Alex North (born Isadore Soifer, December 4, 1910 – September 8, 1991) was an American composer best known for his many film scores, including ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of person ...

'' (one of the first jazz-based film scores), ''

Viva Zapata! ''Viva Zapata!'' is a 1952 American Western film directed by Elia Kazan and starring Marlon Brando. The screenplay was written by John Steinbeck, using Edgcomb Pinchon's 1941 book ''Zapata the Unconquerable'' as a guide. The cast includes Jean Pe ...

'', ''

Spartacus Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising ...

'', ''

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

'', and ''

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive ...

'' He was the first composer to receive an

Honorary Academy Award The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Moti ...

, but never won a competitive Oscar despite fifteen nominations. He wrote the music for

Unchained Melody "Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the prison film '' Unchained'' (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack.Robert Rodri ...

as the

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...

for the prison film '' Unchained'' (1955), It has become a

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

and one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, with over 1,500 recordings made by more than 670 artists, in multiple languages.

Early life

North was born Isadore Soifer in

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester is ...

, to

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

parents Jesse and Baila (Bessie) who had left the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

for the US around 1906. Jesse was from

Bila Tserkva Bila Tserkva ( uk, Бі́ла Це́рква ; ) is a city in the center of Ukraine, the largest city in Kyiv Oblast (after Kyiv, which is the administrative center, but not part of the oblast), and part of the Right Bank. It serves as the admi ...

and Besie originated from

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

(both cities are now in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

). In the US, Jesse was a blacksmith, and Bessie ran a grocery store. During the

Second World War 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, North served as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Special Services division from 1942 to 1946.ALEX NORTH, Hollywood Film Composer, Talking to Howard Lucraft in 1987.
www.jazzprofessional.com. Retrieved August 12, 2021.Cleopatra Symphony (U.S. premiere): Alex North
www.hollywoodbowl.com. Retrieved August 12, 2021. There, he was responsible for "self-entertainment" programs in mental hospitals. He also composed music for more than twenty-six documentaries for the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * Dep ...

while in the service.

Career

North managed to integrate his

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

into typical film music

leitmotif A leitmotif or leitmotiv () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is an anglici ...

structure, rich with themes. One of these became the famous song "

". Nominated for fifteen

Oscars 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 ...

but unsuccessful each time, North is one of only two film composers to receive the Lifetime Achievement Academy Award, the other being

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...

. North's frequent collaborator as orchestrator was the avant-garde composer

Henry Brant Henry Dreyfuss Brant (September 15, 1913 – April 26, 2008) was a Canadian-born American composer. An expert orchestrator with a flair for experimentation, many of Brant's works featured spatialization techniques. Biography Brant was born ...

. He won the 1968

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

award for his music to ''

The Shoes of the Fisherman The Shoes of the Fisherman may refer to: * ''The Shoes of the Fisherman'' (novel), a 1963 novel by the writer Morris West * ''The Shoes of the Fisherman'' (film), a 1968 film based on the novel {{disambiguation ...

'' (1968). His best-known film scores include ''

'', ''

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a montag ...

'', ''

'', '' The Rainmaker'', ''

'', '' The Misfits'', ''

'', ''

Dragonslayer A dragonslayer is a person or being that slays dragons. Dragonslayers and the creatures they hunt have been popular in traditional stories from around the world: they are a type of story classified as type 300 in the Aarne–Thompson classifica ...

'' and ''

Under the Volcano ''Under the Volcano'' is a novel by English writer Malcolm Lowry (1909–1957) published in 1947. The novel tells the story of Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic British consul in the Mexican city of Quauhnahuac, on the Day of the Dead in Novemb ...

''. His music for ''

The Wonderful Country ''The Wonderful Country'' (aka ''The Wonderful Country, A Novel'') is a 1952 Western novel written by Tom Lea. The book is set in Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico, and Texas and New Mexico in the United States. It was filmed in 1959. After the ...

'' makes use of Mexican and American motifs. His commissioned score for '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' is notorious for having been discarded by director

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

. Although North later incorporated motifs from the rejected score for ''

'', '' Shanks'' and ''

'', the score itself remained unheard until composer

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the Rambo (franchise) ...

rerecorded it for

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...

in 1993. In 2007,

Intrada Records Intrada is an American record company based in Oakland, California, owned and managed by Douglass Fake. The company specializes in movie and television soundtracks, notably those by the late Jerry Goldsmith. Intrada was founded in 1985 by owner ...

released the 1968 recording sessions on CD from North's personal archives. North was also commissioned to write a jazz score for ''

Nero Wolfe Nero Wolfe is a brilliant, obese and eccentric fictional armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Montenegro and keeps his past murky. He lives in a luxurious brownstone on West 35th Street in Ne ...

'', a 1959 CBS-TV series based on Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe characters, starring

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

as Archie Goodwin and

Kurt Kasznar Kurt Kasznar (born Kurt Servischer; August 13, 1913 – August 6, 1979) was an Austrian-American stage, film and television actor who played roles on Broadway, appearing in the original Broadway productions of '' Waiting for Godot'', ''The ...

as Nero Wolfe. A pilot and two or three episodes were filmed, but the designated time slot was, in the end, given to another series. North's unheard score for ''Nero Wolfe'' and six recorded tracks on digital audio tape are in the UCLA Music Library Special Collections.Wrobel, Bill
Film Score Rundowns
"CBS Collection 072 UCLA,
Blog 42
June 25, 2010. The film score researcher identifies 30 CBS digital audio tapes in the UCLA Music Library Special Collections (p. 168), with tracks 86–91 of DAT #11 being the ''Nero Wolfe'' music of Alex North (p. 174). The score, CPN5912, is in Box #105 (p. 51). He also wrote the music for various other television shows, such as the anthologies ''

Climax! ''Climax!'' (later known as ''Climax Mystery Theater'') is an American television anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS progra ...

'' and ''

Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' was an American television anthology series, anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology dr ...

''. Though North is best known for his work in Hollywood, he spent years in New York writing music for the stage; he composed the score, for the original Broadway production of ''

''. It was in New York that he met

Elia Kazan Elia Kazan (; born Elias Kazantzoglou ( el, Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου); September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was an American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one o ...

(director of ''Salesman''), who brought him to Hollywood in the 1950s. North was one of several composers who brought the influence of contemporary concert music into film, in part marked by an increased use of dissonance and complex rhythms. But there is also a lyrical quality to much of his work which may be connected to the influence of

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

, with whom he studied. His classical works include two symphonies and a ''Rhapsody for Piano, Trumpet obbligato and Orchestra''. He was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for his score for the 1976 television miniseries '' Rich Man, Poor Man'', and went on to score the sequel ''

Rich Man, Poor Man Book II ''Rich Man, Poor Man Book II'' is an American television miniseries that aired on ABC in one-hour episodes at 9:00pm ET/PT on Tuesday nights between September 21, 1976 and March 8, 1977. A sequel to '' Rich Man, Poor Man'' that had aired the pr ...

'' and the 1978 miniseries '' The Word''. North is also known for his opening to the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

television anthology series ''

'' and the 1965

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

television miniseries ''FDR''.

Legacy and recognition

North was recognized for his lifetime achievement in 2004 from the Sammy Film Music Awards. In 2016, the Library of Congress added North's 1951 recording of his score to "A Streetcar Named Desire" to its National Recording Registry.

Death

North died on September 8, 1991 in Los Angeles, California. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.

Awards

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. Leade ...

ranked North's score for ''

'' #19 on their list of the greatest film scores. His scores for the following films were also nominated for the list: *''

'' (1963) *'' The Misfits'' (1961) *''

'' (1960) *''

'' (1952) *''

'' (1966) North was nominated for fifteen Academy Awards throughout his career, one for

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

, the rest in the Best Original Score category, making him the most-nominated composer to have never won. He was however awarded an

in 1986; he was the first composer to receive it. *Winner - Honorary Oscar for memorable achievement in a host of distinguished motion pictures (1986) *Nominated - ''

'' (1984) *Nominated - ''

'' (1981) *Nominated - ''

Bite the Bullet To "bite the bullet" is to “accept the inevitable impending hardship and endure the resulting pain with fortitude”.

'' (1975) *Nominated - '' Shanks'' (1974) *Nominated - ''

'' (1968) *Nominated - ''

'' (1966) *Nominated - '' The Agony and the Ecstasy'' (1965) *Nominated - ''

'' (1963) *Nominated - ''

'' (1960) *Nominated - '' The Rainmaker'' (1956) *Nominated - Best Original Song (with

Hy Zaret Hy Zaret (born Hyman Harry Zaritsky, August 21, 1907 – July 2, 2007) was an American Tin Pan Alley lyricist and composer who wrote the lyrics of the 1955 hit " Unchained Melody," one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century. Person ...

) "

" (1955) *Nominated - ''

The Rose Tattoo ''The Rose Tattoo'' is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams in 1949 and 1950; after its Chicago premiere on December 29, 1950, he made further revisions to the play for its Broadway premiere on February 2, 1951, and its publication by ...

'' (1955) *Nominated - ''

'' (1952) *Nominated - ''

'' (1951) *Nominated - ''

'' (1951)

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

for Original Score: *Winner - ''

'' (1968) *Nominated - ''Spartacus'' (1960)

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

Award for Original Score: *Winner - ''

Good Morning, Vietnam ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' is a 1987 American war comedy film written by Mitch Markowitz and directed by Barry Levinson. Set in Saigon in 1965, during the Vietnam War, the film stars Robin Williams as a radio DJ on Armed Forces Radio Service, who ...

'' (1987) *Winner - Lifetime Achievement (1986)

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Original Score: *Nominated - ''Rich Man, Poor Man'' (1976) *Nominated - ''

'' (1966) *Nominated - ''

'' (1963)

Selected filmography

*''

'' (1951) *''

'' (1952) *''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

'' (1952) *'' Désirée'' (1954) *'' Unchained'' (1955) *''

'' (1955) *''

I'll Cry Tomorrow ''I'll Cry Tomorrow'' (1955) is a biopic that tells the story of Lillian Roth, a Broadway star who rebels against the pressure of her domineering mother and struggles with alcoholism after the death of her fiancé. It stars Susan Hayward, Richard ...

'' (1955) *''

The Bad Seed ''The Bad Seed'' is a 1954 novel by American writer William March, the last of his major works published before his death. Nominated for the 1955 National Book Award for Fiction, ''The Bad Seed'' tells the story of a mother's realization that h ...

'' (1956) *'' The Rainmaker'' (1956) *''

The King and Four Queens ''The King and Four Queens'' is a 1956 DeLuxe Color American Western adventure comedy/mystery film starring Clark Gable and Eleanor Parker and filmed in CinemaScope. Directed by Raoul Walsh, the film is based on a story written by Margaret ...

'' (1956) *''

The Long, Hot Summer ''The Long, Hot Summer'' is a 1958 American drama film directed by Martin Ritt. The screenplay was written by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr., based in part on three works by William Faulkner: the 1931 novella " Spotted Horses", the 1939 s ...

'' (1958) *'' Stage Struck'' (1958) *'' Hot Spell'' (1958) *''

The Sound and the Fury ''The Sound and the Fury'' is a novel by the American author William Faulkner. It employs several narrative styles, including stream of consciousness. Published in 1929, ''The Sound and the Fury'' was Faulkner's fourth novel, and was not immedi ...

'' (1959) *''

'' (1960) *'' The Misfits'' (1961) *''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

'' (1961) *'' The Children's Hour'' (1961) *'' All Fall Down'' (1962) *''

'' (1963) *''

Cheyenne Autumn ''Cheyenne Autumn'' is a 1964 American epic Western film starring Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, James Stewart, and Edward G. Robinson. It tells the story of a factual event, the Northern Cheyenne Exodus of 1878–79, told in "Hollywood style ...

'' (1964) *''

The Outrage ''The Outrage'' is a 1964 American Western film directed by Martin Ritt and starring Paul Newman, Laurence Harvey, Claire Bloom, Edward G. Robinson and William Shatner. It is a remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1950 Japanese film ''Rashomon'', based ...

'' (1964) *'' The Agony and the Ecstasy'' (1965) *''

'' (1966) *'' The Devil's Brigade'' (1968) *''

'' (1968) *''

Hard Contract ''Hard Contract'' is a 1969 American drama mystery film written and directed by S. Lee Pogostin and starring James Coburn and Lee Remick. It premiered on April 30, 1969 in Panavision. Plot synopsis CIA assassin John Cunningham ( James Coburn) ...

'' (1969) *'' A Dream of Kings'' (1969) *'' Willard'' (1971) *''

Pocket Money Pocket money may refer to: *In British English, an allowance for children *''Pocket Money'', a 1972 film starring Paul Newman and Lee Marvin * ''Small Change'' (film), a 1976 film directed by François Truffaut, titled ''Pocket Money'' outside the ...

'' (1972) *'' Shanks'' (1974) *''

Bite the Bullet To "bite the bullet" is to “accept the inevitable impending hardship and endure the resulting pain with fortitude”.

'' (1975) *'' Journey into Fear'' (1975) *''

Somebody Killed Her Husband ''Somebody Killed Her Husband'' is a 1978 American comedy–mystery film directed by Lamont Johnson and written by Reginald Rose. It starred Farrah Fawcett and Jeff Bridges. Also in the cast were John Wood, Tammy Grimes and John Glover. Plot T ...

'' (1978) *''

Wise Blood ''Wise Blood'' is the Debut novel, first novel by American author Flannery O'Connor, published in 1952 in literature, 1952. The novel was assembled from disparate stories first published in ''Mademoiselle (magazine), Mademoiselle'', ''Sewanee Rev ...

'' (1979) *''

Carny Carny, also spelled carnie, is an informal term used in North America for a traveling carnival employee, and the language they use, particularly when the employee operates a game ("joint"), food stand ("grab", "popper" or "floss wagon"), or ride ...

'' (1980) *''

'' (1981) *''

'' (1984) *''

Prizzi's Honor ''Prizzi's Honor'' is a 1985 American black comedy crime film directed by John Huston, starring Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner as two highly-skilled mob assassins who, after falling in love, are hired to kill each other. The screenplay co-w ...

'' (1985) *'' The Dead'' (1987) *''

'' (1987) *'' The Penitent'' (1988)

References

External links

* * *
Alex North
website maintained by his family. *
Unchained Melody Publishing LLC
is the publishing administrator for "Unchained Melody".
Alex North papers
Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences {{DEFAULTSORT:North, Alex 1910 births 1991 deaths People from Chester, Pennsylvania Academy Honorary Award recipients Golden Globe Award-winning musicians American male classical composers Jewish American classical composers American classical composers Emmy Award winners People from Ridgefield, Connecticut American film score composers RCA Victor artists American jazz composers American male jazz composers 20th-century classical composers American people of Russian-Jewish descent Jazz-influenced classical composers 20th-century American composers Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania Jazz musicians from Connecticut Classical musicians from Pennsylvania American male film score composers 20th-century American male musicians Varèse Sarabande Records artists 20th-century American Jews