand himself appears and performs in Agnès Varda
's French New Wave
classic, Cleo from 5 to 7
(1961). After his songs appeared in Jacques Demy
's films The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
(1964) and The Young Girls of Rochefort
(1966), Legrand became famous worldwide. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg was a sung-through musical in which all the dialogue was set to music, a revolutionary concept at the time.
Hollywood soon became interested in Legrand after The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, bombarding him with requests to compose music for films. Having begun to collaborate with Hollywood, Legrand continued to work there for many years. Among his best-known scores are those for The Thomas Crown Affair
(1968), which features the hit song "The Windmills of Your Mind
", and Summer of '42
(1971), which features another hit song, "The Summer Knows." Legrand also wrote the score for Orson Welles
's last-completed film, F for Fake
(1974).
charted for eight weeks in 1972, peaking at #56.
Currently, Legrand divides his time between America and France.
The world premiere of the new musical Marguerite
from Alain Boublil
and Claude-Michel Schönberg
, the creators of Les Misérables
and Miss Saigon
, includes music by Michel Legrand and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer
.
Marguerite is set during World War II in occupied Paris, and was inspired by the romantic novel La Dame aux camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils
. It premiered in May 2008 at the Haymarket Theatre
, London and was directed by Jonathan Kent
.
s, and has been nominated for an Emmy
. The following are some of the awards and nominations with which Legrand's works have been honored:
Yentl
(1983) (won)
Yentl
. (1983)
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist. His father Raymond Legrand was a conductor and composer renowned for hits such as Irma la douce and his mother, Marcelle Der Mikaëlian (sister of conductor Jacques Hélian), who married Legrand Senior in 1929, was descended from the Armenian bourgeoisie.
Legrand is probably best known for his often haunting film music and scores, such as The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a 1964 French musical film directed by Jacques Demy, starring Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo. The music was written by Michel Legrand...
(1964) and The Thomas Crown Affair
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)
The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 film by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two Academy Awards and won the Award for Best Song with Michel Legrand's "Windmills of Your Mind"...
(1968), which features the song "The Windmills of Your Mind
The Windmills of Your Mind
"The Windmills of Your Mind" is a song performed by Noel Harrison, with music composed by Michel Legrand and English lyrics written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman, which was used as the theme for the 1968 film, The Thomas Crown Affair, starring Steve McQueen alongside and ultimately versus...
."
Career
Legrand has composed more than two hundred film and television scores and several musicals and has made well over a hundred albums. He has won three Oscars (out of 13 nominations) and five GrammyGrammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s and has been nominated for an Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
. He was twenty-two when his first album, I Love Paris, became one of the best-selling instrumental albums ever released. He is a virtuoso jazz and classical pianist and an accomplished arranger and conductor who performs with orchestras all over the world.
He studied music at the Paris Conservatoire from 1943-50 (ages 11–18), working with, among others, Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
, who also taught many other composers, including Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
and Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
, and Ástor Piazzolla
Ástor Piazzolla
Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music...
. Legrand graduated with top honors as both a composer and a pianist.
Jazz recordings
While on a visit to the U.S. in 1958, Legrand collaborated with such musicians as Miles DavisMiles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
, Bill Evans
Bill Evans
William John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...
, Phil Woods
Phil Woods
Philip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
, Ben Webster
Ben Webster
Benjamin Francis Webster , a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young...
, Hank Jones
Hank Jones
Henry "Hank" Jones was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award...
, and Art Farmer
Art Farmer
Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet/flugelhorn combination designed for him by David Monette. His identical twin brother, Addison Farmer Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer (August 21, 1928, Council Bluffs, Iowa –...
in an album of inventive orchestrations of jazz standards titled Legrand Jazz. The following year, back in Paris with bassist Guy Pedersen and percussionist Gus Wallez, he recorded an album of Paris-themed songs arranged for jazz piano trio, titled Paris Jazz Piano. Nearly a decade later he recorded At Shelly's Manne-Hole (1968), an exciting live trio session with bassist Ray Brown
Ray Brown (musician)
Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist.-Biography:Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one...
and drummer Shelly Manne
Shelly Manne
Shelly Manne , born Sheldon Manne in New York City, was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, swing, bebop, avant-garde jazz and fusion, as well as contributing...
, in which four of the compositions were improvised on the spot. Legrand also provided an odd scat vocal on "My Funny Valentine." Legrand returned to his role as jazz arranger for the Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
album Communications '72 and resumed his collaboration with Phil Woods on Jazz Le Grand (1979) and After the Rain (1982); then, he collaborated with violinist Stephane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli was a French jazz violinist who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands....
on an album in 1992. Not as well received as his earlier work in the field of jazz was a 1994 album for LaserLight titled Michel Plays Legrand. More recently, in 2002, he recorded a masterful solo jazz piano album reworking fourteen of his classic songs, Michel Legrand by Michel Legrand. His jazz piano style is virtuosic and eclectic, drawing upon such influences as Art Tatum
Art Tatum
Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind.Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time...
, Erroll Garner
Erroll Garner
Erroll Louis Garner was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His best-known composition, the ballad "Misty", has become a jazz standard...
, Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
, and Bill Evans
Bill Evans
William John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...
.
A number of his songs, including "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?," "Watch What Happens," "The Summer Knows," and "You Must Believe in Spring," have become jazz standards covered frequently by other artists.
Eclecticism
During various periods of creative work, Legrand became a conductor for orchestras in St. PetersburgSt. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
, Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Denver. He recorded more than one hundred albums with international musical stars (spanning the genres of jazz, variety, and classical) and worked with such diverse musicians as Phil Woods
Phil Woods
Philip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Claude Nougaro
Claude Nougaro
Claude Nougaro was a French songwriter and singer.Claude Nougaro was born in Toulouse to a respected French opera singer, Pierre Nougaro, and an Italian piano teacher, Liette Tellini. He was raised by his grandparents in Toulouse where he heard Glenn Miller, Édith Piaf and Louis Armstrong on the...
, Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
, Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
, James Ingram
James Ingram
James Ingram is an American soul musician. He is best known as a vocalist. He is also a self-taught musician who plays piano, guitar, bass, drums and keyboards...
, Jack Jones
Jack Jones (singer)
John Allan "Jack" Jones is an American jazz and pop singer. He was one of the most popular vocalists of the 1960s.-Overview:...
, Kiri te Kanawa
Kiri Te Kanawa
Dame Kiri Jeanette Te Kanawa, ONZ, DBE, AC is a New Zealand / Māori soprano who has had a highly successful international opera career since 1968. Acclaimed as one of the most beloved sopranos in both the United States and Britain she possesses a warm full lyric soprano voice, singing a wide array...
, Tamara Gverdciteli, Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
, Tereza Kesovija
Tereza Kesovija
Tereza Ana Kesovija is an internationally acclaimed Croatian singer, one of the most recognisable figures on the Balkan music scene, renowned for her wide vocal range and operatic style and one of the most important artists of the former Yugoslavia. She also had a very successful career in France...
, Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
, Jessye Norman
Jessye Norman
Jessye Norman is an American opera singer. Norman is a well-known contemporary opera singer and recitalist, and is one of the highest paid performers in classical music...
, Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
, Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
, Regine Velasquez
Regine Velasquez
Regina Encarnacion Ansong Velasquez , better known as Asia's Songbird, Regine Velasquez, is a Filipino singer, actress, record producer and TV host...
, and Natalie Dessay
Natalie Dessay
Natalie Dessay is a French coloratura soprano. She dropped the silent "h" in her first name in honor of Natalie Wood when she was in grade school and subsequently simplified the spelling of her surname outside France...
.
Legrand has also recorded classical piano pieces by Erik Satie
Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
and American composers such as Amy Beach
Amy Beach
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach was an American composer and pianist. She was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. Most of her compositions and performances were under the name Mrs. H.H.A. Beach.-Early years:Beach was born Amy Marcy Cheney in Henniker, New Hampshire into...
, George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
, John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, and Conlon Nancarrow
Conlon Nancarrow
Conlon Nancarrow was a United States-born composer who lived and worked in Mexico for most of his life. He became a Mexican citizen in 1955.Nancarrow is best remembered for the pieces he wrote for the player piano...
.
His sister, Christiane Legrand
Christiane Legrand
Christiane Legrand was a French singer.Legrand was born in Paris, the daughter of film composer Raymond Legrand, who wrote "Irma la Douce."She studied piano and classical music from the time she was four...
, was a member of the Swingle Singers
The Swingle Singers
The Swingle Singers are a mostly a cappella vocal group formed in 1962 in Paris, France by Ward Swingle with Anne Germain, Jeanette Baucomont, Jean Cussac and others. Christiane Legrand, the sister of composer Michel Legrand, was the group's lead soprano through 1972. Until 2011 the group...
, and his niece Victoria Legrand
Victoria Legrand
Victoria Legrand is a singer-songwriter and keyboardist for the indie-pop band Beach House and a niece of famous French composer Michel Legrand...
is a member of the indie rock duo Beach House.
Film scores
Legrand is known principally as a composer of innovative music for films, composing film scores (about two hundred to date) for directors Jean-Luc GodardJean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
, Richard Brooks
Richard Brooks
Richard Brooks was an American screenwriter, film director, novelist and occasional film producer.-Early life and career:...
, Claude Lelouch, Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
, Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
, Joseph Losey
Joseph Losey
Joseph Walton Losey was an American theater and film director. After studying in Germany with Bertolt Brecht, Losey returned to the United States, eventually making his way to Hollywood...
, and many others. Legrand himself appears and performs in Agnès Varda
Agnès Varda
Agnès Varda is a French film director and professor at the European Graduate School. Her movies, photographs, and art installations focus on documentary realism, feminist issues, and social commentary — with a distinct experimental style....
's French New Wave
French New Wave
The New Wave was a blanket term coined by critics for a group of French filmmakers of the late 1950s and 1960s, influenced by Italian Neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema. Although never a formally organized movement, the New Wave filmmakers were linked by their self-conscious rejection of...
classic, Cleo from 5 to 7
Cléo from 5 to 7
Cléo from 5 to 7 is a 1962 Rive Gauche film by Agnès Varda. The story starts with a young singer, Florence "Cléo" Victoire, at 5PM June 21, as she waits until 7PM. The film is noted for its handling of several of the themes of existentialism, including discussions of mortality, the idea of...
(1961). After his songs appeared in Jacques Demy
Jacques Demy
Jacques Demy was one of the most approachable filmmakers to appear in the wake of the French New Wave. Uninterested in the formal experimentation of Alain Resnais, or the political agitation of Jean-Luc Godard, Demy instead created a self-contained fantasy world closer to that of François...
's films The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a 1964 French musical film directed by Jacques Demy, starring Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo. The music was written by Michel Legrand...
(1964) and The Young Girls of Rochefort
Les Demoiselles de Rochefort
The Young Girls of Rochefort is a 1967 French musical film directed by Jacques Demy, starring Catherine Deneuve, her sister Françoise Dorléac, Jacques Perrin, Michel Piccoli, Danielle Darrieux, George Chakiris, Grover Dale and Gene Kelly. The choreography was by Norman Maen.Michel Legrand composed...
(1966), Legrand became famous worldwide. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg was a sung-through musical in which all the dialogue was set to music, a revolutionary concept at the time.
Hollywood soon became interested in Legrand after The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, bombarding him with requests to compose music for films. Having begun to collaborate with Hollywood, Legrand continued to work there for many years. Among his best-known scores are those for The Thomas Crown Affair
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)
The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 film by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two Academy Awards and won the Award for Best Song with Michel Legrand's "Windmills of Your Mind"...
(1968), which features the hit song "The Windmills of Your Mind
The Windmills of Your Mind
"The Windmills of Your Mind" is a song performed by Noel Harrison, with music composed by Michel Legrand and English lyrics written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman, which was used as the theme for the 1968 film, The Thomas Crown Affair, starring Steve McQueen alongside and ultimately versus...
", and Summer of '42
Summer of '42
Summer of '42 is a 1971 American coming-of-age drama film based on the memoirs of screenwriter Herman Raucher. It tells the story of how Raucher, in his early teens on his 1942 summer vacation on Nantucket Island, off the coast of New England, embarked on a one-sided romance with a woman, Dorothy,...
(1971), which features another hit song, "The Summer Knows." Legrand also wrote the score for Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
's last-completed film, F for Fake
F for Fake
F for Fake is the last major film completed by Orson Welles, who directed, co-wrote, and starred in the film. Initially released in 1974, it focuses on Elmyr de Hory's recounting of his career as a professional art forger; de Hory's story serves as the backdrop for a fast-paced, meandering...
(1974).
Music charts
Legrand's instrumental version of the theme from Brian's SongBrian's Song
Brian's Song is a 1971 ABC Movie of the Week that recounts the details of the life of Brian Piccolo , a Wake Forest University football player stricken with terminal cancer after turning pro, told through his friendship with Chicago Bears running back teammate and Pro Football Hall of Famer Gale...
charted for eight weeks in 1972, peaking at #56.
Currently, Legrand divides his time between America and France.
Selected discography
- 1954 I Love Paris
- 1955 Holiday in Rome
- 1956 Castles in Spain
- 1957 Bonjour Paris
- 1957 C'est magnifique
- 1958 Legrand in Rio
- 1958 The Columbia Album of Cole Porter
- 1959 Paris Jazz PianoParis Jazz PianoParis Jazz Piano is a studio album by jazz pianist Michel Legrand, released in 1959 on Philips Records.-Track listing:#"Sous les ponts de Paris" - 2:55#"Paris in the Spring" - 3:32...
- 1959 The New I Love Paris
- 1959 Legrand Jazz
- 1967 Plays for Dancers
- 1968 At Shelly's Manne-Hole
- 1982 After the Rain
- 1995 Michel Legrand Big Band
Filmography
- Beau fixe (short) (1953)
- Lovers Net (Les amants du Tage) (1954)
- Charmants garçons (1958)
- Le Triporteur (1958)
- L'Amérique insolite (1958)
- L'Americain se détend (1958)
- Lola (1960)
- Terrain vague (co-composer) (1960)
- A Woman Is a WomanA Woman Is a WomanA Woman Is a Woman is a 1961 French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard, featuring Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean-Claude Brialy. It is a tribute to American musical comedy and associated with the French New Wave.-Plot:...
(Une femme est une femme) (1960) - The French Game (Le cœur battant) (1960)
- Les Portes claquent (1960)
- Cléo from 5 to 7Cléo from 5 to 7Cléo from 5 to 7 is a 1962 Rive Gauche film by Agnès Varda. The story starts with a young singer, Florence "Cléo" Victoire, at 5PM June 21, as she waits until 7PM. The film is noted for its handling of several of the themes of existentialism, including discussions of mortality, the idea of...
(Cléo de 5 à 7) (1961) - The 7 Capital Sins (Les Sept péchés capitauxLes Sept péchés capitauxLes Sept péchés capitaux is a 1962 film composed of seven different segments, one for each of the seven deadly sins.- External links :...
) (co-composer) (1961) - The Winner (Un cœur gros comme ça) (1961)
- Retour a New York (1962)
- Comme un poisson dans l'eau (1962)
- Eva (1962)
- Une grosse tete (1962)
- My Life to LiveMy Life to LiveVivre sa vie : film en douze tableaux is a 1962 French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. The title means "To Live Her Life: A Film in Twelve Scenes", but in the English-speaking world it was released as My Life to Live or as It's My Life...
(Vivre sa Vie: Film en Douze Tableaux) (1962) - Bay of AngelsLa Baie des Anges-External links:*...
(La baie des anges) (1962) - L'Amerique lunaire (1962)
- Histoire d'un petit garcon devenu grand (1962)
- Le joli mai (1962)
- Illuminations (1963)
- Le grand escroc (1963)
- L'Empire de la nuit (1963)
- Love Is A Ball (1963)
- The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les Parapluies de CherbourgLes Parapluies de CherbourgThe Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a 1964 French musical film directed by Jacques Demy, starring Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo. The music was written by Michel Legrand...
) (1964) - A Ravishing Idiot (Une ravissante idiote) (1964)
- Band of Outsiders (Bande à part) (1964)
- Fascinante amazonie (1964)
- Les amoureux du France (1964)
- La Douceur du village (1964)
- A Matter of Resistance (La vie de château) (1965)
- Quand passent les faisans (1965)
- Tender Scoundrel (Tendre voyou) (1965)
- Monnaie de singe (1965)
- The Young Girls of Rochefort (Les Demoiselles de RochefortLes Demoiselles de RochefortThe Young Girls of Rochefort is a 1967 French musical film directed by Jacques Demy, starring Catherine Deneuve, her sister Françoise Dorléac, Jacques Perrin, Michel Piccoli, Danielle Darrieux, George Chakiris, Grover Dale and Gene Kelly. The choreography was by Norman Maen.Michel Legrand composed...
) (1966) - Who Are You, Polly Magoo? (Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo?) (1966)
- The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean (1966)
- L'an 2000 (1966)
- Gold and Lead (L'or et le plomb) (1966)
- A Matter of Innocence (also known as Pretty Polly) (1967)
- L'homme à la Buick (1967)
- How to Save a Marriage — And Ruin Your Life (1967)
- Sweet NovemberSweet November (1968 film)Sweet November is a 1968 romantic drama film written by Herman Raucher and starring Sandy Dennis, Anthony Newley and Theodore Bikel. The film had originally been written as a stage play by Raucher, but before it was even performed, Universal Pictures got wind of the project and paid Raucher...
(1968) - The Thomas Crown AffairThe Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 film by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two Academy Awards and won the Award for Best Song with Michel Legrand's "Windmills of Your Mind"...
(1968) - The Swimming Pool (La piscine) (1968)
- Play Dirty (1968)
- The AppointmentThe AppointmentThe Appointment is a 1969 psychological drama from director Sidney Lumet and writer James Salter, based on the story by Antonio Leonviola.-Plot synopsis:...
(rejected) (1968) - Ice Station ZebraIce Station ZebraIce Station Zebra is a 1963 thriller novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. This was the last of MacLean's classic sequence of first person narratives which began with Night Without End, and represented a return to that earlier novel's Arctic setting...
(1968) - Michel's Mixed Up Musical Bird (1968)
- Castle Keep (1969)
- The Happy EndingThe Happy EndingThe Happy Ending is a 1969 film written and directed by Richard Brooks, which tells the story of a repressed housewife who longs for liberation from her marriage...
(1969) - Picasso Summer (1969)
- Pieces of Dreams (1969)
- The Go-BetweenThe Go-Between (film)The Go-Between is Harold Pinter's 1970 film adaptation of the novel by L. P. Hartley. A British production directed by Joseph Losey, it stars Dominic Guard , Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Margaret Leighton, Michael Redgrave, Michael Gough and Edward Fox.Pinter's screenplay—his final collaboration...
(1970) - The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart (1970)
- Wuthering HeightsWuthering HeightsWuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë published in 1847. It was her only novel and written between December 1845 and July 1846. It remained unpublished until July 1847 and was not printed until December after the success of her sister Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre...
(1970) - The Swashbuckler (Les mariés de l'an II) (1970)
- Donkey Skin (Peau d'ÂnePeau d'ÂnePeau d'Âne is a 1970 French musical film directed by Jacques Demy. It is also known by the English titles Once Upon a Time and The Magic Donkey. The film was adapted by Demy from Donkeyskin, a fairy tale by Charles Perrault about a king who wishes to marry his daughter...
) (1970) - The Lady in the Car With Glasses And a Gun (La dame dans l'auto avec des lunettes et un fusil) (1970)
- Un peu de soleil dans l'eau froide (1970)
- Le Mans (1970)
- Summer of '42Summer of '42Summer of '42 is a 1971 American coming-of-age drama film based on the memoirs of screenwriter Herman Raucher. It tells the story of how Raucher, in his early teens on his 1942 summer vacation on Nantucket Island, off the coast of New England, embarked on a one-sided romance with a woman, Dorothy,...
(1971) - La vieille Fille (1971)
- A Time for LovingA Time for LovingA Time for Loving is a 1971 British comedy-drama film directed by Christopher Miles and starring Britt Ekland, Joanna Shimkus and Mel Ferrer. The film depicts several stories surrounding an apartment in Paris, and the various people who occupy it over the years...
(Also: Paris Was Made For Lovers) (1971) - Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
- Portnoy's ComplaintPortnoy's Complaint (film)Portnoy's Complaint is a 1972 American dramedy film written and directed by Ernest Lehman. His screenplay is based on the bestselling 1969 novel of the same name by Philip Roth.-Plot synopsis:...
(1972) - Les feux de la Chandeleur (1972)
- The Impossible Object (1972)
- One Is a Lonely Number (1972)
- A Doll's HouseA Doll's House (1973 Losey film)A Doll's House is a 1973 Franco-British film directed by Joseph Losey. It went directly to television and premiered in the United States on the American Broadcasting Company...
(1973) - The Nelson Affair (Also: A Bequest to the Nation) (1973)
- The Outside Man (Un homme est mort) (1973)
- The Hostages (Le gang des otages) (1973)
- Forty Carats (1973)
- Cops and Robbers (1973)
- BreezyBreezyBreezy is a 1973 American romantic drama film, starring William Holden and Kay Lenz. It was written by Jo Heims, and was the third film directed by Clint Eastwood, who appears uncredited as a man in crowd on a pier.-Plot:...
(1973) - The Man Who Loved Cat DancingThe Man Who Loved Cat DancingThe Man Who Loved Cat Dancing is a novel written by Marilyn Durham first published in 1972.-Plot:The novel is set in the American West in the 1880s, but is not written in a genre style. It is the story of Jay, a man of the West, and his offbeat relationship with Catherine, a woman from the East who...
(rejected) (1973) - The Three MusketeersThe Three Musketeers (1973 film)The Three Musketeers is a 1973 film based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. It was directed by Richard Lester and written by George MacDonald Fraser . It was originally proposed in the 1960s as a vehicle for The Beatles, whom Lester had directed in two other films...
(1973) - Our Time (1974)
- The Four Musketeers (1974)
- The Most Important Event Since Man Walked on the Moon (L'Evenement le plus important depuis que l'homme marche sur la lune) (1974)
- F for FakeF for FakeF for Fake is the last major film completed by Orson Welles, who directed, co-wrote, and starred in the film. Initially released in 1974, it focuses on Elmyr de Hory's recounting of his career as a professional art forger; de Hory's story serves as the backdrop for a fast-paced, meandering...
(1974) - The Savage (Le sauvage) (1975)
- Gulliver's Travels (1975)
- Sheila Levine is Dead — and Living in New York (1975)
- Gable and LombardGable and LombardGable and Lombard is a 1976 American biographical film directed by Sidney J. Furie. The screenplay by Barry Sandler is based on the romance and consequent marriage of legendary screen stars Clark Gable and Carole Lombard...
(1976) - Ode to Billy JoeOde to Billy Joe (film)Ode to Billy Joe is a 1976 film with a screenplay by Herman Raucher, inspired by the 1967 hit song by Bobbie Gentry, titled "Ode to Billie Joe" ....
(1976) - Le voyage de noces (1976)
- The Smurfs and the Magic Flute (La flute a six schtroumpfs) (1976)
- The Other Side of MidnightThe Other Side of Midnight (film)The Other Side of Midnight is a 1977 American film directed by Charles Jarrott and starring Marie-France Pisier, John Beck and Susan Sarandon...
(1977) - Routes to the South (Les routes du sud) (1978)
- Mon premier amour (1978)
- Lady Oscar (1978)
- The PhoenixPhoenix (manga)is a manga series by Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka considered Phoenix his "life's work"; it consists of 12 books, each of which tells a separate, self-contained story and takes place in a different era. The plots go back and forth from the remote future to prehistoric times. The cycle remains unfinished...
(1978) - The Fabulous Adventures of Baron Munchhausen (1979)
- Atlantic City (1980)
- The Hunter (1980)
- The Mountain Men (1980)
- Les Uns et les AutresLes Uns et les AutresLes Uns et les Autres is a 1981 French film by Claude Lelouch. The film is a musical epic and it is widely considered as the director's best work with Un Homme et une Femme. It won the Technical Grand Prize at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. In the United States, it was distributed under the name...
(also known as Bolero) (1980) - Hinotori (co-composer) (1980)
- Falling in Love Again (1981)
- What Makes David Run? (Qu'est-ce qui fait courir David?) (1981)
- La cadeau (1981)
- Chu Chu and the Philly Flash (1981)
- Your Ticket Is No Longer Valid (1982)
- Slapstick of Another KindSlapstick of Another Kind (film)Slapstick of Another Kind is an American comedy film. It was filmed in 1982, and released in March 1984 by both The S. Paul Company/Serendipity Entertainment Releasing Company and International Film Marketing...
(1982) (1982 cut) - La revanche des humanoides (1982)
- Best Friends (1982)
- The Gift (1982)
- YentlYentl (film)Yentl is a 1983 romantic musical drama film from United Artists, and directed, co-written, co-produced, and starring Barbra Streisand based on the play of the same name by Leah Napolin and Isaac Bashevis Singer, itself based on Singer's short story, "Yentl the Yeshiva Boy".The dramatic story...
(1983) - Never Say Never AgainNever Say Never AgainNever Say Never Again is a 1983 spy film based on the James Bond novel Thunderball, which was previously filmed in 1965 as Thunderball...
(1983) - A Love in Germany (Un amour en Allemagne) (1983)
- Secret Places (1984)
- Micki and Maude (1984)
- Love Songs (Paroles et musique) (1984)
- Palace (1985)
- Partir, revenirPartir, revenir-Cast and roles:* Annie Girardot - Hélène Rivière* Jean-Louis Trintignant - Roland Rivière* Françoise Fabian - Sarah Lerner* Erik Berchot - Salomon Lerner* Michel Piccoli - Simon Lerner* Évelyne Bouix - Salomé Lerner* Richard Anconina - Vincent Rivière...
(1985) - Train to Hell (Train d'enfer) (1985)
- ParkingParking (1985 film)Parking is a French fantasy film from 1985. It was directed and written by Jacques Demy, starring Francis Huster, Laurent Malet, and Jean Marais...
(1985) - Crossings (1986)
- Sins (1986)
- Casanova (1987)
- Social Club (Club de recontres) (1987)
- Spirale (1987)
- Switching Channels (1988)
- Three Seats For the 26th (Trois places pour le 26) (1988)
- Five Days in June (Cinq jours en juin) (1989)
- Escape from Paradise (Fuga dal Paradiso) (1990)
- Predator 2 (1990)
- DingoDingo (film)Dingo is a 1991 Australian film directed by Rolf de Heer and written by Marc Rosenberg. It traces the pilgrimage of John Anderson , an average guy with a passion for jazz, from his home in outback Western Australia to the jazz clubs of Paris, to meet his idol, jazz trumpeter Billy Cross...
with Miles DavisMiles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
(1991) - Gaspard et Robinson (1991)
- Pure Luck (1991)
- The Burning Shore (1991)
- The PickleThe PickleThe Pickle is a 1993 film produced, written, and directed by Paul Mazursky, telling the story of a formerly powerful film director whose recent string of flops has forced him to make a commercial piece that is artistically uninspired...
(1993) - Ready to Wear (Prêt-à-PorterPrêt-à-Porter (film)Prêt-à-Porter is a 1994 American satirical black comedy film co-written, directed, and produced by Robert Altman and shot during the Paris, France, Fashion Week with a host of international stars, models and designers...
) (1994) - Angels in the Outfield (1994)
- Operation Dumbo Drop (1995)
- Les enfants de lumiere (1995)
- Gone Fishin (1997)
- Aaron's Magic Village (1997)
Television
- Brian's SongBrian's SongBrian's Song is a 1971 ABC Movie of the Week that recounts the details of the life of Brian Piccolo , a Wake Forest University football player stricken with terminal cancer after turning pro, told through his friendship with Chicago Bears running back teammate and Pro Football Hall of Famer Gale...
(1970) - Oum le Dauphin BlancZoom the White DolphinZoom the White Dolphin was a 1971 French animated television series, of 13 episodes, created by Vladimir Tarta, directed by René Borg.The original French version was broadcast in 1971 on ORTF's second network and rebroadcast in France from 29 June 1981 on FR3. An English version was produced and...
(1971) - The Adventures of Don Quixote (1973)
- It's Good To Be Alive (1974)
- Cage Without a Key (1975)
- Once Upon a Time... SpaceOnce Upon a Time... SpaceOnce Upon a Time… Space was a French animated TV series from 1982, directed by Albert Barillé.-Synopsis:Once Upon a Time... Space differs from the rest of the Once Upon a Time titles in the sense that the series revolve on a dramatic content rather than an educational premise...
(1982) - A Woman Named Golda (1982)
- The Jesse Owens Story (1984)
- Promises to Keep (1985)
- As Summers Die (1986)
- Once Upon a Time... LifeOnce Upon a Time... LifeIl était une fois... la vie is a French animated television series which tells the story of the human body for children. The program was originally produced in France in 1987 by Procidis and directed by Albert Barillé. The series consists of 26 episodes and originally was aired on the French...
(1987) - Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less (1990)
- La Montagna dei Diamanti (1991)
- Once Upon a Time... The DiscoverersOnce Upon a Time... The DiscoverersIl était une fois... les Découvreurs was a French animated TV series from 1994. Directed by Albert Barillé.-Episodes:#The Chinese, our Ancestors#Archimedes and the Greek#Hero of Alexandria#The Measuring of Time#Henry the Navigator and Cartography...
(1994) - The Ring (1995)
- Once Upon a Time... The ExplorersOnce Upon a Time... The ExplorersIl était une fois... les Explorateurs is a French animated TV series from 1996. Directed by Albert Barillé.-Episodes:#The First Navigators#Alexander the Great#Erik the Red and the Discovery of America#Genghis Khan...
(1996)
Musical theatre
Michel Legrand composed the score for the Broadway musical AMOUR, which was translated into English by Jeremy Sams and was directed by James Lapine. This musical was his Broadway debut, and while it did not run long, it garnered a loyal fan base due to its much-praised cast album on Ghostlight Records, and subsequent multiple Tony Award nominations (2003), including Best Score for Michel Legrand and Best Actress for its acclaimed leading actress Melissa Errico. Michel continued his collaboration with Melissa to the present day, appearing at such jazz venues as Dizzy's at Lincoln Center. Though he has rarely done this for any solo artist, Michel Legrand arranged, conducted and accompanied Melissa with a 100-piece symphony on an upcoming cd (slated for 18 October release on Ghostlight Records) featuring his Oscar-winning songs, hidden French gems, as well as one new song with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. The cd was produced by the legendary Phil Ramone and is featured in Ramone's biography "Making Records."The world premiere of the new musical Marguerite
Marguerite (musical)
Marguerite is a musical with a book by Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Jonathan Kent, lyrics by Alain Boublil and Herbert Kretzmer, and music by Michel Legrand, with original French lyrics by Boublil. Based on the romantic novel La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, the musical...
from Alain Boublil
Alain Boublil
Alain Boublil is a musical theatre lyricist and librettist, best known for his collaborations with the composer Claude-Michel Schönberg for musicals on Broadway and London's West End...
and Claude-Michel Schönberg
Claude-Michel Schönberg
Claude-Michel Schönberg is a French record producer, actor, singer, songwriter, and musical theatre composer, best known for his collaborations with the lyricist Alain Boublil.These include the musicals:...
, the creators of Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
and Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr.. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover...
, includes music by Michel Legrand and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer
Herbert Kretzmer
Herbert Kretzmer OBE is a South African-born English journalist and lyric writer. He is perhaps best known as the lyricist for the English-language musical adaptation of Les Misérables.-Journalist:...
.
Marguerite is set during World War II in occupied Paris, and was inspired by the romantic novel La Dame aux camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils
Alexandre Dumas, fils
Alexandre Dumas, fils was a French author and dramatist. He was the son of Alexandre Dumas, père, also a writer and playwright.-Biography:...
. It premiered in May 2008 at the Haymarket Theatre
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
, London and was directed by Jonathan Kent
Jonathan Kent (director)
Jonathan Kent is an English theatre director and opera director. He is best known as a director/producer partner of Ian McDiarmid at the Almeida Theatre from 1990 to 2002.-Early life:...
.
Awards
Legrand has won three Oscars (out of 13 nominations), five GrammyGrammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s, and has been nominated for an Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
. The following are some of the awards and nominations with which Legrand's works have been honored:
Academy Award Nominations
- Best Original ScoreAcademy Award for Best Original ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
, Substantially Original ScoreAcademy Award for Best Original ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1965) - Best Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical)Academy Award for Best Original ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
: The Thomas Crown AffairThe Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 film by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two Academy Awards and won the Award for Best Song with Michel Legrand's "Windmills of Your Mind"...
(1968) - Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation ScoreAcademy Award for Best Original ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
: The Young Girls of Rochefort (1968) - Best Original Dramatic ScoreAcademy Award for Best Original ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
: Summer of '42Summer of '42Summer of '42 is a 1971 American coming-of-age drama film based on the memoirs of screenwriter Herman Raucher. It tells the story of how Raucher, in his early teens on his 1942 summer vacation on Nantucket Island, off the coast of New England, embarked on a one-sided romance with a woman, Dorothy,...
(1971) (won) - Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation ScoreAcademy Award for Best Original ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
:
Yentl
Yentl (film)
Yentl is a 1983 romantic musical drama film from United Artists, and directed, co-written, co-produced, and starring Barbra Streisand based on the play of the same name by Leah Napolin and Isaac Bashevis Singer, itself based on Singer's short story, "Yentl the Yeshiva Boy".The dramatic story...
(1983) (won)
- Best Original SongAcademy Award for Best Original SongThe Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
:- "I Will Wait For YouI Will Wait for You"I Will Wait For You" is a song from the French musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg . Its music was composed by Michel Legrand and its lyrics written by Jacques Demy. It was performed in the film by Catherine Deneuve, whose voice was dubbed by Danielle Licari. The English lyrics of the song were...
" from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1965) - "The Windmills of Your MindThe Windmills of Your Mind"The Windmills of Your Mind" is a song performed by Noel Harrison, with music composed by Michel Legrand and English lyrics written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman, which was used as the theme for the 1968 film, The Thomas Crown Affair, starring Steve McQueen alongside and ultimately versus...
" (won) from The Thomas Crown AffairThe Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 film by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two Academy Awards and won the Award for Best Song with Michel Legrand's "Windmills of Your Mind"...
(1968) - "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?"What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" is a song with lyrics written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman and original music written by Michel Legrand for the 1969 film The Happy Ending in which Bill Eaton sings it under the opening credits...
" from The Happy EndingThe Happy EndingThe Happy Ending is a 1969 film written and directed by Richard Brooks, which tells the story of a repressed housewife who longs for liberation from her marriage...
(1969) - "Pieces of Dreams" from Pieces of Dreams (1970)
- "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" from Best Friends (1982)
- "Papa, Can You Hear Me?Papa, Can You Hear Me?"Papa, Can You Hear Me?" is a 1983 song, performed by Barbra Streisand for the film Yentl. The song was composed by Michel Legrand, with lyrics by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman....
" and "The Way He Makes Me FeelThe Way He Makes Me Feel"The Way He Makes Me Feel" is the title of a popular song from 1983 performed by Barbra Streisand. The song is featured in the film adaptation of the play Yentl, in which Streisand starred and sang most of the music...
" both from
- "I Will Wait For You
Yentl
Yentl (film)
Yentl is a 1983 romantic musical drama film from United Artists, and directed, co-written, co-produced, and starring Barbra Streisand based on the play of the same name by Leah Napolin and Isaac Bashevis Singer, itself based on Singer's short story, "Yentl the Yeshiva Boy".The dramatic story...
. (1983)
Golden Globe Nominations
- Original Score:
- The Thomas Crown AffairThe Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 film by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two Academy Awards and won the Award for Best Song with Michel Legrand's "Windmills of Your Mind"...
(1968) - The Happy Ending (1969)
- Wuthering Heights (1970)
- Le Mans (1971)
- Summer of '42 (1971)
- Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
- Breezy (1973)
- Yentl (1983)
- The Thomas Crown Affair
- Original Song:
- "The Windmills of Your MindThe Windmills of Your Mind"The Windmills of Your Mind" is a song performed by Noel Harrison, with music composed by Michel Legrand and English lyrics written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman, which was used as the theme for the 1968 film, The Thomas Crown Affair, starring Steve McQueen alongside and ultimately versus...
" from The Thomas Crown AffairThe Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 film by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two Academy Awards and won the Award for Best Song with Michel Legrand's "Windmills of Your Mind"...
(1968) (won) - "What are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" from The Happy Ending (1969)
- "Pieces of Dreams" from Pieces of Dreams (1970)
- "Breezy's Song" from Breezy (1973)
- "Yesterday's Dreams" from Falling in love again (1980)
- "The Way He Makes Me Feel" from Yentl (1983)
- "The Windmills of Your Mind
Grammy Award Nominations
- Best arrangement accompanying vocalist: Happy Ending (Sarah Vaughn) (1972)
- Song of the year: "The Summer Knows" from Summer of '42 (1972)
- Best instrumental composition: "Brian's Song" [TV] (1972)
- Best original score written for a motion picture or television special: The Three Musketeers (1974)
- Best instrumental composition: "Images" (1982)
- Best jazz performance by a Big Band: "Images" (1982)
- Best original score album: Yentl (1983)
- Best instrumental arrangement accompanying vocals: Yentl (Barbra Streisand) (1983)
Theatre Nominations
- Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Original Score: AmourAmour (musical)Amour is a musical fantasy with an English book by Jeremy Sams, music by Michel Legrand, and lyrics by Didier Van Cauwelaert, who wrote the original French libretto....
(2002) - Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Outstanding Original Score: Amour (2002)
Emmy Award Nominations
- Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Limited Series or a Special (Dramatic Underscore): "A Woman Called Golda" [TV] (1982)
Fennecus Nominations
- Song score, original or adaptation: Yentl (1983)
- Original song: "The Way He Makes Me Feel" from Yentl (1983)
Apex Nominations
- Original score, comedy: Best Friends (1982)
- Original song, drama: "The Way He Makes Me Feel" from Yentl (1983)
- Original song score/adaptation/compilation, drama: Yentl (1983)
ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers)
- Henry Mancini Award for Le Passe-Muraille
External links
- Biography of Michel Legrand, from Radio France InternationaleRadio France InternationaleRadio France Internationale was created in 1975 as part of Radio France by the Government of France, and replaced the Poste Colonial , Paris Mondial , Radio Paris , RTF Radio Paris and ORTF Radio Paris...
- non official website of Michel Legrand +