Alex North
Alex North (Isadore Soifer: Chester, from Pennsylvania, December 4, 1910 - Los Angeles, September 8, 1991) was an American composer of music of cinema. He is the one who has been nominated for an Oscar the most times as a soundtrack author (up to 14 times), without ever getting the award in that category. In return in 1986 he received the first honorary Oscar awarded to a composer.
Biography
He studied at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, continuing his studies in Russia. Returning to the United States, he composed theatrical music for various authors, including Elia Kazan, which would give him the opportunity to make his film debut.
He composed a great score for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, but Stanley Kubrick scrapped it to later include classical music by Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and others. Coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the film, it came to light at the hands of Jerry Goldsmith, conducting the National Philharmonic Orchestra in London.
He was nominated for an Oscar 14 times, but none was awarded. However, at the 1985 Oscar award ceremony, he was awarded a special award, the Honorary Oscar, in recognition of his outstanding soundtracks.
He was also the creator of the music for one of the most famous television series, Rich man, poor man and the song Unchained melody, well remembered and used as it was in the movie Ghost.
He passed away at the age of 80 on September 8, 1991 in Los Angeles, California.
Filmography (incomplete)
- 1951 - A tram called desire (Oscar Award candidate)
- 1951 - The Death of a Traveler (Oscar Award candidate)
- 1952 - Viva Zapata! (Oscar Award candidate)
- 1955 - The tattooed rose (Oscar Award candidate)
- 1955 - Unchained Melody (only musical theme)
- 1956 - Bad seed
- 1956 - The Rainmaker (Oscar Award candidate)
- 1956 - A king for four queens
- 1958 - Sed of triumph
- 1958 - South Seas Adventure
- 1959 - The Sound and the Fury
- 1961 - Rebel lives
- 1960 - Spartacus (Oscar Award candidate)
- 1963 - Cleopatra (Oscar Award candidate)
- 1964 - The Great Fight
- 1965 - The torment and the ecstasy (Oscar Award candidate)
- 1966 - Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Oscar Award candidate)
- 1968 - 2001: A Space Odyssey (Rejected in final assembly)
- 1968 - The Devil Brigade
- 1968 - The sandals of the fisherman (Oscar Award candidate)
- 1969 - Before love... then kill
- 1972 - Undesirable
- 1974 - Shanks (Oscar Award candidate)
- 1975 - Kill the bullet (Oscar Award candidate)
- 1979 - Blood wise
- 1981 - Dragonslayer (Oscar Award candidate)
- 1984 - Under the volcano (Oscar Award candidate)
- 1985 - Death of a traveler
- 1985 - The honor of the Prizzi
- 1987 - The Dead
- 1988 - Good Morning, Vietnam
Awards and distinctions
- Oscar Awards
| Year | Category | Movie | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Best soundtrack of a dramatic movie or comedy | Death of a traveler | Nominee |
| A tram called Wish | Nominee | ||
| 1953 | Best soundtrack of a dramatic movie or comedy | Long live Zapata! | Nominee |
| 1956 | Best soundtrack of a dramatic movie or comedy | The tattooed rose | Nominee |
| Best original song | No strings | Nominee | |
| 1957 | Best soundtrack of a dramatic movie or comedy | The farce | Nominee |
| 1961 | Best soundtrack of a dramatic movie or comedy | Spartacus | Nominee |
| 1964 | Best original soundtrack | Cleopatra | Nominee |
| 1966 | Best argument and original script | The torment and the ecstasy | Nominee |
| 1967 | Best Original Soundtrack | Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Nominee |
| 1969 | Best Original Soundtrack | The sandals of the fisherman | Nominee |
| 1975 | Best original dramatic soundtrack | Shanks | Nominee |
| 1976 | Best original dramatic soundtrack | Kill the bullet | Nominee |
| 1982 | Best original soundtrack | Dragonslayer | Nominee |
| 1985 | Best original soundtrack | Under the Volcano | Nominee |
| 1986 | Honorary Oscar | Winner | |
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