Description

One of the most successful film composers since the 1950s, Mancini was a master melodist and songwriter who was as comfortable with romantic symphonic scoring of the old Hollywood school as he was with more contemporary elements of jazz and even rock. While perhaps best known for his themes to "Peter Gunn" and "The Pink Panther," Mancini scored numerous films in his lengthy career and collected 20 Grammy awards.

Biography

b. Enrico Mancini, 16 April 1924, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, d. 14 June 1994, Los Angeles, California, USA. Prompted by his father, a steelworker who loved music, Mancini learned to play several musical instruments while still a small child. As a teenager he developed an interest in jazz and especially music of the big bands. He wrote some arrangements and sent them to Benny Goodman, from whom he received some encouragement. In 1942, he became a student at the Juilliard School of Music, but his career was interrupted by military service during World War II. Immediately following the war he was hired as pianist and arranger by Tex Beneke, who was then leading the Glenn Miller orchestra. Later in the 40s Mancini began writing arrangements for studios, prompted initially by a contract to score for a recording date secured by his wife, singer Ginny O'Connor (of the Mel-Tones).
Mancini was also hired to work on films (the first of which was the Abbott and Costello comedy Lost In Alaska), and it was here that his interest in big band music paid off. He wrote the scores for two major Hollywood biopics, The Glenn Miller Story (1954) and The Benny Goodman Story (1956), as well as Orson Welles' Touch Of Evil classic (1958). Mancini also contributed jazz-influenced scores for television, including those for the innovative Peter Gunn series and Mr Lucky. His film work continued with scores and songs for such films as Breakfast At Tiffany's (1961), from which came "Moon River" (the Oscar winner that year), and the title songs for Days Of Wine And Roses (1962), which again won an Oscar, and Charade (1963). Mancini's other film compositions included "Baby Elephant Walk" from Hatari! (1962), the theme from The Pink Panther (1964), "The Sweetheart Tree" from The Great Race (1965), and scores for Man's Favourite Sport?, Dear Heart, Wait Until Dark, Darling Lili, Mommie Dearest, Victor/Victoria (1982), for which he won an Oscar for "Original Song Score" with Leslie Bricusse, That's Dancing, Without A Clue, Physical Evidence, Blind Date, That's Life, The Glass Menagerie, Sunset, Fear, Switch, and Tom And Jerry: The Movie, on which he again teamed with Leslie Bricusse.
One of the most respected film and television composers - and the winner of 20 Grammy Awards - Mancini acknowledged his greatest legacy to be ". . . my use of jazz - incorporating various popular idioms into the mainstream of film scoring. If that's a contribution, then that's mine". In addition he also regularly conducted orchestras in the USA and UK in concerts of his music, most of which stood comfortably on its own merits outside the context for which it was originally conceived. In the months prior to his death from cancer in 1994, Mancini was working with Leslie Bricusse on the score for the stage adaptation of Victor/Victoria.
DISCOGRAPHY: The Versatile Henry Mancini (Liberty 1959)***, March Step In Stereo And Hi-Fi (Warners 1959)***, The Music From Peter Gunn (RCA Victor 1959)****, More Music From Peter Gunn (RCA Victor 1959)***, The Blues And The Beat (RCA Victor 1960)***, The Mancini Touch (RCA Victor 1960)****, Music From Mr Lucky (RCA Victor 1960)***, The Original Peter Gunn (RCA Victor 1960)****, Mr Lucky Goes Latin (RCA Victor 1961)***, Breakfast At Tiffany's (RCA 1961)****, Hatari (RCA 1962)***, Combo! (RCA 1962)***, Experiment In Terror (RCA Victor 1962)**, Uniquely Mancini (RCA 1963)***, Our Man In Hollywood (RCA 1963)***, Charade (RCA 1963)****, The Pink Panther (RCA 1964)****, The Concert Sound Of Henry Mancini (RCA 1964)***, with his orchestra and chorus Dear Heart-And Other Songs About Love (RCA 1965)***, The Latin Sound Of Henry Mancini (RCA 1965)***, The Great Race (RCA 1965)**, Sounds And Voices (RCA 1966)***, Arabesque (RCA Victor 1966)****, The Academy Award Songs (RCA 1966)***, What Did You Do In The War Daddy? (RCA 1966)**, Music Of Hawaii (RCA 1966)**, Mancini "67 (RCA 1967)***, Two For The Road (RCA 1967)***, Encore! More Of The Concert Sound Of Henry Mancini (RCA 1967)***, A Warm Shade Of Ivory (RCA 1969)****, Six Hours Past Sunset (RCA 1969)**, Theme From Z And Other Film Music (RCA 1970)**, Mancini Country (RCA 1970)***, Themes From Love Story (RCA 1971)***, This Is Henry Mancini (RCA 1971)***, Mancini Concert (RCA 1971)***, Big Screen Little Screen (RCA 1972)**, with Doc Severinsen Brass On Ivory (RCA 1972)***, The Mancini Generation (RCA 1972)**, with Severinsen Brass, Ivory & Strings (RCA 1973)***, The Academy Award Winning Songs (RCA 1975)***, Symphonic Soul (RCA 1976)**, A Legendary Performer (RCA 1976)***, Mancini's Angels (RCA 1977)***, Just You And Me Together Love (RCA 1979)***, with Johnny Mathis The Hollywood Musicals (Columbia 1987)***, with the Royal Philharmonic Pops Orchestra Mancini Rocks The Pops (Denon 1989)***, Theme Scene (RCA 1989)***, Mancini In Surround Sound (RCA 1990)***, and various other film and television soundtracks.
COMPILATIONS: In The Pink: The Ultimate Collection (RCA 1996)****, Romantic Movie Themes (Camden 1997)***, Martinis With Mancini (RCA 1997)***, Greatest Hits (RCA 2000)****, with Monica Mancini Ultimate Mancini (Concord Jazz 2004)****, The Ultimate Pink Panther (RCA 2004)***, Midnight, Moonlight & Magic: The Very Best Of Henry Mancini (RCA 2004)***.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Did They Mention The Music?, Henry Mancini and Gene Lees.

Encyclopedia of Popular Music
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