Danny Elfman

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Biography

Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an United States|American composer , best known for scoring music for television and film and creating The Simpsons Theme| The Simpsons main title theme as well as the Batman (1989 film)|1989 Batman movie theme. He was the lead singer and songwriter for the rock band Oingo Boingo , from 1976 to 1995. He has scored majority of the films for his long-time friend Tim Burton .

Born in Los Angeles , he entered the film industry in 1976, initially as an actor. He made his film scoring début in in 1980 for the film Forbidden Zone directed by his older brother Richard Elfman. He has since been nominated for four Academy Award s and won a Grammy Awards|Grammy Award for Tim Burton's Batman (1989 film)|Batman and an Emmy Award for his Desperate Housewives theme. Elfman was honored with the prestigious Richard Kirk award at the 2002 Broadcast Music Incorporated|BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music.

Early life and career

Elfman, who is Jewish, was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Blossom Elfman ( married and maiden names|née Bernstein), a writer and teacher, and Milton Elfman, a teacher who was in the United States Air Force|Air Force . Elfman grew up in a racially mixed community in the Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles, California|Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles . He spent much of his time in the local movie theatre, adoring the music of such film composers as Bernard Herrmann and Franz Waxman .

Stating that he hung out with the "band nerds" in high school, he started a ska band. After dropping out of high school, he followed his brother Richard Elfman|Richard to France , where he performed with Le Grand Magic Circus, an avant-garde musical theater group. Violin in tow, Elfman next journeyed to Africa where he traveled through Ghana , Mali , and Republic of Upper Volta|Upper Volta , absorbing new musical styles, including the Ghanaian highlife genre which would eventually influence his own music. Elfman contracted malaria during his one-year stay and was often sick. Eventually he returned home to the United States, where he began to take Balinese music lessons at the CalArts . During this time, he was romantically involved with Kim Gordon , who would later go on to form Sonic Youth . He was never officially a student at the institute, nonetheless, the instructor encouraged him to continue learning. Elfman stated, "He just laughed, and said, 'Sit. Play.' I continued to sit and play for a couple years." At this time, his brother was forming a new musical theater group, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo . The group performed the music for Richard's debut feature film, Forbidden Zone . Danny Elfman composed his first score for the film and played the role of Satan . By the time the movie was completed, they had taken the name Oingo Boingo and begun recording and touring as a rock group.

Elfman and Tim Burton

In 1985, Tim Burton and Paul Reubens invited Elfman to write the Film score|score for their first feature film, '' Pee-wee's Big Adventure . Elfman was apprehensive at first because of his lack of formal training, but with orchestration assistance from Oingo Boingo guitarist and arranger Steve Bartek , he achieved his goal of emulating the mood of such composers as Nino Rota and Bernard Herrmann . In the booklet for the first volume of Music for a Darkened Theatre'', Elfman described the first time he heard his music played by a full orchestra as one of the most thrilling experiences of his life. Elfman immediately developed a rapport with Burton and has gone on to score all but two of Burton's major studio releases: Ed Wood (film)|Ed Wood which was under production while Elfman and Burton were having a fight,Salisbury, Burton, pp.137-144 and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007 film)|Sweeney Todd .

Burton has said of his relationship with Elfman: "We don't even have to talk about the music. We don't even have to intellectualize – which is good for both of us, we're both similar that way. We're very lucky to connect" (Breskin, 1997).

Musical influences

He recalls that the first time he became aware of film music was in his youth during a screening of The Day the Earth Stood Still ( Robert Wise , 1951). The music was by Bernard Herrmann , and that, he has said, was where his love of film music began (Russell and Young, 2000). Elfman purposefully nodded towards Herrmann's The Day the Earth Stood Still score in Tim Burton's science fiction spoof Mars Attacks!

Other film composers have also proven to be influential, such as Nino Rota and Erich Wolfgang Korngold , the former in Elfman's playful music for '' Pee-wee's Big Adventure , the latter in his much grander work, Batman . Sometimes his music has a distinctly Music of Russia|Russian feel, inspired by the likes of Sergei Prokofiev|Prokofiev , Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky ’s Ballet (music)|ballet music . Jazz and Rock music|rock influences from his earlier career are evident in such films as Chicago (2002 film)|Chicago and To Die For . Elfman also cited Philip Glass as a major influence in his score for Alice in Wonderland'', mainly known for "Alice's Theme".

Hearing damage

When asked during a 2007 phone-in interview on XETRA-FM if he ever had any notions of performing in an Oingo Boingo reunion, Elfman immediately rejected the idea and stated that in the last few years with the band he had begun to develop significant and irreversible hearing impairment|hearing damage as a result of his continuous exposure to the high noise levels involved in performing in a rock music|rock band. He went on to say that he believes his hearing damage is partially due to a Genetics|genetic predisposition to hearing loss, and that he will never return to the stage for fear of worsening not only his condition but also that of his band mates.

Recent works

Elfman has recently composed the music for the Cirque Du Soleil Show, IRIS, which is being performed at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The production began its year-long run on July 21st 2011, but it is predicted that it may run for the coming decade. This is Elfman's most notable non-film work (although IRIS is based upon the history of the film industry) since he composed Serenada Schizophrana for the American Composers Orchestra . It was conducted by John Mauceri on its recording and by Steven Sloane at its premiere at Carnegie Hall in New York City on February 23, 2005. After its premiere, it was recorded in studio and released onto Super Audio CD|SACD on October 3, 2006. The meeting with Mauceri proved fruitful as the composer was encouraged then to write a new concert piece for Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Elfman composed an "overture to a nonexistent musical" and called the piece "The Overeager Overture." He also continues to compose his film scores in addition to these other projects.

In November 2010, it was reported that Danny Elfman is writing the music for a planned musical based on the life of Houdini .

Personal life

Elfman has three children: Lola, born in 1979; Mali, born in 1984; and Oliver, born in 2005. On November 29, 2003, Elfman married film actress Bridget Fonda . In 1997 he scored A Simple Plan (film)|A Simple Plan - his only score for one of her films to date (although he did compose a cue for the film Army of Darkness , in which Fonda has a cameo). He is the uncle of actor Bodhi Elfman who is married to actress Jenna Elfman , known most notably in her role as Dharma in the TV series Dharma and Greg .

Filmography

Appearances by Elfman as an actor, or as a member of Oingo Boingo:

Year !! Film !! Role !! Notes
1977
1980
1981
1984
1986
1987
1993
2000
2005
2005
2006
2011

This is a list of films with scores composed by Elfman:

Year !! Film !! Director !! Film Score/ Soundtrack
1982
1985
1986
1987
1987
1988
1988
1988
1988
1988
1989
1990
1990
1990
1990
1992
1992
1993
1993
1993
1994
1995
1995
1995
1996
1996
1996
1996
1996
1997
1997
1997
1998
1998
1999
1999
1999
2000
2000
2001
2002
2002
2002
2002
2003
2003
2004
2005
2005
2006
2006
2006
2007
2007
2008
2008
2008
2008
2009
2009
2009
2009
2010
2010
2010
2011
2011
2012
2012
2012
2013

In addition, he has supplied thematic material - except where noted - for movies scored by others (names in brackets):

1985: Weird Science (film)|Weird Science : Weird Science (song)|title song ( Ira Newborn )

1991: Pure Luck (Jonathan Sheffer)

1992: Army of Darkness : "March Of The Dead" ( Joseph LoDuca )

1994: Shrunken Heads (film)|Shrunken Heads ( Richard Band )

1997: Scream 2 : "Cassandra Aria" and "Cassandra Aria Reprise" ( Marco Beltrami )

1998: Modern Vampires (Michael Wandmacher)

1999: My Favorite Martian (film)|My Favorite Martian : "Uncle Martin's Theme" ( John Debney )

2001: Heartbreakers (2001 film)|Heartbreakers ( John Debney )

2001: Spy Kids (Chris Boardman, John Debney , Gavin Greenaway , Harry Gregson-Williams , Heitor Pereira , Marcel Rodriguez and Robert Rodriguez )

2001: Novocaine (film)|Novocaine (Steve Bartek)

2007: Spider-Man 3 ( Christopher Young , John Debney and Deborah Lurie ; also includes material composed by Elfman for the first two films)

2010: Kick-Ass (film)|Kick-Ass : "Walk to Rasul's" ( John Murphy (composer)|John Murphy , Henry Jackman , Marius de Vries , and Ilan Eshkeri )

2011: Rango (2011 film)|Rango : "Finale from The Kingdom (film)|The Kingdom " ( Hans Zimmer ; not featured on the official soundtrack)

Elfman also composed the music for the Hollywood Pictures logo (an excerpt from his main title for Sommersby was subsequently used as the logo music for Regency Enterprises|Regency , the company that made it).

He has also written the theme music and occasional episodic scores for several television series , including:

1985: The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents : "The Jar" (directed by Tim Burton )

1985: Amazing Stories : "Mummy, Daddy" and "The Family Dog" (with Steve Bartek )

1986: '' Pee-wee's Playhouse (episodes: "Moster", "Cowboy and Cowtess", "Store", and "Pee-Wee Catches A Cold")

1986: Sledge Hammer!

1989: Tales from the Crypt (TV series)|Tales from the Crypt

1989: Beetlejuice (TV series)|Beetlejuice

1989: The Simpsons (theme only)

1990: The Flash (TV series)|The Flash (theme only)

1992: Batman: The Animated Series (theme only)

1997: Perversions of Science (theme only)

1999: Dilbert (TV series)|Dilbert (theme only)

2004: Desperate Housewives (theme only)

2005: Point Pleasant (TV series)|Point Pleasant (theme only)

His other work includes:

2004: The opening title theme of the 2004 video game Fable (video game)|Fable .

2008: Soundtrack to the 2008 video game Lego Batman: The Videogame (various tracks from the soundtrack of the movie: Batman (1989 film)|Batman ).

2008: The opening title theme as well as major themes of the 2008 video game Fable II .

2009: The opening title theme as well as major themes and soundtrack of the 2009 video game Wanted: Weapons of Fate .

2010: The opening title theme as well as major themes of the 2010 video game Fable III .

2013: Music for the upcoming Hong Kong Disneyland attraction Mystic Point|Mystic Manor .

Awards and nominations

Award !!Wins !! Nominations
Academy Awards
Annie Awards
BMI Film & Television Awards
British Academy Film Awards
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
Emmy Awards
Golden Globe Awards
Grammy Awards
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
Satellite Awards
Saturn Awards
Sierra Awards
World Soundtrack Awards
Total !!33 !! 79

American Film Institute

Elfman's scores for Batman (1989 film)|Batman and Edward Scissorhands were nominated for AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores :

Copyright Citations

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