Known For
Sound
Born
Feb 24, 1932
Died
Jan 26, 2019
Place of Birth
Bécon-les-Bruyères, Paris, France
Credits
231 titles
Michel Legrand
Biography
Michel Jean Legrand (24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, jazz pianist, and singer. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written more than 200 film and television scores, in addition to many songs. His scores for two of the films of French New Wave director Jacques Demy, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), earned Legrand his first Academy Award nominations. Legrand won his first Oscar for the song "The Windmills of Your Mind" from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), and additional Oscars for Summer of '42 (1971) and Barbra Streisand's Yentl (1983). Legrand was born in Paris, France, to his father, Raymond Legrand, who was himself a conductor and composer, and his mother, Marcelle Der-Mikaëlian, who was the sister of conductor Jacques Hélian. Raymond and Marcelle were married in 1929. His maternal grandfather was Armenian. Legrand composed more than two hundred film and television scores. He won three Oscars and five Grammys. He studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris from the age of 11, working with, among others, Nadia Boulanger and graduated with top honors as both a composer and a pianist. He burst upon the international music scene at 22 when his 1954 album I Love Paris became a surprise hit. He established his name in the United States by working with such jazz stars as Miles Davis and Stan Getz. His sister Christiane Legrand was a member of The Swingle Singers and his niece Victoria Legrand is a member of the dream pop band Beach House. Legrand composed music for Jacques Demy's films The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) (from which Recit de Cassard came and in turn, in English became the standard Watch What Happens) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), from which the relyricized "You Must Believe in Spring" is considered a jazz standard. Legrand appeared and performed in Agnès Varda's Cléo from 5 to 7 (1961). He also composed music for Joseph Losey's Eva (1962), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) (which features "The Windmills of Your Mind"), Ice Station Zebra (1968), The Picasso Summer (1969), The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun (1970), The Go-Between (1971), Summer of '42 (1971), Clint Eastwood's Breezy (1973), The Three Musketeers (1973), Orson Welles's last-completed film F for Fake (1974), TriStar Pictures 1998 family film Madeline, and would later compose the score for Welles's posthumously released movie The Other Side of the Wind (2018). He also composed the score for Yentl (1983), as well as the film score for Louis Malle's film Atlantic City (1980). His instrumental version of the theme from Brian's Song charted 56th in 1972 on the Billboard's pop chart. Legrand died of sepsis, during the night of 25–26 January 2019, at the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, where he had been hospitalized for two weeks for a pulmonary infection. His funeral was held in Paris at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral on 1 February 2019. He was interred at the Père Lachaise Cemetery. He remained active until his death and had concerts scheduled to take place in the spring. ... Source: Article "Michel Legrand" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
Known For
Filmography
Quincy Jones, Music Man
Self (archive footage)
Once Upon a Time Michel Legrand
Self
Jacques Demy: The Pink and the Black
May December
Music
Il était une fois Champs-Élysées
Self (archive footage)
Dans les pas de Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Self
Le cinéma de Michel Legrand
Original Music Composer
Michel Legrand, enchanted music
Original Music Composer
Michel Legrand, la musique enchantée
Original Music Composer
Françoise Dorléac, from The Man from Rio to The Young Girls of Rochefort
self
Hommage à Michel Legrand et Jacques Demy au festival Sœurs Jumelles
Self (archive footage)
Michel Legrand, sans demi-mesure
Self
La La La
Self - Music Composer
The Other Side of the Wind
Original Music Composer
I Lost Albert
Original Music Composer
A Final Cut for Orson: 40 Years in the Making
Self - Composer
Françoise Dorléac, une promesse
Self
The Guardians
Original Music Composer
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg
Music Director
The Price of Fame
Original Music Composer
Love Lasts Three Years
Self
Michel Legrand and the Cinema
Musician
Oscar and the Lady in Pink
Original Music Composer
La chanson 'Lola'
Self
The Beaches of Agnès
Self (archive footage)
Once Upon a Time... Planet Earth
Original Music Composer
Once Upon a Time... The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Self
Disco
Original Music Composer
Callas Assoluta
Self (archive footage)
Deadly Lessons
Original Music Composer
Frankie Laine: An American Dreamer
Self
Cavalcade
Original Music Composer
The Young Girls of Rochefort
Music Arranger
Amber Wings
Original Music Composer
Un film et son époque
Self
And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen...
Original Music Composer
Season's Beatings
Original Music Composer
Vivement dimanche
Self
Madeline
Original Music Composer
Once Upon a Time... The Explorers
Original Music Composer
The Ring
Original Music Composer
The Real Shlemiel
Original Music Composer
The World of Jacques Demy
Self
Les Miserables
Original Music Composer
Prêt-à-Porter
Original Music Composer
Once Upon a Time... The Discoverers
Original Music Composer
The Young Girls Turn 25
Self
The Pickle
Original Music Composer
Once Upon a Time... The Americas
Original Music Composer
Love at First Sight
Director