Rachel Portman
Encyclopedia
Rachel Mary Berkeley Portman, OBE
(born 11 December 1960) is a British
composer
, best known for her film work. She was the first female composer to win an Academy Award
in the category of Best Original Score
(for Emma in 1996). (Previously, female songwriters Barbra Streisand
, in 1977, Buffy Sainte-Marie
, in 1983, and Carly Simon
, in 1989, each won Oscars, but in the category of Best Original Song
).
, England
, the daughter of Penelope (née
Mowat) and Berkeley Charles Portman. She was educated at Charterhouse School
and Worcester College, Oxford
.
Portman was nominated for an Academy Award for her scores for The Cider House Rules
in 1999 and Chocolat in 2000. She has also composed the scores for dozens of other feature films, as well as an unused score for the film Dangerous Beauty
(George Fenton
replaced her, but some of her material still remains in the film). For television, she composed the score for all thirteen episodes of Jim Henson
's The Storyteller
, and two episodes of The Jim Henson Hour
("Monster Maker" and "Living with Dinosaurs").
Her other works include a children's opera, The Little Prince
(which was later adapted for television) and a musical
based upon the Laura Ingalls Wilder
books Little House on the Prairie
(2008). Portman was commissioned to write a piece of choral music for the BBC Proms series in August 2007.
She married film producer Uberto Pasolini in 1995. They have three children: Anna, Giulia and Niky.
On May 19, 2010, Rachel Portman was honored at the BMI
Film & TV Awards with the Richard Kirk Award, which is bestowed on composers who have made significant contributions to the realm of film and television music. Portman made BMI history as she became the first woman composer to receive the honor, joining an elite list that includes Christopher Young, George S. Clinton, Mark Mothersbaugh, Danny Elfman, Alan Menken, Mike Post, Lalo Schifrin, John Barry, and John Williams.
Portman was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 11 December 1960) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, best known for her film work. She was the first female composer to win an Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
in the category of Best Original Score
Academy Award for Best Original Score
The 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:...
(for Emma in 1996). (Previously, female songwriters 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,...
, in 1977, Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie, OC is a Canadian Cree singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire includes...
, in 1983, and Carly Simon
Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
, in 1989, each won Oscars, but in the category of Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The 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...
).
Life and career
Portman was born on 11 December 1960 in HaslemereHaslemere
Haslemere is a town in Surrey, England, close to the border with both Hampshire and West Sussex. The major road between London and Portsmouth, the A3, lies to the west, and a branch of the River Wey to the south. Haslemere is approximately south-west of Guildford.Haslemere is surrounded by hills,...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the daughter of Penelope (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Mowat) and Berkeley Charles Portman. She was educated at Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
and Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
.
Portman was nominated for an Academy Award for her scores for The Cider House Rules
The Cider House Rules (film)
The Cider House Rules is a 1999 American drama film directed by Lasse Hallström, based on John Irving's novel of the same name. The film won two Academy Awards, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, along with four other nominations at the 72nd Academy Awards...
in 1999 and Chocolat in 2000. She has also composed the scores for dozens of other feature films, as well as an unused score for the film Dangerous Beauty
Dangerous Beauty
Dangerous Beauty is a biographical drama film directed by Marshall Herskovitz. It is adapted from the non-fiction book The Honest Courtesan, by Margaret Rosenthal, , about the life of Veronica Franco , a courtesan in 16th century Venice.A stage musical version of the film premiered on July 25,...
(George Fenton
George Fenton
George Fenton is a British composer best known for his work writing film scores and music for television, although he also writes music for the theatre. His real name is George Howe but he is better known by his pseudonym of George Fenton.-Selected film and television credits:Fenton has composed...
replaced her, but some of her material still remains in the film). For television, she composed the score for all thirteen episodes of Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
's The Storyteller
The Storyteller
The StoryTeller is a live-action/puppet television series. It was an American/British co-production which originally aired in 1988 and was created and produced by Jim Henson....
, and two episodes of The Jim Henson Hour
The Jim Henson Hour
The Jim Henson Hour was a short-lived television series that aired on NBC in 1989. It was developed as a showcase for The Jim Henson Company's various puppet creations, including the popular Muppet characters. Only nine of the twelve episodes produced managed to air on NBC before the low-rated...
("Monster Maker" and "Living with Dinosaurs").
Her other works include a children's opera, The Little Prince
The Little Prince (opera)
The Little Prince, subtitled A Magical Opera, is an opera in two acts by Rachel Portman to an English libretto by Nicholas Wright, based on the 1943 book of the same name by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry...
(which was later adapted for television) and a musical
Little House on the Prairie (musical)
Little House on the Prairie is a book musical adapted from the children's books, Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The creative team includes Rachel Sheinkin , Rachel Portman , Donna di Novelli , and Francesca Zambello...
based upon the Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was an American author who wrote the Little House series of books based on her childhood in a pioneer family...
books Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie
Little House is a series of children's books by Laura Ingalls Wilder that was published originally between 1932 and 1943, with four additional books published posthumously, in 1962, 1971, 1974 and 2006.-History:...
(2008). Portman was commissioned to write a piece of choral music for the BBC Proms series in August 2007.
She married film producer Uberto Pasolini in 1995. They have three children: Anna, Giulia and Niky.
On May 19, 2010, Rachel Portman was honored at the BMI
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
Film & TV Awards with the Richard Kirk Award, which is bestowed on composers who have made significant contributions to the realm of film and television music. Portman made BMI history as she became the first woman composer to receive the honor, joining an elite list that includes Christopher Young, George S. Clinton, Mark Mothersbaugh, Danny Elfman, Alan Menken, Mike Post, Lalo Schifrin, John Barry, and John Williams.
Portman was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours.
Scores
- PrivilegedPrivileged (1982 film)Privileged is a 1982 film, the first theatrical release from the Oxford Film Foundation and was Hugh Grant's screen debut playing Lord Adrian...
(1982) - Reflections (1984)
- Last Day of Summer (1984)
- Four Days in JulyFour Days in JulyFour Days in July is a 1985 television film by Mike Leigh. Set and filmed in Belfast, the film explores the Troubles by following the daily lives of two couples on either side of Northern Ireland's religious divide, both expecting their first children...
(1985) - Sharma and Beyond (1986)
- Good as GoldGood as GoldGood as Gold is a 1979 novel by Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22.-Plot introduction:Bruce Gold, a Jewish, middle-aged university English professor and author of many unread, seminal articles in small journals, residing in Manhattan, is offered the chance for success, fame and fortune in Washington...
(1986) - A Little PrincessA Little PrincessA Little Princess is a 1905 children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It is a revised and expanded version of Burnett's 1888 serialized novel entitled Sara Crewe: or, What Happened at Miss Minchin's Boarding School, which was published in St. Nicholas Magazine.According to Burnett, she...
(1986) - 1914 All Out (1987)
- The Short and Curlies (1987)
- The Falklands War: The Untold Story (1987)
- 90 Degrees South (1987)
- The StorytellerThe StorytellerThe StoryTeller is a live-action/puppet television series. It was an American/British co-production which originally aired in 1988 and was created and produced by Jim Henson....
(1988) TV Series - Loving Hazel (1988)
- Sometime in August (1988)
- The Woman in Black (1989)
- Young Charlie Chaplin (1989)
- Monster MakerMonster MakerMonster Maker is 45-minute television special, adapted by Matthew Jacobs from the novel of the same name by Nicholas Fisk.Harry Dean Stanton plays an American Special Effects expert living in London, who is befriended by a young fan named Matt Banting...
(1989) - Living with Dinosaurs (1989)
- Precious BanePrecious BanePrecious Bane is a novel by Mary Webb, first published in 1924. It won the Prix Femina Vie Heureuse Prize.In 1957 it was made into a six part BBC television drama series starring Patrick Troughton and Daphne Slater...
(1989) (TV) - Oranges Are Not the Only FruitOranges Are Not the Only Fruit (TV serial)Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit was a critically acclaimed 1990 BBC television drama, directed by Beeban Kidron. Jeanette Winterson wrote the screenplay, adapting her semi-autobiographical first novel of the same name . The BBC produced and screened three episodes, running to a total of 2 hours and...
(1990) - Shoot to KillShoot to Kill (1990 TV drama)Shoot to Kill is a four-hour drama documentary reconstruction of the events that led to the 1984–86 Stalker Inquiry into the shooting of six terrorist suspects in Northern Ireland in 1982 by a specialist unit of the Royal Ulster Constabulary , allegedly without warning ; the organised fabrication...
(1990) - Life Is SweetLife Is Sweet (film)Life Is Sweet is a 1991 British film directed by Mike Leigh, starring Jim Broadbent, Alison Steadman, Claire Skinner, Jane Horrocks and Timothy Spall. Leigh's third cinematic film, it was his most commercially successful title at the time of its release...
(1990) - The Storyteller: Greek Myths (1990)
- The Widowmaker (1990)
- Where Angels Fear to TreadWhere Angels Fear to TreadWhere Angels Fear to Tread is a novel by E. M. Forster, originally entitled Monteriano. The title comes from a line in Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism: "For fools rush in where angels fear to tread"....
(1991) - Antonia and Jane (1991)
- Flea Bites (1991) (TV)
- Used PeopleUsed PeopleUsed People is a 1992 American romantic comedy film directed by Beeban Kidron. The screenplay by Todd Graff, adapted from his 1988 off-Broadway play The Grandma Plays , takes a humorous look at a highly dysfunctional family living in the New York City borough of Queens circa 1969...
(1992) - Mr. Wakefield's Crusade (1992) (TV)
- Rebecca's DaughtersRebecca's DaughtersRebecca's Daughters is a 1992 British and German comedy film, directed by Karl Francis.It was based on a story by Dylan Thomas. The screenplay was originally written in 1948 by Thomas, but forty four years elapsed before it was finally made into a film, which is the longest period of this kind on...
(1992) - The Cloning of Joanna MayThe Cloning of Joanna MayThe Cloning of Joanna May is a 1989 science fiction novel by Fay Weldon.- Plot introduction:Joanna May was once married to Carl May, the wealthy CEO of a nuclear energy corporation, but they have been divorced for ten years after Joanna was caught in an incidental love affair. Since then, Carl May...
(1992) - FriendsFriends (1993 film)Friends is a 1993 South African drama film directed by Elaine Proctor. It was entered into the 1993 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Caméra d'Or Special Distinction.-Cast:* Kerry Fox - Sophie* Dambisa Kente - Thoko* Michele Burgers - Aninka...
(1993) - The Joy Luck ClubThe Joy Luck Club (film)The Joy Luck Club is a 1993 American film about the relationships between Chinese-American women and their Chinese mothers. It is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Amy Tan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bass. The film was produced by Oliver Stone and directed by Wayne Wang...
(1993) - Benny & JoonBenny & JoonBenny & Joon is a 1993 romantic comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer about how two eccentric individuals, Sam and Juniper "Joon" , find each other and fall in love...
(1993) - Ethan FromeEthan FromeEthan Frome is a novel published in 1911 by the Pulitzer Prize-winning American author Edith Wharton. It is set in the fictitious town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, New England, United States...
(1993) - Great Moments in AviationGreat Moments in AviationGreat Moments in Aviation is a 1994 romantic drama film, set on a 1950s passenger liner. The film follows Gabriel Angel , a young Caribbean aviator who falls in love with the forger Duncan Stewart on her journey to England...
(1993) - The Road to WellvilleThe Road to Wellville (film)The Road to Wellville is a 1994 American comedy-drama film adaptation of T. Coraghessan Boyle's novel of the same name, which tells the story of the doctor and clean-living advocate John Harvey Kellogg and his methods as employed at the Battle Creek Sanitarium at the start of the 20th Century...
(1994) - Only YouOnly You (1994 film)Only You is a 1994 romantic comedy film written by Diane Drake and directed and coproduced by Norman Jewison. It stars Marisa Tomei as a young woman who searches for a man whom she believes is her soulmate and Robert Downey Jr. as a young man she meets along the way...
(1994)
- SirensSirens (film)Sirens is a 1993 film, written and directed by John Duigan, and set in Australia between the two World Wars.Sirens, along with Four Weddings and a Funeral and Bitter Moon—all released in the U.S...
(1994) - War of the ButtonsWar of the Buttons (1994 film)War of the Buttons is a 1994 Irish film directed by John Roberts, about two rival kid gangs in Ireland, the Ballys , and the Carricks...
(1994) - To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie NewmarTo Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie NewmarTo Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar is a 1995 American comedy film, starring Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo as three New York drag queens who embark on a road trip...
(1995) - PalookavillePalookaville (film)Palookaville is a 1995 motion picture about a pair of trio burglars and their dysfunctional family of origin. Prominent actors featured in the film include William Forsythe, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Vincent Gallo, Adam Trese and Frances McDormand...
(1995) - SmokeSmoke (film)Smoke is an American independent film released in 1995. It was produced by Hisami Kuroiwa, Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein and directed by Wayne Wang and Paul Auster...
(1995) - A Pyromaniac's Love StoryA Pyromaniac's Love StoryA Pyromaniac's Love Story is a 1995 American romantic comedy film directed by Joshua Brand. The original screenplay is by Morgan Ward. The movie was filmed in Toronto .-Plot synopsis:...
(1995) - Marvin's Room (1996)
- EmmaEmma (1996 film)Emma is a 1996 period film based on the novel of the same name by Jane Austen. Directed by Douglas McGrath, it stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeremy Northam, Toni Collette, and Ewan McGregor.- Synopsis :...
(1996)(Won the Academy Award for best original score) - The Adventures of Pinocchio (1996)
- Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted ChristmasBeauty and the Beast: The Enchanted ChristmasBeauty and The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas is a 1997 animated holiday special produced by The Walt Disney Company. It is a midquel that takes place within the timeline of the original Beauty and the Beast...
(1997) - Addicted to LoveAddicted to Love (film)Addicted to Love is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by Griffin Dunne, starring Meg Ryan, Matthew Broderick, Tchéky Karyo, and Kelly Preston...
(1997) - BelovedBeloved (film)Beloved is a 1998 film based on Toni Morrison's 1987 novel of the same name. It was directed by Jonathan Demme, and was produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions. The film stars Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover.-Plot:...
(1998) - Home FriesHome FriesHome Fries is a 1998 film directed by Dean Parisot, starring Drew Barrymore, Luke Wilson and Jake Busey. The script was originally penned by writer Vince Gilligan for a film class at New York University...
(1998) - The Cider House RulesThe Cider House Rules (film)The Cider House Rules is a 1999 American drama film directed by Lasse Hallström, based on John Irving's novel of the same name. The film won two Academy Awards, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, along with four other nominations at the 72nd Academy Awards...
(1999) - RatcatcherRatcatcher (film)Ratcatcher is a 1999 film written and directed by Lynne Ramsay. It is her debut feature film and was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival....
(1999) - The Other SisterThe Other SisterThe Other Sister is a 1999 romantic comedy film starring Juliette Lewis, Giovanni Ribisi, Diane Keaton, and Tom Skerritt. Garry Marshall directed the film...
(1999) - Chocolat (2000)
- The Legend of Bagger VanceThe Legend of Bagger VanceThe Legend of Bagger Vance is a 2000 American film directed by Robert Redford and starring Will Smith, Matt Damon and Charlize Theron. It is based on the 1995 book of the same title by Steven Pressfield and takes place in the U.S. state of Georgia in 1931...
(2000) - The Closer You GetThe Closer You GetThe Closer You Get was Six by Seven's second album. Recorded at The Square Centre in Nottingham with Ric Peet - who'd produced one track on their first album - and John Leckie - who'd worked with many British bands including Radiohead and Simple Minds...
(2000) - The Emperor's New Clothes (2001)
- Nicholas NicklebyNicholas Nickleby (2002 film)Nicholas Nickleby is a 2002 comedy-drama film written and directed by Douglas McGrath. The screenplay is based on The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, which originally was published in serial form between March 1838 and September 1839.-Plot:In a prologue we are...
(2002) - The Truth About CharlieThe Truth About CharlieThe Truth About Charlie is a 2002 remake of the 1963 film Charade. It is also an homage to François Truffaut's 1960 film Shoot the Piano Player complete with that film's star, Charles Aznavour, making two surreal appearances singing his song "Quand tu m'aimes" .The Truth About Charlie was produced,...
(2002) - Hart's WarHart's WarHart's War is a 2002 film about a World War II prisoner of war based on the novel by John Katzenbach starring Bruce Willis, Colin Farrell, Terrence Howard and Marcel Iureş...
(2002) - Mona Lisa SmileMona Lisa SmileMona Lisa Smile is a 2003 romantic drama film produced by Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures in association with Red Om Films Productions, directed by Mike Newell, written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, and starring Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Julia Stiles...
(2003) - The Human StainThe Human Stain (film)The Human Stain is a 2003 American romantic thriller film directed by Robert Benton. The screenplay by Nicholas Meyer is based on the 2000 novel of the same name by Philip Roth...
(2003) - The Manchurian CandidateThe Manchurian Candidate (2004 film)The Manchurian Candidate is a 2004 American thriller film based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Richard Condon, and a reimagining of the previous 1962 film....
(2004) - Lard (2004)
- Oliver TwistOliver Twist (2005 film)Oliver Twist is a 2005 British drama film directed by Roman Polanski. The screenplay by Ronald Harwood is based on the 1838 novel of the same title by Charles Dickens....
(2005) - Define NormalDefine NormalDefine Normal was a BBC documentary series, first broadcast July 2005....
(2005) - Because of Winn-DixieBecause of Winn-DixieBecause of Winn-Dixie is a children's novel by Kate DiCamillo published in 2000 and winner of a Newbery Honor distinction the following year. It also won the 2000 Josette Frank Award, and 2003 Mark Twain Award...
(2005) - InfamousInfamous (film)Infamous is a 2006 American drama film, based on the 1997 book by George Plimpton, Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career....
(2006) - The Lake HouseThe Lake House (film)The Lake House: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released in 2006.# "This Never Happened Before" - Paul McCartney# " Make You Mine" - The Clientele# "Time Has Told Me" - Nick Drake# "Ant Farm" - Eels...
(2006) - H2Hope: The Water Diviner's Tale (Musical, BBC Prom 57) (2007)
- Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008)
- The DuchessThe Duchess (film)The Duchess is a 2008 British drama film based on Amanda Foreman's biography of the 18th-century English aristocrat Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. It was released in September 2008 in the UK...
(2008) - Grey Gardens (2009)
- Never Let Me GoNever Let Me Go (2010 film)Never Let Me Go is a 2010 British dystopian drama film based on Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Mark Romanek from a screenplay by Alex Garland. Never Let Me Go is set in an alternate history and centers on Kathy, Ruth and Tommy who are portrayed by Carey...
(2010) - Snow Flower and the Secret FanSnow Flower and the Secret FanSnow Flower and the Secret Fan is a 2005 novel by Lisa See set in nineteenth century China. In her introduction to the novel, See writes that Lily, the narrator, was born in 1823 — "the third year of Emperor Daoguang's reign". The novel begins in 1903, when Lily is 80 years old...
(2010) - One DayOne Day (film)One Day is a film directed by Lone Scherfig. It was adapted by David Nicholls from his 2009 novel of the same name. It stars Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess...
(2011) - Bel AmiBel AmiBel Ami is French author Guy de Maupassant's second novel, published in 1885. An English translation titled Bel ami, or, The history of a scoundrel: a novel appeared in 1903....
(2011) - I Don't Know How She Does It (2011)
- The Vow (2012)
External links
- Rachel Portman Official Website
- Rachel Portman at Chester Novello
- Rachel Portman at The Danish Filmmusic Society (DFS)