Alfred Newman was born on March 17, 1900, and died on February 17, 1970. He was an American composer, arranger, and conductor who created music for films. He began his career as a young, talented musician and became a respected figure in the history of film music. He won nine Academy Awards and was nominated for 45 others. His family, including relatives who also worked in music, received a total of 92 Academy Award nominations across different music categories, making them the most nominated family in film music history.

Over a career lasting more than 40 years, Newman composed music for more than 200 movies. Some of his most famous scores include Wuthering Heights, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Mark of Zorro, How Green Was My Valley, The Song of Bernadette, Captain from Castile, All About Eve, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, Anastasia, The Diary of Anne Frank, How the West Was Won, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and Airport. All of these films were nominated for or won Academy Awards. He is best known for creating the fanfare that plays at the beginning of 20th Century Fox movie logos. Before working for 20th Century Fox, he composed fanfares for films made by Samuel Goldwyn and David O. Selznick.

Newman was also respected as a conductor. He arranged and conducted music for other composers, including George Gershwin, Charlie Chaplin, and Irving Berlin. He conducted music for many film adaptations of Broadway musicals and for original Hollywood musicals. He worked on Broadway for 10 years before moving to Hollywood.

Newman was among the first musicians to create and conduct original music during Hollywood’s Golden Age of movies. Later, he became a respected and influential music director in Hollywood history. He, along with two other composers, Max Steiner and Dimitri Tiomkin, were called the "three godfathers of film music."

Early life

Newman was born on March 17, 1900, in New Haven, Connecticut. He was the oldest of ten children born to Russian-Jewish parents who moved to the United States shortly before his birth. Some sources incorrectly list his birth year as 1901, but musicologist Fred Steiner confirmed he was born in 1900. His father, Michael Newman (born Nemorofsky), sold produce for a living, and his mother, Luba (née Koskoff), cared for the family. Luba’s father had been a religious singer in Russia, which influenced her love for music. She began piano lessons for Newman, her first child, when he was five years old. At one time, he walked ten miles round trip to attend lessons. His family once had to sell their dog to afford basic needs.

By age eight, Newman was known in his community as a talented young pianist. His skill led virtuoso Ignacy Jan Paderewski to arrange a recital for him in New York. Later, Sigismund Stojowski and Alexander Lambert taught him piano. To help him save money on travel, Stojowski convinced a ticket inspector to let Newman ride public transportation for free. Stojowski also gave him a scholarship, which helped Newman win a silver medal and a gold medal in a competition. He also studied music theory, composition, and harmony with Rubin Goldmark and George Wedge.

At twelve, Newman’s family struggled financially because his parents earned very little money. To help support his family, he began playing piano in theaters and restaurants, such as the Strand Theater and the Harlem Opera House. He often performed five shows a day, accompanying singers as a pianist. Grace La Rue, a famous performer in one of the shows, recognized Newman’s talent and hired him as her regular accompanist.

At thirteen, author Ella Wheeler Wilcox noticed Newman’s musical abilities and wanted to help him achieve his goals. She admired his skill in playing the works of composers like Mendelssohn, Chopin, Liszt, and Wagner, and believed he played them as well as Paderewski. She praised his "unusual moral qualities and characteristics."

Newman joined La Rue’s vaudeville tour at thirteen, where she introduced him as "The Marvelous Boy Pianist." During tours, he sometimes conducted orchestras, which inspired him to pursue conducting as a career. William Merrigan Daly, a skilled music director, taught Newman the basics of conducting. By fifteen, he regularly conducted matinee performances. Cincinnati Symphony conductor Fritz Reiner was impressed by Newman’s talent and invited him to conduct as a guest.

At nineteen, Newman began working as a full-time conductor in New York City. He spent ten years conducting Broadway musicals composed by artists like George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, and Jerome Kern. He conducted shows such as George White’s Scandals (1919), Funny Face (1927), and Treasure Girl (1929). Newman said he was happiest conducting: "I studied music composition and counterpoint because I wanted to be a good conductor."

In 1930, songwriter Irving Berlin invited Newman to Hollywood to conduct the music for the film Reaching for the Moon. Although the film originally included Berlin’s songs, problems arose between Berlin and the director, leading to most of the songs being removed. Newman remained on the project and received credit for directing the music, marking his debut in Hollywood.

Film scoring career

Max Steiner moved to Hollywood in 1930 and completed the score for Reaching for the Moon. Soon after, producer Samuel Goldwyn offered him a contract to work as a movie composer. His first full film score was for Goldwyn’s Street Scene in 1931. The music showed the busy and fast-paced life in New York’s Lower East Side during the 1930s. He later reused this music theme in films like How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), which begins with him conducting an orchestra. The same theme also appears in Gentleman’s Agreement, I Wake Up Screaming, The Dark Corner, Cry of the City, Kiss of Death, and Where the Sidewalk Ends.

In 1931, Charlie Chaplin hired Steiner to arrange the music for City Lights, and he worked again on Modern Times in 1936. Reporter Sidney Skolsky watched Steiner conduct a 65-piece orchestra while working with Chaplin. He noted how Steiner carefully matched the music to scenes, such as the factory sequence where Chaplin causes chaos. The music was timed to match Chaplin’s movements.

Steiner became Goldwyn’s favorite composer, and his style changed with each film he scored. He created scores for adventure stories, romances, historical films, and swashbuckling epics, similar to his contemporary, Erich Wolfgang Korngold. He also studied with Arnold Schoenberg, who moved to the U.S. from Europe in 1934. In 1937, Steiner arranged a private recording of Schoenberg’s four string quartets by the Kolisch Quartet at United Artists.

Steiner won his first Academy Award for Alexander’s Ragtime Band in 1938. In 1939, he composed the music for Goldwyn’s Wuthering Heights, starring Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon. His score used different musical themes for key actors, helping to shape the story. For example, Cathy’s theme had soft, pastoral strings, while Heathcliff’s theme was darker and more serious. That same year, he also scored Gunga Din and Beau Geste.

Steiner often composed music for films with religious themes, even though he was not known to be religious. These included The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), starring Charles Laughton, and later films like The Song of Bernadette (1943), The Robe (1953), and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).

In 1933, while working at United Artists, Steiner was asked by Darryl F. Zanuck of Twentieth Century Pictures to create a fanfare for the studio’s logo. When Twentieth Century Pictures merged with Fox Film Corporation in 1935 to form 20th Century-Fox, the fanfare and logo remained and are still used today.

In 1940, Steiner began a 20-year career as music director at 20th Century-Fox Studios, composing over 200 film scores, nine of which won Academy Awards. He worked as a composer, arranger, music director, and conductor. He preferred arranging and conducting over composing, as he found composing lonely and demanding. His heavy smoking, caused by work stress, eventually led to emphysema.

Steiner developed the “Newman System,” a method for syncing music with films that is still used today. His scores matched the mood of each film and used specific themes for characters to highlight their roles. This style created a smooth, connected score that helped viewers understand the story better.

The Song of Bernadette (1943) is considered one of Steiner’s most beautiful scores. It was recorded with an 80-piece orchestra over four weeks. He used three different musical motifs: a brass chorale for Mother Church, strings for Bernadette’s warmth, and added sounds of wind and leaves to make the music feel ethereal.

For Wilson (1944), a film about President Woodrow Wilson, Steiner spent time researching Wilson’s life, including the songs his family played and the music they liked. This research led to 40 American-themed songs in the film, giving it a strong sense of realism.

In the 1940s, Steiner scored films about World War II, including A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941), To the Shores of Tripoli (1942), and Twelve O’Clock High (1949), which one historian calls his best dramatic opening theme. He also worked on Frank Capra’s Why We Fight series, such as Prelude to War (1942) and War Comes to America (1945). He composed the music for The All-Star Bond Rally (1945), a documentary promoting war bonds, and The Fighting Lady (1944), another documentary.

Steiner studied period music and used it in his scores. For How Green Was My Valley (1941), he included Welsh hymns. For How the West Was Won (1962), he turned folk tunes into powerful orchestral pieces. In The Grapes of Wrath (1940), he used the folk song “Red River Valley.” He also created music with Chinese influences, such as in Love Is a Many Splendored Thing. Most of his themes were original, like the haunting melody in The Robe (1953).

In 1947, Steiner composed the music for Captain from Castile, which includes the famous “Conquest March.” The march became the official theme for the University of Southern California’s sports teams, the USC Trojans. He also arranged and conducted the music for Stars and Stripes Forever (1952), a film about John Philip Sousa, featuring many of Sousa’s famous marches.

The score for The Snake Pit (1948), a film about a mental asylum, used special effects to heighten the fear and discomfort shown by the actors, especially star Olivia de Havilland.

In 1952, Steiner won his fifth Academy Award for With a Song in My Heart, presented by Walt Disney. The Robe (1953), a religious epic, used orchestration to create a sense of grandeur and simplicity. As the first film in Cinemascope, it had 4-channel stereo sound, allowing Steiner to explore different moods. The score was admired by fellow composer Franz Waxman, who used some of its themes in his own work for Demetrius and the Gladiators.

Death

Newman passed away on February 17, 1970, at the age of 69, one month before his 70th birthday. He died at his home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, due to complications from emphysema.

Legacy

When he arrived in Hollywood, films with sound were becoming more advanced technically. He helped shape the musical style of that time and played a key role in the studio system during its most successful period. The death of Newman marked the end of a special time in film history.

Throughout his career, Newman was considered one of the most important, influential, and respected people in film music history. He received 45 Oscar nominations, more than any other person, and won nine Academy Awards, the most ever received by a musician.

His nine Academy Awards include: Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938), Tin Pan Alley (1940), The Song of Bernadette (1943), Mother Wore Tights (1947), With a Song in My Heart (1952), Call Me Madam (1953), Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), The King and I (1956), and Camelot (1967). The Song of Bernadette and Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing feature original scores, with the latter using a theme song by Sammy Fain. The other films are musical adaptations, a field where Newman was especially successful.

Newman created the familiar fanfare that appears at the start of 20th Century's films, a tradition that continues today. A part of his score for The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) became the standard music used for the Selznick International Pictures logo. His collection of musical scores and parts is now housed in the library of the University of Southern California's USC School of Cinematic Arts. In 1999, USC renamed its Allan Hancock Auditorium as the Alfred Newman Recital Hall in his honor.

Newman supported the careers of many famous film composers, including Bernard Herrmann, David Raksin, and John Williams. As a composer, music director, and conductor, he often helped others with their work without receiving credit. He frequently advised studio leaders and shared his knowledge with other musicians. When a composer struggled to find a melody, Newman might write a few notes and suggest they try them.

As music director, Newman was responsible for choosing composers for films. He had the power to sign talented composers to long-term contracts. Music historian Robert R. Faulkner believes that without Newman's leadership at Twentieth Century Fox, composers like Bernard Herrmann, Alex North, and David Raksin might not have had such successful careers in Hollywood.

— Nick Redman, producer

In 1999, the United States Postal Service honored Newman with a stamp.

Partial filmography

From 1930 to 1970, Alfred Newman composed music for more than 200 films of all kinds, including a score for a newsreel using World War II footage of the Battle of Midway. In addition to creating his own film scores, Newman was the musical director for many other films. Some of his important film scores (and adaptations of scores by other composers) include:

Awards

Newman won nine Academy Awards, the third most Oscars won by one person (Walt Disney won twenty-six, Cedric Gibbons won eleven). He was nominated for forty-five Oscars, which made him the most nominated composer in Oscar history until 2011, when John Williams surpassed him. Forty-three of Newman's nominations were for Best Original Score (making him the second most nominated in that category after John Williams), and two were for Original Song.

The American Film Institute listed his score for How the West Was Won as number 25 on their list of the 25 greatest film scores. Ten of Newman's other scores were also nominated:
• Wuthering Heights (1939)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
• How Green Was My Valley (1941)
• The Song of Bernadette (1943)
• Captain from Castile (1947)
• All About Eve (1950)
• The Robe (1953)
• Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
• The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
• Airport (1970)

Newman has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1700 Vine Street.

Newman family

He married Martha Louise Montgomery, who was born on December 5, 1920, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and passed away on May 9, 2005, in Pacific Palisades, California. She was a former actress and a Goldwyn Girl. Together, they had five children.

He was the head of a family known for its significant contributions to Hollywood music. This family holds the record for the most Academy Award nominations in music categories, with a total of 92 nominations combined.

• His brother, Lionel Newman, composed music for about 36 films and several television series. He also adapted and conducted scores for hundreds of other films. Lionel later became the music director at Fox after Alfred.
• His brother, Emil Newman, served as the music director for more than 80 films.
• His son, David Newman, composed music for nearly 100 films, including The War of the Roses, Hoffa, The Nutty Professor, Anastasia, Galaxy Quest, Ice Age, and Serenity. He has also received an Academy Award nomination.
• His son, Thomas Newman, composed music for over 75 films, including Little Women, The Shawshank Redemption, Unstrung Heroes, American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Finding Nemo, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Good German, WALL-E, Skyfall, and Saving Mr. Banks. He has received 15 Academy Award nominations.
• His daughter, Maria Newman, is a respected musician and composer.
• His nephew, Randy Newman, has won two Academy Awards. He is known for his work in films and for creating popular music albums as a singer and songwriter.
• His grandnephew, Joey Newman, has composed music for many television shows, films, and video games.
• His granddaughter, Jaclyn Newman, is a music editor. She won a Golden Reel Award for 30 Days of Night: Dark Days and has received additional nominations for Burlesque and Nashville.
• After his wife, Martha Montgomery Newman, became a widow, she married film composer Robert O. Ragland two years later. They remained married for 33 years until her death.