Musical Artist - Bernstein, Elmer

Elmer Bernstein was an American composer and conductor best known for composing the scores for numerous Hollywood movies including The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Thoroughly Modern Millie, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Ten Commandments, Ghostbusters, and Animal House. Over the course of his career, Bernstein wrote music for more than two hundred films, and was well-known for his many scores for Westerns. Bernstein won an Oscar, and Emmy, and two Golden Globe awards for his music. He was nominated for an Oscar thirteen more times, for the Tony award three times, and for the Grammy award five times.

Before he took up composing, Bernstein was a professional dancer and actor whose credits included a stint playing Caliban in a Broadway production of The Tempest. During the 1950s,Bernstein was questioned by the McCarthy led House Un-American Activities Committee due to his having written some music reviews for a Communist newspaper. He refused to name names, and his career went into a slump for a few years before recovering in the 1960s.

Bernstein has a site dedicated to his music and career that is named Elmer Bernstein.

Musical Monday Selections:

06/01/15: Magnificent Seven Theme

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