Leslie Bricusse

Leslie Bricusse
Born	(1931-01-29) 29 January 1931
Origin	London, England, UK
Occupation(s)	Composer, lyricist, playwright
Years active	1952 to present

Leslie Bricusse (born 29 January 1931) is an English composer, lyricist, and playwright, most prominently working in musicals and also film theme songs.

Biography

Bricusse was educated at University College School in London and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. While at Cambridge University, he was Secretary of Footlights between 1952 and 1953 and Footlights President during the following year. He currently lives in California in the United States, and he is married to actress Yvonne Romain. They have a son, Adam, born 4 April 1964.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Bricusse enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Anthony Newley. They wrote the musical Stop the World - I Want to Get Off (1961) which was successful in London and on Broadway, and was made into a (poorly received) film version in 1966. Also in collaboration with Newley, Bricusse wrote The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd (1965) and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), based on the children's book by Roald Dahl, and for which they received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song Score. When he collaborated with Newley, the two men referred to themselves as the team of "Brickman and Newburg", with "Newburg" concentrating mainly on the music and "Brickman" on the lyrics. Ian Fraser often did their arrangements.

Working solely as a lyricist, he collaborated with composer Cyril Ornadel on Pickwick (1963), based on Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers, a successful vehicle for Harry Secombe. Later collaborators included Henry Mancini (Victor Victoria in 1982) and John Williams (Hook in 1991). As composer and lyricist he scored the successful film Doctor Dolittle (1967), for which he received an Academy Award for Best Original Song ("Talk to the Animals"), and the less-successful Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969).

Sammy Davis, Jr. had hits with two of Bricusse's songs, "What Kind of Fool Am I?" (from Stop the World - I Want to Get Off) and the No. 1 hit "The Candy Man" (from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory). Other recording artists who have had popular success with his songs include Nina Simone ("Feeling Good"), Matt Monro and Frank Sinatra ("My Kind of Girl"), Shirley Bassey ("Goldfinger"), Harry Secombe ("If I Ruled the World"), Nancy Sinatra ("You Only Live Twice"), The Turtles ("A Guide for the Married Man"), Maureen McGovern ("Can You Read My Mind"), and Diana Krall ("When I Look in Your Eyes"). Bricusse partnered with George Tipton to write the opening theme of the US television series It's a Living.

Pure Imagination: The World of Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse, devised and directed by Bruce Kimmel, opened at the Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice, California, on 7 December 2013.

Works

Musicals

• Stop the World – I Want to Get Off (with Newley) (1961) – includes "Once in a Lifetime" and "What Kind of Fool Am I?"
• Pickwick – with Cyril Ornadel (1963)
• The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd (with Newley) (1965) – includes "Who Can I Turn to (When Nobody Needs Me)?" and "Feeling Good"
• Doctor Dolittle (1967) – includes "Talk to the Animals"
• Sweet November (with Newley)
• Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)
• Scrooge (with Ian Fraser; Herbert W. Spencer) (1970) – includes "Thank You Very Much"
• Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (with Newley) (1971)
• Beyond the Rainbow (lyrics only) (1978)
• The Good Old Bad Old Days (with Newley) (1974)
• Peter Pan (television, with Newley) (1976)
• Victor Victoria (film with Henry Mancini) (1982)
• Sherlock Holmes: The Musical – book, music, and lyrics by Bricusse (1989)
• Hook (with John Williams) (1991) – includes "When You're Alone"
• Jekyll & Hyde (lyrics only) (1990/1994/1997)
• Scrooge (1992 Broadway musical)
• Victor/Victoria (1995 Broadway adaptation)
• musical [Cyrano] (2009, Tokyo, with Frank Wildhorn)
• Sammy (2009) – Old Globe Theatre

Songs

• "Out of Town" (1956)
• "My Kind of Girl" (1961)
• "What Kind of Fool Am I?" (1963)
• "Who Can I Turn To" with Anthony Newley (1964)
• "Feeling Good" with Anthony Newley (1964)
• "Goldfinger" (with John Barry and Anthony Newley) from Goldfinger (1964)
• "A Guide for the Married Man" (with John Williams) from the film A Guide for the Married Man (1967)
• "You Only Live Twice" (with Barry) from You Only Live Twice (1967)
• "Two for the Road" (with Henry Mancini) from Two for the Road (1967)
• "Talk to the Animals" from Doctor Dolittle (1967)
• "Your Zowie Face" for film In Like Flint, music by Jerry Goldsmith (1967)
• "Fill The World With Love" from Goodbye Mr. Chips (1968) originally sung by Petula Clark and also popularised by Richard Harris
• "You and I" from Goodbye Mr. Chips (1968) sung by Petula Clark
• "Candy Man" and "Pure Imagination" (with Newley) from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
• "Can You Read My Mind (Love Theme)" (with John Williams) from Superman (1978)
• "Making Toys", "Every Christmas Eve/Santa's Theme (Giving)", "It's Christmas Again", "Patch! Natch!" and "Thank You, Santa!" (with Henry Mancini) from Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)
• "Life in a Looking Glass" (with Henry Mancini) from That's Life (1986)
• "Somewhere in My Memory" from Home Alone (with John Williams) (1990)
• "When You're Alone", "We Don't Wanna Grow Up" from Hook (with John Williams) (1991)
• "Christmas at Hogwarts" (with John Williams) in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
• "The Perfect Song" (with Andrew Lloyd Webber) for Michael Ball.

Awards

• Grammy Award
  • Song of the Year, 1963 – "What Kind of Fool Am I"
• Academy Award
  • Best Original Song, 1967 – "Talk to the Animals"
  • Best Adaptation and Original Song Score, 1982 – Victor/Victoria
• Songwriters Hall of Fame

Nominations

• Tony Award
  • Best Musical, 1963 – Stop the World – I Want to Get Off
  • Tony Award for Best Score, 1963 – "Stop the World – I Want to Get Off"
  • Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, 1963 – "Stop the World – I Want to Get Off"
  • Tony Award for Best Score of a Musical, 1965 – "The Roar of Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd"
  • Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, 1997 – "Jekyll & Hyde"
• Academy Awards
  • Original Music Score, 1967 – Doctor Dolittle
  • Original Music Score, 1969 – Goodbye, Mr. Chips
  • Original Song Score, 1970 – Scrooge
  • Best Song, 1970 – "Thank You Very Much"
  • Adaptation and Original Song Score, 1971 – Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
  • Best Song, 1986 – "Life in a Looking Glass"
  • Best Song, 1990 – "Somewhere in My Memory"
  • Best Song, 1991 – "When You're Alone"
• Golden Raspberry Award
  • Worst 'Original' Song, 1986 – "Life in a Looking Glass"

External links

• Leslie Bricusse at IMDb
• Leslie Bricusse at AllMusic
• Leslie Bricusse at the Songwriters Hall of Fame