Daniel Robert Elfman was born on May 29, 1953. He is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He became famous as the lead singer and main songwriter for the new wave music group Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since 1985, Elfman has created music for more than 100 feature films, as well as for television, stage plays, and concerts.
Elfman has often worked with directors Tim Burton, Sam Raimi, and Gus Van Sant. He has contributed music to nearly 20 films directed by Tim Burton, including Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, Mars Attacks!, Sleepy Hollow, Big Fish, and Alice in Wonderland. He also composed the scores for Sam Raimi’s films Darkman, A Simple Plan, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Oz the Great and Powerful, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Gus Van Sant’s films Good Will Hunting and Milk, which won Academy Awards, also feature Elfman’s music. Elfman wrote music for all the Men in Black and Fifty Shades of Grey movies, the songs and score for Henry Selick’s animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas, and the themes for the television shows Desperate Housewives and The Simpsons.
Elfman has received many honors, including four Oscar nominations, three Emmy Awards, a Grammy, seven Saturn Awards for Best Music, the 2002 Richard Kirk Award, the 2015 Disney Legend Award, the Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award in 2017, and the Society of Composers & Lyricists Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.
Early life
Elfman was born on May 29, 1953, in Los Angeles, California, to a Jewish family with Russian roots. His parents were Blossom Elfman (née Bernstein), a writer and teacher, and Milton Elfman, also a teacher. He has a brother named Richard Elfman, who is an actor, musician, and journalist. Elfman grew up in Baldwin Hills, a wealthy neighborhood where he often visited the local movie theater. There, he watched classic science fiction, fantasy, and horror films and first heard the music of composers like Bernard Herrmann and Franz Waxman. Elfman once said he made up stories about his past when he was bored, such as claiming he was born in Amarillo, Texas, and that his parents worked for the United States Air Force.
During his early school years, Elfman showed a strong interest in science but had little interest in music. He was not accepted into the elementary school orchestra because he did not seem to have a talent for music. This changed when he moved to a new high school in the late 1960s and met friends who enjoyed music. They introduced him to early jazz and the work of composers like Stravinsky and other artists from the 20th century. Elfman attended University High School in Los Angeles but later left without finishing.
Elfman left school to join his brother Richard in France, where he played the violin with Jérôme Savary’s Le Grand Magic Circus, an experimental musical theater group. After that, he traveled for ten months across Africa, playing music on the street for tips and collecting West African percussion instruments. However, he became sick and had to return home. At this time, Richard was starting a new musical theater group in Los Angeles.
Career
After returning to Los Angeles from Africa in the early 1970s, Elfman was asked by his brother Richard to become the musical director of a street theatre group called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. Elfman was responsible for changing and arranging jazz and big band music from the 1920s and 1930s by artists like Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Django Reinhardt, and Josephine Baker for the group. The ensemble had up to 15 members who played more than 30 instruments. Elfman also created original music and helped build special instruments for the group, such as an aluminum gamelan, a musical instrument called the "Schlitz celeste" made from tuned beer cans, and a "junkyard orchestra" made from car parts and trash cans.
The Mystic Knights performed on the street, in theaters, and later in nightclubs across Los Angeles until Richard left in 1976 to work in filmmaking. To say goodbye to the group’s original idea, Richard made a film called Forbidden Zone based on the Mystic Knights’ performances. Elfman wrote the songs and the film’s first score, and he played the character Satan, who performed a version of Cab Calloway’s song "Minnie the Moocher."
In 1976, Elfman became the lead singer and songwriter for the group. In 1979, he reduced the group to eight members to record and tour as a new wave band influenced by ska music. That summer, the group changed its name to Oingo Boingo. Their most successful album, Dead Man’s Party (1985), included the hit song "Weird Science" from the movie of the same name. The band also performed their song "Dead Man’s Party" in the 1986 movie Back to School, for which Elfman also wrote the score. In the late 1980s, Elfman shifted the band’s sound to focus more on guitar-based rock music, which continued until their final album, Boingo, in 1994.
Elfman retired Oingo Boingo in 1995 after suffering permanent hearing damage from live performances and conflicts with his film-scoring work. He ended the band with five sold-out concerts at the Universal Amphitheatre on Halloween night. On October 31, 2015, Elfman and Oingo Boingo guitarist Steve Bartek performed "Dead Man’s Party" with an orchestra as an encore at a concert of The Nightmare Before Christmas score at the Hollywood Bowl. Elfman told the audience the performance happened exactly 20 years after Oingo Boingo’s retirement.
Fans of Oingo Boingo, Tim Burton and Paul Reubens, invited Elfman to write the score for their first movie, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985). Elfman was unsure at first because he had no formal training and had never scored a studio film before. However, after Burton liked his demo of the movie’s title music and with help from Steve Bartek, Elfman completed the score successfully. He honored the work of famous film composers Nino Rota and Bernard Herrmann. Elfman said hearing his music played by a full orchestra was one of the most exciting moments of his life.
After Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Elfman wrote scores for several comedies in the late 1980s, including Back to School (starring Rodney Dangerfield), Burton’s Beetlejuice, and the Bill Murray film Scrooged. He also composed a synth-based score for Wisdom and big band, blues-style music for Midnight Run.
In 1989, Elfman’s Grammy-winning score for Burton’s Batman marked a major change in his style, moving toward darker, more complex music. This style continued in scores for Dick Tracy, Darkman, and Nightbreed, all released in 1990.
With Batman, Elfman began a long partnership with Burton, scoring all but three of the director’s major films. Key projects include Edward Scissorhands (1990), Batman Returns (1992), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Big Fish (2003), and Alice in Wonderland (2010). In 1993, Elfman wrote the score and ten songs for The Nightmare Before Christmas, directed by Henry Selick, and provided the singing voice for the main character, Jack Skellington, as well as voices for other characters. In 2005, he wrote the score and songs for Corpse Bride and provided the voice of Bonejangles, and also wrote the score, songs, and Oompa-Loompa vocals for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Elfman has worked with directors like Brian De Palma, Peter Jackson, Joss Whedon, Ang Lee, Richard Donner, Guillermo del Toro, and others. His scores for Men in Black, Good Will Hunting, Milk, Big Fish, and other films received Academy Award nominations.
Since the mid-1990s, Elfman has written music for many types of films, including thrillers (Dolores Claiborne, A Simple Plan), dramas (Sommersby, A Civil Action), independent films (Freeway, Silver Linings Playbook), family films (Flubber, Frankenweenie), documentaries (Standard Operating Procedure), and horror films (Red Dragon, The Wolfman). He has also worked on horror comedies (The Frighteners, Mars Attacks!) and comic book-inspired films (Hulk, Wanted).
Elfman composed the scores for four Men in Black films (1997–2019) and three Fifty Shades films (2015–2018). He scored the first Mission: Impossible film in 1996, adapting themes from the original TV series by Lalo Schifrin and adding his own music. He also wrote the scores for Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man 2 (2004), with themes used later in Spider-Man 3 (scored by Christopher Young). Elfman’s Spider-Man theme was later used in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), scored by Michael Giacchino.
Elfman joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe by contributing music to Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), sharing credit with Brian Tyler. He also scored Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), using themes from Doctor Strange, WandaVision, X-Men: The Animated Series, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, and Bach’s Toccata and Fugue.
For major film sequels and reboots in the 2010s, Elfman combined existing musical themes with his original music, including Justice League, The Grinch, Dumbo, and Men in Black International.
Elfman appeared in the 2016 documentary *Score
Influences and style
Elfman says his major influences include composers from Hollywood's golden era, such as Bernard Herrmann, Dimitri Tiomkin, Max Steiner, David Tamkin, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and Carl Stalling. He also draws inspiration from 20th-century classical composers like Sergei Prokofiev, Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Carl Orff, as well as jazz, experimental, and minimalist composers such as Kurt Weill, Duke Ellington, Harry Partch, Philip Glass, Lou Harrison, Terry Riley, and Steve Reich.
Elfman has used the music of specific composers in his film scores. For example, Erik Satie influenced his work on Forbidden Zone, Nino Rota on Pee-wee's Big Adventure, George Gershwin on Dick Tracy, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky on Edward Scissorhands, and Jimi Hendrix on Dead Presidents. He also respects and admires film composers Jerry Goldsmith, Ennio Morricone, Thomas Newman, Alexandre Desplat, and John Williams, as well as classical composer John Adams.
Although many people believe Richard Wagner influenced Elfman's score for Batman, Elfman says it was more likely due to Wagner's influence on earlier film composers like Herrmann, Steiner, Waxman, and Korngold. He was not familiar with Wagner's work at the time.
Elfman considers Herrmann his biggest influence. He says hearing Herrmann's score for The Day the Earth Stood Still as a child was the first time he understood film music as an art form. Elfman's score for Pee-wee's Big Adventure includes music similar to Herrmann's work, such as in the cues "Stolen Bike" and "Clown Dream." His Batman score subtly references Herrmann's music, and later works like Mars Attacks! and Hitchcock include more direct homages.
Elfman is known for writing large-scale orchestral music in the romantic, 20th-century, and Hollywood golden era film score traditions. His work has also included rock and blues (Midnight Run, Hot to Trot), big band and jazz (Dick Tracy, Chicago), operetta (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride), funk and hip hop (Dead Presidents, Notorious), folk and indie rock (Taking Woodstock, Silver Linings Playbook), Americana (Article 99, Sommersby, Big Fish), minimalism (Good Will Hunting, Standard Operating Procedure, The Unknown Known), and atonal or experimental styles (Freeway, A Simple Plan, The Girl on the Train).
Elfman often uses traditional instruments from other cultures in his scores when the film's setting is international. For example, he used African percussion in Instinct, the oud in The Kingdom (set in Saudi Arabia), and pan flute in Proof of Life (set in South America).
When working on films with established musical themes, Elfman often includes original themes alongside his own. Examples include using Lalo Schifrin's theme from the original Mission Impossible TV series for Mission: Impossible, John Williams' theme for Superman, the Hans Zimmer/Junkie XL theme for Wonder Woman, and his own Batman theme for Justice League. He also used the "Welcome Christmas" song from the 1966 How the Grinch Stole Christmas! for The Grinch and music from Disney's 1941 Dumbo for Dumbo.
The songs for The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride were influenced by Kurt Weill, Gilbert and Sullivan, and early Rodgers and Hammerstein. At Tim Burton's request, the songs for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory drew inspiration from Bollywood, the Mamas and the Papas, ABBA, and Earth, Wind & Fire.
Elfman's work in pop music, especially as a songwriter for Oingo Boingo, was influenced by the Specials, Madness, the Selecter, Devo, Fun Boy Three, and XTC.
Methods
Danny Elfman creates music for films by getting musical ideas mainly from watching a version of the film. Sometimes, he visits the set while the film is being made. For example, he wrote the Batman theme on an airplane after visiting the set in London. He usually avoids working from scripts or story ideas, but exceptions include The Nightmare Before Christmas, where ten songs were needed before filming, and Dumbo, where the main theme was written before filming began.
Once a rough version of the film is ready, Elfman and the director meet to decide where to place music, the emotions of each scene, and the film’s overall tone. Elfman then spends several weeks creating musical ideas and experimenting with sounds and styles.
After receiving approval from the filmmakers, Elfman composes between 60 and 120 minutes of music, focusing on the tone of each scene and the rhythm of the editing. Action scenes often take the most time because of the need to match music with fast-paced visuals.
Early in his career, Elfman wrote scores by hand, but since the mid-1990s, he has used digital tools. Before recording, he creates mock-ups of each musical piece using a synthesizer to get approval from the director. Once approved, he sends detailed sketches to his lead orchestrator, Steve Bartek, who divides the music into sections for the orchestra (strings, brass, woodwinds, percussion), choir (SATB), and individual players.
Elfman often records his own percussion and guitar parts to add to the live orchestra. More than half of some scores include his performances, such as in Dead Presidents, Mission: Impossible, and The Girl on the Train.
To record the score, Elfman rents a studio and hires a conductor, orchestra, and choir. He oversees the recording from the control booth to work with the director and engineers. The final recording is sent to the film’s sound team to mix with dialogue and effects. Elfman also creates special mixes for music albums, producing nearly 100 to date.
If deadlines are tight or changes are made to the film after the score is completed, Elfman may hire other composers to adapt his music. Examples include Jonathan Sheffer on Darkman and Pinar Toprak on Justice League. Occasionally, Elfman has shared music writing credit with others, such as on Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Elfman has only once collaborated with another artist: Siouxsie and the Banshees, on the song “Face to Face” for Batman Returns. They worked remotely, with Siouxsie creating the song’s foundation and Elfman adding elements. Elfman later said he rarely collaborates, preferring to work alone.
In the liner notes for his 2006 concert work Serenada Schizophrana, Elfman described starting with short, improvisational pieces that eventually became six connected movements.
For his violin concerto Eleven Eleven, Elfman worked with soloist Sandy Cameron, for whom the piece was written.
Elfman often uses choral or vocal arrangements in his scores, such as women’s and children’s choirs in Scrooged, Edward Scissorhands, and Batman Returns. He also includes solo voices or vocal effects in films like Beetlejuice and Men in Black II. In Batman, he set made-up Latin-sounding text for a SATB choir in the cue “Descent into Mystery,” inspired by Carmina Burana.
Elfman adds his own vocals to compositions, such as in To Die For, Silver Linings Playbook, and the Hong Kong Disneyland ride Mystic Manor. He sang the voices of characters in The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride, and performed the “Day-O” call in Beetlejuice.
For Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Elfman set Roald Dahl’s text for the Oompa-Loompa characters into four distinct songs, each with unique styles. He used layered vocal recordings to create the Oompa-Loompas’ voices and incorporated them into non-song tracks.
Elfman typically writes the lyrics to songs he composes for films. He uses structures from Tin Pan Alley, early musical theatre, and 1950s–60s pop and rock. His songs help advance the story and develop characters, with lyrics reflecting the film’s themes and characters’ emotions.
For The Nightmare Before Christmas, Elfman wrote ten songs based on Tim Burton’s parody poem and concept drawings. These include full-cast songs like “This Is Halloween” and character songs like “Jack’s Lament” and “Sally’s Song.” An eleventh song, “Finale/Reprise,” reworks lyrics from earlier songs for the film’s ending. Burton contributed some lyrics, such as the line “Perhaps it’s the head that I found in the lake” in “Town Meeting Song.”
Elfman composed five songs for Corpse Bride, including “According to Plan” with lyrics co-written by John August and “Remains of the Day,” which he performed as the character Bonejangles.
Personal life
As a teenager, Elfman dated his classmate Kim Gordon, who later joined the rock band Sonic Youth. He has two daughters, Lola and Mali, from his marriage to Geri Eisenmenger. Mali works as a film producer and actress. Elfman and Mali worked together on her 2011 film Do Not Disturb.
On November 29, 2003, Elfman married actress Bridget Fonda. They have a son named Oliver. In 1998, Elfman created the music for the movie A Simple Plan, which starred Fonda. He is the uncle of actor Bodhi Elfman, who is married to actress Jenna Elfman.
Elfman has been an atheist since he was 11 or 12 years old. In an interview with the New York Post, he called himself a "cynic-ologist."
During the 1980s, Elfman described his political views as being critical of society but not focused on being negative. He said he once believed he was a revolutionary but later became more patriotic. He also said he has grown more balanced over time. Many of his songs for Oingo Boingo during this time criticized social issues, but Elfman said his goal was to question and challenge ideas, not support any specific political group.
In 2008, Elfman supported Barack Obama. For the 2020 Democratic National Convention, he created the music for a video shown before Joe Biden accepted the presidential nomination in the 2020 U.S. elections. On social media, Elfman criticized Donald Trump, Richard Nixon, and the electoral college, and shared information about voting.
During his 18 years with Oingo Boingo, Elfman suffered hearing loss due to loud noises from performing in a rock band. To avoid making his condition worse, he left the band and said he would never return to that type of performance. His hearing was so poor that he could not even stay in loud places like restaurants or bars. However, he found it easier to perform with orchestras and later performed Jack Skellington again.
Composer Nomi Abadi said Elfman was involved in multiple cases of sexual harassment and misconduct between 2015 and 2016. Elfman denied these claims. The situation reportedly led to a private agreement where Elfman would pay Abadi $830,000 over time. In 2024, Abadi sued Elfman for defamation over statements he made to Rolling Stone. Elfman’s request to dismiss the lawsuit was denied in 2024.
In popular culture
Since the second annual Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons aired in 1991, the tradition of using "scary names" in the opening and closing titles began. Danny Elfman has been credited with the theme music under names such as "Red Wolf Elfman," "Danny Skellingelfman," "Li'l Leakin Brain Elfman," "Boris Elfmonivich," "Danny Elfblood," "Danny 'Hell'fman," "The Bloody Elf," "Danny Elfbones," "Elfmunster," and "Daniel Beilzebelsman."
Elfman's composition "Clown Dream" from Pee-wee's Big Adventure is used in the video game Grand Theft Auto V and has often been played as the opening music for concerts by the band Primus.
In the 2007 sixth season Star Wars parody Blue Harvest, Family Guy made fun of Elfman's orchestral style. One scene shows Elfman replacing a burned John Williams to conduct an orchestra playing the score, only to be decapitated by a lightsaber after playing a few bars of oom-pah music.
An episode of South Park from 2010 criticized Tim Burton for using the same music in all his films, referencing Elfman's scores.
In October 2016, Elfman made a video clip for Funny or Die with original horror music composed for footage of Donald Trump pacing around Hillary Clinton during the 2016 U.S. presidential election debates.
In 2019, parts of Elfman's Midnight Run score were used in the third season of Stranger Things on Netflix. These included "Stairway Chase" in episodes 5 and 6, and "Wild Ride" and "Package Deal" in episode 6.
Christina Aguilera said that Elfman's music inspired her Las Vegas concert residency called The Xperience.
Awards and nominations
The music Elfman created for the movies Batman and Edward Scissorhands was considered for AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores.
Discography
By 2019, Elfman had created more than 100 albums. This includes music from movies and Oingo Boingo's collection of music, which are sold to the public.