David Raksin

With over 100 film scores and 300 television scores to his credit, American composer David Raksin (1912–2004) became known as the "Grandfather of Film Music." He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was an orchestra conductor. Raksin went on to study composition with Harl McDonald at the University of Pennsylvania, and later with Isadore Freed in New York and Arnold Schoenberg in Los Angeles. One of his earliest film assignments was as assistant to Charlie Chaplin in the composition of the score to Modern Times (1936). He is perhaps best remembered for his score for the film Laura (1944).The theme music for the film, Laura, with the addition of lyrics by Johnny Mercer, became a major hit. Raksin's theme song for the film The Bad and the Beautiful (1953) was also a hit, although not as popular as Laura. Raksin also scored the 1958 film Separate Tables, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Later in life, Raksin taught at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles. Raksin died in 2004, aged 92. At the time of his death, it was announced that Raksin had completed his autobiography, published under the title The Bad and the Beautiful: My Life in a Golden Age of Film Music. In 2012, he was named for a Lifetime Achievement Award for a Past Film Composer.