Charles Previn
Charles Previn | |
---|---|
Ad in the May 1927 Variety | |
Born | (1888-01-11)January 11, 1888 Brooklyn, New York |
Died | November 21, 1973(1973-11-21) (aged 85) Los Angeles, California |
Occupation | Film composer |
Charles Previn (January 11, 1888 – September 21, 1973) was an American film composer who was active at Universal in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. Before being based in Hollywood, Previn arranged music for over 100 Broadway productions.[1]
Previn was born in Brooklyn to Henrietta Giballe and the rabbi Morris Previn, who a year earlier had emigrated from Graudenz via Glasgow to the United States.[2] He graduated from Brooklyn High School and obtained a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 1910. He obtained a master's degree from New York College of Music.
From 1936 to 1944, Previn was musical director at Universal, overseeing everything from horror pictures to Arabian Nights fantasies. He was a cousin of the father of German-born composer, pianist, and conductor André Previn and TV and film director Steve Previn (brothers).[3] He died in Los Angeles, aged 85.
Professional career
- Musician and conductor of vaudeville and musical comedy
- Conductor of the St. Louis Municipal Opera
- Conductor of NBC's Camel Pleasure Hour in 1930, featuring cornetist Bix Beiderbecke
- Conductor on the NBC radio series Silken Strings from 1934 through 1936
- 1936–1944 — Musical director, arranger, composer and conductor at Universal. While there, Previn accumulated over 225 films to his credit, including most of Deanna Durbin's films.
- 1944 — Previn began working at other studios
- 1945–1947 — Previn succeeded Ernö Rapée as music director/conductor of the Radio City Music Hall Symphony
- 1947 — Previn returned to Hollywood and worked at Eagle-Lion and MGM
- 1947 — Ithaca Conservatory of Music awarded Previn an honorary doctorate
- 1953 — Previn retired
While at Universal, Previn composed uncredited stock music for several of the studio's releases.
Partial filmography
- The White Monkey (1925)
- Prescription for Romance (1937)
- The Missing Guest (1938)
- The Witness Vanishes (1939)
- Destry Rides Again (1939; musical director)
- Inside Information (1939)
- Missing Evidence (1939)
- Ex-Champ (1939)
- Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941)
- Who Done It? (1942)
- Arabian Nights (1942)
- He's My Guy (1943)
Awards
Oscar Award
- Best Score (1937) — One Hundred Men and a Girl - Musical Director
Academy Award nominations
- Best Score (1938) — Mad About Music (w. Frank Skinner)
- Best Score (1939) — First Love
- Best Score (1940) — Spring Parade
- Scoring of a Musical Picture (1941) — Buck Privates
- Scoring of a Musical Picture (1942) — It Started With Eve (w. Hans J. Salter)
- Scoring of a Musical Picture (1944) — Song of the Open Road
Family
Parents
- Father: Rabbi Morris Previn (December 1860, Russia – 16 August 1929, Brooklyn)
- Mother: Henrietta Previn (September 1859, Germany – September 1948, New York, NY)
- Morris and Henrietta were married in about 1880. Morris Previn was a rabbi at Ascha-Shorem on 78 Ten Eyck Street in Brooklyn.
Siblings
- Rosie (December 1882, Germany – May 1948, New York, NY)
- MARRIED NAMES
- Rose Meyer (married Dr. Joseph H. Meyer)
- Leo Previn (3 August 1884, Graudenz, Germany – February 1954, New York, NY)
- Arthur Gerald Previn (14 February 1886, Germany – July 1969, Falls Church, Virginia)
- Bess (born October 1892, New York City – April 30, 1983, New York City)
- MARRIED NAMES
- Bess Landau (married Saul Albert Landau 19 November 1914 Manhattan, NY)
- Bess Nathanson
- Bess Kurtzman
- Jules Previn (23 July 1894, Connecticut – January 1976, Virginia)
- William Oliver Previn (19 June 1896, New York City – 16 August 1978, Washington, D.C.)
- Stanley S. Previn (3 August 1899 – November 1973, Los Angeles)
References
General references
- Biography Index, A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines, Volume 1: January 1946 – July 1949, H. W. Wilson Company, New York (1949)
- Biography Index, A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines, Volume 10: September 1973 – August 1976, H. W. Wilson Company, New York (1977)
- Who Was Who on Screen, Third edition, by Evelyn Mack Truitt, R.R. Bowker, New York (1983)
- The ASCAP Biographical Dictionary, Third edition, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, New York (1966)
- ASCAP Biographical Dictionary, Fourth edition, compiled for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, by Jaques Cattell Press, R.R. Bowker, New York (1980)
- Who's Who in Hollywood, the largest cast of international film personalities ever assembled, two volumes, by David Ragan, New York: Facts on File, New York (1992)
Inline citations
- v
- t
- e
- Louis Silvers (1934)
- Max Steiner (1935)
- Leo F. Forbstein (1936)
- Charles Previn (1937)
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold / Alfred Newman (1938)
- Herbert Stothart / Richard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold and Leo Shuken (1939)
- Leigh Harline, Paul J. Smith and Ned Washington / Alfred Newman (1940)
- Bernard Herrmann / Frank Churchill and Oliver Wallace (1941)
- Max Steiner / Ray Heindorf and Heinz Roemheld (1942)
- Alfred Newman / Ray Heindorf (1943)
- Max Steiner / Morris Stoloff and Carmen Dragon (1944)
- Miklos Rozsa / Georgie Stoll (1945)
- Hugo Friedhofer / Morris Stoloff (1946)
- Miklos Rozsa / Alfred Newman (1947)
- Brian Easdale / Johnny Green and Roger Edens (1948)
- Aaron Copland / Roger Edens and Lennie Hayton (1949)
- Franz Waxman / Adolph Deutsch and Roger Edens (1950)
- Franz Waxman / Johnny Green and Saul Chaplin (1951)
- Dimitri Tiomkin / Alfred Newman (1952)
- Bronislau Kaper / Alfred Newman (1953)
- Dimitri Tiomkin / Adolph Deutsch and Saul Chaplin (1954)
- Alfred Newman / Robert Russell Bennett, Jay Blackton and Adolph Deutsch (1955)
- Victor Young / Alfred Newman and Ken Darby (1956)
- Malcolm Arnold (1957)
- Dimitri Tiomkin / Andre Previn (1958)
- Miklos Rozsa / Andre Previn and Ken Darby (1959)
- Ernest Gold / Morris Stoloff and Harry Sukman (1960)
- Henry Mancini / Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal (1961)
- Maurice Jarre / Ray Heindorf (1962)
- John Addison / Andre Previn (1963)
- Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman / Andre Previn (1964)
- Maurice Jarre / Irwin Kostal (1965)
- John Barry / Ken Thorne (1966)
- Elmer Bernstein / Alfred Newman and Ken Darby (1967)
- John Barry / Johnny Green (1968)
- Burt Bacharach / Lennie Hayton and Lionel Newman (1969)
- Francis Lai / The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr) (1970)
- Michel Legrand / John Williams (1971)
- Charlie Chaplin, Raymond Rasch and Larry Russell / Ralph Burns (1972)
- Marvin Hamlisch / Marvin Hamlisch (1973)
- Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola / Nelson Riddle (1974)
- John Williams / Leonard Rosenman (1975)
- Jerry Goldsmith / Leonard Rosenman (1976)
- John Williams / Jonathan Tunick (1977)
- Giorgio Moroder / Joe Renzetti (1978)
- Georges Delerue / Ralph Burns (1979)
- Michael Gore (1980)
- Vangelis (1981)
- John Williams / Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse (1982)
- Bill Conti / Michel Legrand, Alan and Marilyn Bergman (1983)
- Maurice Jarre / Prince (1984)
- John Barry (1985)
- Herbie Hancock (1986)
- Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne and Cong Su (1987)
- Dave Grusin (1988)
- Alan Menken (1989)
- John Barry (1990)
- Alan Menken (1991)
- Alan Menken (1992)
- John Williams (1993)
- Hans Zimmer (1994)
- Luis Bacalov / Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz (1995)
- Gabriel Yared / Rachel Portman (1996)
- James Horner / Anne Dudley (1997)
- Nicola Piovani / Stephen Warbeck (1998)
- John Corigliano (1999)
- Tan Dun (2000)
- Howard Shore (2001)
- Elliot Goldenthal (2002)
- Howard Shore (2003)
- Jan A. P. Kaczmarek (2004)
- Gustavo Santaolalla (2005)
- Gustavo Santaolalla (2006)
- Dario Marianelli (2007)
- A. R. Rahman (2008)
- Michael Giacchino (2009)
- Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (2010)
- Ludovic Bource (2011)
- Mychael Danna (2012)
- Steven Price (2013)
- Alexandre Desplat (2014)
- Ennio Morricone (2015)
- Justin Hurwitz (2016)
- Alexandre Desplat (2017)
- Ludwig Göransson (2018)
- Hildur Guðnadóttir (2019)
- Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste (2020)
- Hans Zimmer (2021)
- Volker Bertelmann (2022)
- Ludwig Göransson (2023)
External links
- Charles Previn at IMDb