Alfred Newman (March 17, 1900 – February 17, 1970) was an American
composer, arranger, and conductor of film music. From his start as a music prodigy, he came to be regarded as a respected figure in the history of film music. He won nine
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
and was nominated 45 times, contributing to the extended Newman family being the
most Academy Award-nominated family, with a collective 92 nominations in various music categories.
In a career spanning more than four decades, Newman composed the scores for over 200 motion pictures. Some of his most famous scores include ''
Wuthering Heights
''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent r ...
'', ''
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
Anastasia (from el, Ἀναστασία, translit=Anastasía) is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning "resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was the mos ...
'', ''
The Diary of Anne Frank
''The Diary of a Young Girl'', also known as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Neth ...
'', ''
How The West Was Won'', ''
The Greatest Story Ever Told
''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' is a 1965 American epic film produced and directed by George Stevens. It is a retelling of the Biblical account about Jesus of Nazareth, from the Nativity through to the Ascension. Along with the ensemble cast ...
'', and his final score, ''
Airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...
'', all of which were nominated for or won Academy Awards. He is perhaps best known for composing the fanfare which accompanies the studio logo at the beginning of
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...
's productions. Prior to commencing his employment with 20th Century Fox, Newman composed the fanfares which are most often associated with
Samuel Goldwyn productions and
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick (May 10, 1902June 22, 1965) was an American film producer, screenwriter and film studio executive who produced ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939) and ''Rebecca'' (1940), both of which earned him an Academy Award for Best Picture.
E ...
productions.
Newman was also highly regarded as a conductor, and arranged and conducted many scores by other composers, including
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
,
Charlie Chaplin, and
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook.
Born in Imperial Russ ...
. He also conducted the music for many film adaptations of Broadway musicals (having worked on
Broadway for ten years before coming to
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywoo ...
), as well as many original Hollywood musicals.
He was among the first musicians to compose and conduct original music during Hollywood's
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the Go ...
of movies, later becoming a respected and powerful music director in the history of Hollywood.
[Henderson, Sanya. ''Alex North, Film Composer: A Biography'', McFarland (2003) pp. 43-44] Newman and two of his fellow composers,
Max Steiner and
Dimitri Tiomkin, were considered the "three godfathers of film music".
[
]
Early life
Newman was born on March 17, 1900, in New Haven
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...
, Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
, the eldest of ten children to Russian-Jewish
The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
parents who emigrated shortly before his birth.[ Although many sources show a birth year of 1901, musicologist and composer Fred Steiner revealed that Alfred was actually born in 1900. His father, Michael Newman (born Nemorofsky), was a ]produce
Produce is a generalized term for many farm-produced crops, including fruits and vegetables ( grains, oats, etc. are also sometimes considered ''produce''). More specifically, the term ''produce'' often implies that the products are fresh and ...
dealer and his mother, Luba (née Koskoff), took care of the family. Her father had been a cantor in Russia, which contributed to her love of music.[ She sent Newman, her first born, to a local piano teacher to begin lessons when he was five. At one point, in order to take lessons, he walked a ten-mile round trip. With barely enough to live on, his parents once had to sell their dog to make ends meet.]
By the age of eight he had become known locally as a piano prodigy.[ His talent led virtuoso ]Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer who became a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versail ...
to arrange a recital for him in New York,[ where ]Sigismund Stojowski
Zygmunt Denis Antoni Jordan de Stojowski (May 4, 1870November 5, 1946) was a Polish pianist and composer.
Life
He was born on May 4, 1870 near the city of Kielce. Stojowski began his musical training with his mother, and with Polish compo ...
and Alexander Lambert, at different periods, took him as a pupil. To save Newman commuting cost, Stojowski convinced a ticket inspector to let young Newman sometimes travel free. Stojowski offered him a scholarship, after which Newman won a silver medal and a gold medal in a competition.[ He also studied harmony, counterpoint and composition with Rubin Goldmark and ]George Wedge
George Anson Wedge (1890–1964) was an American music writer who served as the dean of Juilliard School of Music between 1939 and 1946.
Early life and career
Wedge received his education from Juilliard School of Music where he received diploma ...
.[
]
Early jobs as pianist
By the time Newman was 12, however, his parents' meager income was not enough to support his large family, which led to him searching for ways to earn an income from music to help his family.[ He then began playing in theaters and restaurants, including the Strand theater and the ]Harlem Opera House
Harlem Opera House was a US opera house located at 211 West 125th Street, in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by architect John B. McElfatrick, it was built in 1889 by Oscar Hammerstein; it was his first theater ...
, with a schedule that often had him playing five shows a day. During the shows, he typically accompanied singers as pianist. Grace La Rue, star of one of the shows, was taken by Newman's talent and signed him on as her regular accompanist.[
Newman, at 13, also attracted the attention of author Ella Wheeler Wilcox, who wanted to promote him to those who could further his music ambition. She greatly admired his ability to play Mendelssohn, Chopin, Liszt, Wagner and other composers, and with equal skill, in her opinion, as Paderewski.] She said he "possessed most unusual moral qualities and characteristics":
He began traveling the vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic compositio ...
circuit with La Rue's show when he was 13, where she billed him as "The Marvelous Boy Pianist".[ While on tours, he was sometimes allowed to conduct the orchestras.][ This led to him making conducting his career goal, an ambition furthered by William Merrigan Daly, an experienced music director and composer who taught Newman the basics of conducting.][ By the time he was fifteen, he was regularly conducting performances for matinee shows.][ ]Cincinnati Symphony
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its primary concert venue is Music Hall. In addition to its symphony concerts, the orchestra gives pops concerts as the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The Cin ...
conductor Fritz Reiner
Frederick Martin "Fritz" Reiner (December 19, 1888 – November 15, 1963) was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century. Hungarian born and trained, he emigrated to the United States in 1922, where he rose to ...
was so impressed by Newman, he invited him to be a guest conductor.[
]
Full-time Broadway conductor
When he was nineteen, he began conducting full-time in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
, the beginning of a ten-year career on Broadway as the conductor of musicals by composers such as George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
, Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American ...
, and Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in ove ...
.[ He conducted '']George White's Scandals
''George White's Scandals'' were a long-running string of Broadway theatre, Broadway revues produced by George White (producer), George White that ran from 1919–1939, modeled after the ''Ziegfeld Follies''. The "Scandals" launched the career ...
'' in 1919, ''Funny Face
''Funny Face'' is a 1957 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Stanley Donen and written by Leonard Gershe, containing assorted songs by George and Ira Gershwin. Although having the same title as the 1927 Broadway musical ''Funny ...
'' in 1927 and ''Treasure Girl
''Treasure Girl'' is a musical theater, musical with a book by Fred Thompson (writer), Fred Thompson and Vincent Lawrence, music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The musical's best-known song is "I've Got a Crush on You, (I've Got a ...
'' in 1929. Newman said he was always happiest as a conductor: "I studied music composition and counterpoint because I wanted to be a good conductor."[
In 1930, songwriter and composer ]Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook.
Born in Imperial Russ ...
invited him to Hollywood to conduct his score for the film '' Reaching for the Moon''.[ Although the musical film was originally planned to include songs written by Berlin, problems developed between him and director ]Edmund Goulding
Edmund Goulding (20 March 1891 – 24 December 1959) was a British screenwriter and film director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 silent film '' Three Live Ghosts'' alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwi ...
, which led to most of his songs being taken out. Newman was kept on and received credit for directing the music, which became his Hollywood debut.
Film scoring career
1930s
Soon after Newman arrived in Hollywood in 1930 and finished directing the score for '' Reaching for the Moon'', producer Samuel Goldwyn offered him a contract to continue on as a movie composer. His first complete film score was for Goldwyn's ''Street Scene
A street scene () is a basic model for epic theater set forth by Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and ...
'' in 1931.[Palmer, Christopher. ''The Composer in Hollywood'', Marion Boyars Publishing (1990)] The score mirrored the busy and frantic sounds of everyday life in New York's Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets.
Traditionally ...
in the 1930s.[Hischak, Thomas. ''The Encyclopedia of Film Composers'', Rowman & Littlefield (2015) pp. 485-486] He later used that music theme in other films, such as '' How to Marry a Millionaire'' in 1953, which opens with him conducting an orchestra. The theme is also used in '' Gentleman's Agreement'', '' I Wake Up Screaming'', '' The Dark Corner'', '' Cry of the City'', ''Kiss of Death
Kiss of Death may refer to:
* Kiss of Judas, Judas's betrayal of Jesus with a kiss identifying him to his executioners
* Kiss of death (mafia), a Mafia signal that someone has been marked for execution
Film and television
* ''Kiss of Death'' ...
'', and '' Where the Sidewalk Ends''.
In 1931 Charlie Chaplin hired him to orchestrate his film '' City Lights'', and used Newman again for ''Modern Times'' in 1936.["Discovering Chaplin"]
Discoveringchaplin.com, November 29, 2015 Hollywood reporter Sidney Skolsky observed them working together as Newman conducted the 65-piece orchestra.[ He described Newman's ability to carefully synchronize the music to scenes, such as the factory sequence, where Chaplin throws the place into confusion. The music was timed to Chaplin's movements.
Newman became Goldwyn's favorite composer, while his style evolved with each new film he scored.][ He scored numerous adventure stories and romances, historical pageants and swashbuckling epics, as did his contemporary, ]Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (May 29, 1897November 29, 1957) was an Austrian-born American composer and conductor. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential composers in history of Hollywood, Hollywood history. He was a no ...
.[ Newman also began taking lessons with ]Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
, who emigrated to the U.S. from Europe in 1934.
He received his first Academy Award for '' Alexander's Ragtime Band'' in 1938. In 1939, he wrote the music for Goldwyn's ''Wuthering Heights'', starring Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage o ...
and Merle Oberon. His score was unique in the way it included different musical themes and created different motifs for the key actors, which helped frame the action. The theme for Cathy, for instance, consisted of a glowing pastoral with strings, while Heathcliff's theme, in contrast, produced a darker, more serious image.[ Also in 1939, he composed the music for '' Gunga Din'', and '']Beau Geste
''Beau Geste'' is an adventure novel by British writer P. C. Wren, which details the adventures of three English brothers who enlist separately in the French Foreign Legion following the theft of a valuable jewel from the country house of a re ...
''.
Among Newman's specialties were films with a religious theme, although he himself was not known to be religious.[ Among the films were ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' (1939), starring ]Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future ...
, and in subsequent years, ''The Song of Bernadette'' (1943), '' The Robe'' (1953), and ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' (1965).
In 1933, while he was still under contract at United Artists, Newman was commissioned by Darryl F. Zanuck of Twentieth Century Pictures to compose a fanfare to accompany the production logo
A production logo, vanity card, vanity plate, or vanity logo is a logo used by movie studios and television production companies to brand what they produce and to determine the production company and the distributor of a television show or fi ...
appearing at the start of the studio's films. Twentieth Century Pictures subsequently merged with Fox Film Corporation
The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film C ...
in 1935 to form 20th Century-Fox; the fanfare and logo were retained, and have continued in use to the present day as one of the most widely recognised film studio logos.
1940s
In 1940 Newman began a 20-year career as music director with 20th Century-Fox Studios, composing over 200 film scores, nine of which won Academy Awards. He wore many hats at the studio depending on the need, acting as composer, arranger, music director and conductor for various films.[ However, he said that he preferred arranging and conducting over composing because the latter was lonely and demanding work. The demands of work contributed to his heavy smoking throughout his life, eventually leading to his ]emphysema
Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the a ...
.[Alfred Newman's music style]
''Movie Music'', UK, August 1, 2014
He was noted for developing what came to be known as the Newman System, a means of synchronizing the performance and recording of a musical score with the film, a system which is still in use today.[Henderson, Lol; Stacey, Lee. ''Encyclopedia of Music in the 20th Century'', (2014) p. 446] Newman's scores were developed around the overall mood of each film. He also tailored specific themes to accompany different characters as they appeared on screen, thereby enhancing each actor's role. The effects of this style of music created a forceful but less jarring score which connected the entire story, thereby keeping the film's theme more easily understood by viewers.[
''The Song of Bernadette'' (1943) is said to be one of Newman's loveliest scores, recorded over a four-week period with an 80-piece orchestra.][ Newman used three different motifs to color different issues during the film. Among them was a brass chorale to represent Mother Church,][ while the theme representing Bernadette used strings to support her character's warmth and tenderness.][ Newman's interpretation added the sound of the wind and blowing leaves to give the music an ethereal quality that augmented Bernadette's visions.][Green, Paul. ''Jennifer Jones: The Life and Films'', McFarland (2011) p. 36]
Newman's score for ''Wilson'' (1944), a biopic about president Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of P ...
, required he devote an unusual amount of time to research. The film was intended to be a tribute to Wilson by producer Darryl F. Zanuck. Newman spent considerable time learning personal details about Wilson and his family, such as the songs they sang and played on their piano at home, the music they liked to dance and listen to, the songs they played during political rallies or political functions during his career. As a result, the film contained some forty realistic American-themed numbers intertwined throughout the film which gave it a strong sense of timeliness.[
In the 1940s Newman scored a number of films related to ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. Among those were ''A Yank in the R.A.F.
''A Yank in the R.A.F.'' is a 1941 American black-and-white war film directed by Henry King and starring Tyrone Power and Betty Grable. Released three months before the attack on Pearl Harbor plunged the United States into World War II, it is ...
'' (1941), '' To the Shores of Tripoli'' (1942) and '' Twelve O'Clock High'' (1949), which one historian says is Newman's best dramatic opening theme for a movie.[ Newman also composed or music directed the score to some of ]Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s ...
's '' Why We Fight'' series of films, including '' Prelude to War'' (1942) and '' War Comes to America'' (1945). He created the music for
The All-Star Bond Rally
' (1945), a documentary short film featuring Hollywood stars promoting the sales of War Bonds. The previous year he scored another documentary, '' The Fighting Lady'' (1944).
He often studied period music and assimilated it into his scores. For films such as ''How Green Was My Valley'' (1941), for example, he incorporated Welsh hymns. For ''How The West Was Won'' (1962), he took folk tunes and transformed them into orchestral/choral works of tremendous power. And for ''The Grapes of Wrath'' (1940), he brought in the folk tune favorite "Red River Valley" throughout the score.[ His skill at incorporating familiar traditional music into modern scores was not limited to Western themes, however. During portions of the score for ''Love is a Many Splendored Thing'', for example, he created numbers with a distinctly Chinese sensibility, both with instruments and melodies. Generally, however, he would create his own original melody and turn it into something haunting and memorable, as he did for ''The Robe'' (1953).][
In 1947 he composed the music for ''Captain from Castile'', which included the famous "Conquest march", an impassioned score for the Spanish conquistadors.][ The march was adapted by the ]University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8. ...
(USC) as the official theme song for their sports teams, the USC Trojans
The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...
. Newman also orchestrated and conducted the music for a biopic about the life of American composer John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to di ...
, '' Stars and Stripes Forever'' (1952), a film which includes numerous marches for which Sousa is best known.
The dramatic score for '' The Snake Pit'', a 1948 film set in a lunatic asylum, was accentuated by Newman's careful use of effects to intensify the discomfort and fear portrayed by the actors, primarily its star Olivia de Havilland
Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. ...
.[
]
1950s
In 1952, '' With a Song in My Heart'' gave Newman his fifth Academy Award. It was presented to him by Walt Disney. ''The Robe'' (1953), a New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
epic, was another of Newman's scores with a religious theme, with orchestration creating spaciousness, grandeur and simplicity. The first film in Cinemascope, it featured 4 channel stereo sound, which allowed Newman to experiment in developing the various moods.[ The score was one of fellow composer Franz Waxman's favorites, and he incorporated some of its themes into his own score for the film's sequel, ''Demetrius and the Gladiators'' ][
In 1954, Newman wrote additional music for his 20th Century-Fox fanfare, extending it with several bars of warm, soaring strings in order to promote the studio's adoption of the new CinemaScope presentation. This extended version has remained in use ever since. This fanfare was re-recorded in 1997 by his son ]David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
, also a composer, and it is this rendition that is used today.
Newman received his eighth Oscar for ''The King and I
''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the child ...
'' in 1956. In 1959 Newman composed the score for ''The Diary of Anne Frank''. Although based on the true-life tragic story of a young girl during World War II, Newman's score focuses on her optimistic personality, which as her diary attests, she continued to believe that people were good at heart.[ In contrast to Newman's use of uplifting violins and a hopeful old European sound for the girl, the score for the Nazis was an "oppressive march in half time" to create a fearsome effect.][ Music historian Christopher Palmer says that the score is one of Newman's finest, which because of its style, elegance and integrity, the emotions portrayed by the actors can be physically "felt" by the audience.][ It was nominated for an Oscar.
]
1960s
Newman's final musical score under his Fox contract was '' The Best of Everything'' (1959), and after leaving Fox in 1960, Newman freelanced for the remainder of his career, writing the scores for such films as MGM's ''How the West Was Won'' (1962), which some consider his most familiar and best score.[ It is listed on ]AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores
Part of the AFI 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores is a list of the top 25 film scores in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute in 2005.
John Williams has the most scores in the top 25, with thre ...
. That score and ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' (1965) were nominated for an Oscar. The last project proved to be a bitter disappointment for Newman, when director George Stevens extensively re-edited the film and score. Other composers had to help reconstitute musical segments, and Newman's two choral finales were replaced by the familiar "Hallelujah Chorus" of George Frideric Handel. Newman's longtime associate and choral director, Ken Darby, described the experience in ''Hollywood Holyland: The Filming and Scoring of "The Greatest Story Ever Told"'' (Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 1992).
Newman remained active until the end of his life, scoring Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
' ''Airport'' (1970) shortly before his death.
Death
Newman died on February 17, 1970 at the age of 69, a month shy of his 70th birthday, at his home in Hollywood, from complications of emphysema.
Legacy
During his career, Newman was regarded as one of the most important, most influential and most respected figures in the history of film music.[Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris. editors, ''All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music'', Hal Leonard Corp. (2001) p. 1000] He received an unprecedented 45 Oscar nominations, and his 9 Academy Awards are more than any other musical director or composer had received.[MacDonald, Laurence E. ''The Invisible Art of Film Music: A Comprehensive History'', Scarecrow Press (2013)][McCarty, Clifford. ''Film Composers in America: A Filmography, 1911-1970'', Oxford Univ. Press (2000) p. 6]
His nine Academy Awards are by far the most received by any musician: ''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).[ ''Song of Bernadette'' and ''Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing'' are original scores, the latter with extensive use of a theme song by Sammy Fain. The other films are musical adaptations, a field in which Newman reigned supreme.
He composed the familiar fanfare which accompanies the studio logo at the beginning of 20th Century's productions, and still introduces 20th Century pictures today.] A segment of Newman's score for David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick (May 10, 1902June 22, 1965) was an American film producer, screenwriter and film studio executive who produced ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939) and ''Rebecca'' (1940), both of which earned him an Academy Award for Best Picture.
E ...
's ''The Prisoner of Zenda
''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in or ...
'' (1937) became the standard music which accompanied the Selznick International Pictures logo when introducing its films. At the University of Southern California, the 280-seat Allan Hancock Auditorium was renovated and re-dedicated as the Alfred Newman Recital Hall in 1999.[
While a composer, music director and conductor, he often contributed to the scores of others without credit.][ When he wasn't working on a particular movie, he was often approached by studio production heads needing advice, which he freely gave.][ Other musicians were constantly exploring new ideas or perfecting older techniques, which required sharing their knowledge with each other.][ Newman, during his years as a music director, sometimes went further: if one of his composers was stumped for a suitable melody, for instance, Newman would sometimes write a few bars on paper and hand it to the composer, suggesting he try it out.][Faulkner, Robert R. ''Music on Demand'', Transaction Publishers (1983, 2005) p. 4]
As a music director, it was Newman's job to find and select suitable composers for various films. When he saw a composer's potential, he also had the power to sign them to long term staff contracts. Music historian Robert R. Faulkner is of the opinion that had Newman not been music director at Twentieth Century Fox, composers such as Bernard Herrmann, Alex North, and David Raksin
David Raksin (August 4, 1912 – August 9, 2004) was an American composer who was noted for his work in film and television. With more than 100 film scores and 300 television scores to his credit, he became known as the "Grandfather of Film Music ...
, all of whose music was somewhat radical, might never have had such major careers in Hollywood.[
In 1999, the ]United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...
issued a stamp in his honor.
Partial filmography
Between 1930 and 1970, Alfred Newman wrote music for over 200 films of every imaginable type, including a score for the newsreel made from the World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
footage of the Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under A ...
.List of music scores by Alfred Newman
IMDB
In addition to his own film scores, Newman acted as musical director on numerous other films. Among his major film scores (and adaptations of other composers' scores) are:
* 1930 - '' Whoopee!''
* 1931 - '' City Lights'' (musical director) (music by Charlie Chaplin)
* 1931 - '' Indiscreet'' (musical director)
* 1931 - ''Street Scene
A street scene () is a basic model for epic theater set forth by Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and ...
''
* 1933 - '' The Masquerader''
* 1936 - '' Dodsworth''
* 1936 - ''Born to Dance
''Born to Dance'' is an American musical film starring Eleanor Powell and James Stewart, directed by Roy Del Ruth and released in 1936 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The score was composed by Cole Porter.
Plot summary
While on leave, sailor Ted B ...
'' (musical director; Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film.
Born to ...
wrote the songs)
* 1937 - '' You Only Live Once''
* 1937 - '' The Hurricane'' (Academy Award)
* 1937 - ''The Prisoner of Zenda
''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in or ...
'' (Academy Award nomination for Best Musical Score)
* 1938 - '' Alexander's Ragtime Band'' (Academy Award) (adaptation, the songs were by Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook.
Born in Imperial Russ ...
)
* 1939 - '' The Rains Came''
* 1939 - '' Gunga Din''
* 1939 - ''Wuthering Heights
''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent r ...
'' (Academy Award nomination for best musical score)
* 1939 - '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' (Academy Award nomination for Best Musical Score)
* 1940 - '' Vigil in the Night''
* 1940 - ''Foreign Correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locat ...
''
* 1940 - '' Broadway Melody of 1940'' (musical director; again, Cole Porter wrote the songs)
* 1940 - '' The Mark of Zorro'' (Academy Award nomination for Best Musical Score)
* 1940 - ''Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...
'' (Academy Award) (adaptation; the film used old popular songs such as ''The Sheik of Araby'')
* 1941 - '' How Green Was My Valley''
* 1942 - '' Roxie Hart''
* 1942 - '' The Black Swan''
* 1942 - '' The Pied Piper''
* 1943 - '' The Song of Bernadette'' (Academy Award)
* 1943 - '' My Friend Flicka''
* 1944 - '' The Keys of the Kingdom'' (Academy Award nomination for Best Musical Score)
* 1945 - ''State Fair
A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in ...
'' (adaptation only; this was the musical version by Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popu ...
) (Academy Award nomination for Best Adaptation of a Musical Score)
* 1947 - '' Captain from Castile'' (Academy Award nomination for Best Musical Score)
* 1947 - '' Mother Wore Tights'' (adaptation) (Academy Award)
* 1947 - '' Gentleman's Agreement''
* 1947 - ''The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
''The Shocking Miss Pilgrim'' is a 1947 American musical comedy film in Technicolor written and directed by George Seaton and starring Betty Grable and Dick Haymes.
The screenplay, based on a story by Ernest Maas and Frederica Maas, focuses o ...
''
* 1947 - ''Miracle on 34th Street
''Miracle on 34th Street'' (initially released as ''The Big Heart'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1947 American List of Christmas films, Christmas comedy-drama film released by 20th Century Fox, written and directed by George Seaton and based on ...
''
* 1948 - '' Cry of the City''
* 1948 - '' The Snake Pit''
* 1948 - '' That Lady in Ermine''
* 1948 - '' The Iron Curtain''
* 1949 - '' Twelve O'Clock High''
* 1949 - '' Chicken Every Sunday''
* 1950 - '' All About Eve''
* 1950 - '' Panic in the Streets''
* 1950 - ''The Big Lift
''The Big Lift'' is a 1950 American drama war film on location in the city of Berlin, Germany, that tells the story of "Operation Vittles", the 1948–49 Berlin Airlift, through the experiences of two U.S. Air Force sergeants (played by Mont ...
''
* 1951 - ''David and Bathsheba David and Bathsheba may refer to:
* David and Bathsheba, husband and wife in Hebrew Bible, parents of Solomon
*''David and Bethsabe
''The Love of King David and Fair Bethsabe'' is a play by George Peele, based on the biblical story of David, B ...
'' (Academy Award)
* 1952 - ''The Prisoner of Zenda
''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in or ...
''
* 1952 - '' With a Song in My Heart'' (adaptation only; this musical contained songs by several composers, but Newman was not one of them) (Academy Award)
* 1953 - '' How to Marry a Millionaire'' (Alfred Newman appears conducting an orchestra in the prologue. The music is from ''Street Scene''.)
* 1953 - '' The Robe''
* 1953 - ''Call Me Madam
''Call Me Madam'' is a musical written by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin.
The musical is a satire on politics and foreign policy that spoofs postwar America's penchant for lending billions of dollars ...
'' (adaptation; the songs were by Irving Berlin) (Academy Award)
* 1955 - '' A Man Called Peter''
* 1955 - '' Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing'' (Academy Award)
* 1955 - '' The Seven Year Itch''
* 1956 - ''Anastasia
Anastasia (from el, Ἀναστασία, translit=Anastasía) is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning "resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was the mos ...
''
* 1956 - ''Carousel
A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in SA) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular pla ...
'' (adaptation, the songs were by Rodgers and Hammerstein)
* 1956 - ''The King and I
''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the child ...
'' (adaptation; the songs were by Rodgers and Hammerstein) (Academy Award)
* 1957 - '' April Love'' (adaptation)
* 1958 - ''South Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
'' (Conductor; the songs were by Rodgers and Hammerstein)
* 1958 - '' A Certain Smile''
* 1959 - ''The Diary of Anne Frank
''The Diary of a Young Girl'', also known as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Neth ...
'' (Academy Award nomination for Best Musical Score)
* 1961 - '' Flower Drum Song'' (adaptation; the songs were again by Rodgers and Hammerstein)
* 1962 - '' The Counterfeit Traitor''
* 1962 - ''State Fair
A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in ...
'' (remake of musical version) (adaptation only; the songs were again by Rodgers and Hammerstein, with additional songs by Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American ...
only)
* 1962 - '' How the West Was Won'' (Academy Award nomination for Best Musical Score)
* 1965 - ''The Greatest Story Ever Told
''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' is a 1965 American epic film produced and directed by George Stevens. It is a retelling of the Biblical account about Jesus of Nazareth, from the Nativity through to the Ascension. Along with the ensemble cast ...
'' (Academy Award nomination for Best Musical Score)
* 1966 - '' Nevada Smith''
* 1967 - ''Camelot
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...
'' (adaptation; the songs were by Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, and later Burton Lane, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatr ...
and Frederick Loewe
Frederick Loewe (, originally German Friedrich (Fritz) Löwe ; June 10, 1901 – February 14, 1988) was an Austrian- American composer. He collaborated with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner on a series of Broadway musicals, including '' Brigadoon'', ...
) (Academy Award)
* 1968 - '' Firecreek''
* 1970 - ''Airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...
''
Awards
Newman won nine Academy Awards, the third highest number of Oscars ever won by an individual (Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
won twenty-six, Cedric Gibbons
Austin Cedric Gibbons (March 23, 1890 – July 26, 1960) was an Irish-American art director for the film industry. He also made a significant contribution to motion picture theater architecture from the 1930s to 1950s. Gibbons designed the ...
won eleven) and was nominated for forty-five, making him the most nominated composer in Oscar history until 2011, when John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review '' WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
broke the record. 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
"Original Song" is the sixteenth episode of the second season of the American television series ''Glee'', and the thirty-eighth episode overall. It was written by Ryan Murphy, directed by Bradley Buecker, and premiered on Fox in the United Stat ...
.
The American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Lead ...
ranked his score for ''How the West Was Won'' as 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
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...
at 1700 Vine Street.
Newman family
He married Martha Louise Montgomery (born December 5, 1920, Clarksdale, Mississippi
Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Sunflower River. Clarksdale is named after John Clark, a settler who founded the city in the mid-19th century when he establish ...
- died May 9, 2005, Pacific Palisades, California
Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood in the Westside region of Los Angeles, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles.
Pacific Palisades was formally founded in 1921 by a Methodist organization, and in the years that followed bec ...
), a former actress and Goldwyn Girl
The Goldwyn Girls were a musical stock company of female dancers employed by Samuel Goldwyn. Famous actresses, dancers, and models whose career included a stint in the Goldwyn Girls include Lucille Ball, Virginia Bruce, Claire Dodd, Paulette Godda ...
; they had five children.
He was the head of a family of major Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywoo ...
film composers:
* His brother Lionel Newman scored three dozen films and several TV series, adapting and conducting scores for hundreds of other films; he succeeded Alfred as Fox's music director.
* His brother Emil Newman was music director for over eighty films.
* His son David Newman has scored nearly one hundred films, including '' The War of the Roses'', '' Hoffa'', '' The Nutty Professor'', ''Anastasia
Anastasia (from el, Ἀναστασία, translit=Anastasía) is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning "resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was the mos ...
'', '' Galaxy Quest'', ''Ice Age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
'', and ''Serenity
Serenity may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Serenity'' (2019 film), a thriller starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Diane Lane
* Sailor Moon (character), also known as Princess Serenity and Neo-Queen Serenity, in the ' ...
'', and has received an Academy Award nomination.
* His son Thomas Newman
Thomas Montgomery Newman (born October 20, 1955) is an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career that has spanned over four decades, he has scored numerous films including '' The Player'' (1992); '' The S ...
has scored over seventy-five films, including '' Little Women'', '' The Shawshank Redemption'', '' Unstrung Heroes'', '' American Beauty'', '' Road to Perdition'', ''Finding Nemo
''Finding Nemo'' is a 2003 American computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton with co-direction by Lee Unkrich, the screenplay was w ...
'', '' Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events'', ''The Good German
''The Good German'' is a 2006 American neo-noir crime film. A film adaptation of Joseph Kanon's 2001 novel of the same name, it was directed by Steven Soderbergh, and stars George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, and Tobey Maguire. Set in Berlin followi ...
'', ''WALL-E
''WALL-E'' (stylized with an interpunct as ''WALL·E'') is a 2008 American computer animation, computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed and co-written by ...
'', ''Skyfall
''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the vill ...
'', '' Saving Mr. Banks'' and has received fifteen Academy Award nominations.
* His daughter Maria Newman is an eminent musician and composer.
* His nephew Randy Newman
Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern-accented singing style, early Americana-influenced songs (often with mordant or satirical lyrics), and vari ...
is a two-time Academy Award winner, noted not only for his film work but also for a series of popular albums as a singer/songwriter.
* His grandnephew Joey Newman has scored many TV series, films, and video games.
* His granddaughter Jaclyn Newman
Jaclyn, often abbreviated to "Jackie" is a feminine given name. It is variant of Jacqueline, a French feminine form of Jacques which in turn comes from Jacob, a Hebrew name meaning "supplanter" or possibly "may God protect".
Notable people with t ...
is a music editor, and won a Golden Reel Award for '' 30 Days of Night: Dark Days'', and has received additional nominations for ''Burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. '' and ''Nashville (2012 TV series)
''Nashville'' is an American musical soap opera television series. It was created by Callie Khouri and produced by R. J. Cutler, Khouri, Dee Johnson, and Steve Buchanan through season four, Connie Britton through season five, and Marshall H ...
''.
Notes
References
External links
*
*
Alfred Newman
at Soundtrackguide.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Alfred
1900 births
1970 deaths
20th-century American conductors (music)
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American male musicians
20th Century Studios people
American film score composers
American male conductors (music)
American male film score composers
American music arrangers
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Articles containing video clips
Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Classical musicians from Connecticut
Deaths from emphysema
Grammy Award winners
Jewish American classical composers
Jewish American classical musicians
Jewish American film score composers
Mercury Records artists
MGM Records artists
Musicians from New Haven, Connecticut
Alfred
Vaudeville performers
Warner Records artists
Writers from New Haven, Connecticut