BRICUSSE, Leslie 1931–
(Leslie Brecusse)

PERSONAL

Born January 29, 1931, in London, England; married Yvonne Romain (an actress); children: one son. Education: Attended Cambridge University.

Career: Composer, lyricist, writer, actor, and director. Cambridge Footlight Revues, Cambridge, England, member of company, president, 1954.

Awards, Honors: Ivor Novello awards, c. 1956, for "Out of Town," Charley Moon, and 1962, for "My Kind of Girl"; Ivor Novello Award, 1962, Broadcast Music Award, best song of the year, 1962, and Grammy Award, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, all (with Anthony Newley) for "What Kind of Fool Am I?," Stop the World—I Want to Get Off; Antoinette Perry Award nominations, best musical, best composer and lyricist, and best author of a musical (all with Newley), 1963, for Stop the World—I Want to Get Off; Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best composer and lyricist, and Whitbread Anglo–American Theatre Award, both (with Newley) 1965, for The Roar of the Greasepaint—The Smell of the Crowd; Grammy Award, 1967, and Academy Award, best song, 1968, both for "Talk to the Animals," Dr. Dolittle; Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe Award nomination, both best original score, and Screen Award nomination, best written American musical, Writers Guild of America, all 1968, for Doctor Dolittle; Academy Award nomination, best score of a musical picture (with John Williams), and Golden Globe Award nomination, best original score, both 1970, for Goodbye, Mr. Chips; Academy Award nomination, best song, and Golden Globe Award nomination, best original song, both 1971, for "Thank You Very Much," Scrooge; Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe Award nomination, both best original song score (with Ian Fraser and Herbert W. Spencer), and Golden Globe Award nomination, best screenplay, all 1971, for Scrooge; Academy Award nomination, best scoring adaptation and original song score (with Newley and Walter Scharf), 1972, for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; Academy Award, best original song score and its adaptation (with Henry Mancini), 1983, for Victor/Victoria; Academy Award nomination, best song, and Golden Globe Award nomination, best original song for a motion picture, both (with Mancini) 1987, for "Life in a Looking Glass," That's Life!; inducted into Songwriter's Hall of Fame, 1989; Kennedy Award for excellence in British song–writing, 1989; Academy Award nomination, best original song (with Williams), 1991, for "Somewhere in My Memory," Home Alone; Academy Award nomination, best song (with Williams), 1992, for "When You're Alone," Hook; Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best book of a musical, 1997, for Jekyll & Hyde; Annie Award nomination, best individual achievement in music for a feature or home video production, International Animated Film Society, 1997, for The Land before Time IV: Journey through the Mists; several additional Ivor Novello awards.

CREDITS

Stage Appearances:

Tip and Run (musical revue), Cambridge Footlight Revues, Cambridge, England, 1952.

An Evening with Beatrice Lillie (revue), Globe Theatre, London, 1954.

Stage Work:

Director, Out of the Blue (revue), Cambridge Footlight Revues, Cambridge, England, then Phoenix Theatre, London, 1954.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Songwriters Hall of Fame 20th Anniversary ... The Magic of Music, CBS, 1989.

Julie Andrews: Back on Broadway, PBS, 1995.

Interviewee, Broadway '97: Launching the Tonys, PBS, 1997.

Interviewee, Intimate Portrait: Joan Collins, Lifetime, 2003.

Television Work; Theme Music Performer:

I'm a Big Girl Now (series), 1980.

It's a Living (series; also known as Making a Living ), ABC, 1980–1981.

In Trouble (special), 1981.

Film Work:

Executive producer, Scrooge, Waterbury/National General, 1970.

RECORDINGS

Albums:

Music arranger, Home Alone (original soundtrack recording), Sony, 1990.

Performer, Out at the Movies, Varese, 1999.

WRITINGS

Stage:

Lyrics and music, Tip and Run (musical revue), Cambridge Footlight Revues, Cambridge, England, 1952.

Lyrics and music, Lady at the Wheel, Cambridge Footlight Revues, 1958.

(With Anthony Newley) Book, lyrics, and music, Stop the World—I Want to Get Off, Queen's Theatre, London, 1961, then Sam S. Shubert Theatre, New York City, beginning 1962.

Lyrics (book by Wolf Mankowitz; composed by Cyril Ornadel), Pickwick (musical), London, 1963, then San Francisco, CA, and 46th Street Theatre, New York City, 1965.

Book, lyrics (with Newley), and music, The Roar of the Greasepaint—The Smell of the Crowd, Sam S. Shubert Theatre, 1965.

(With Newley) The Good Old Bad Old Days, London, 1973.

Book, lyrics, and music, Kings and Clowns, London, 1978.

(With Newley) The Travelling Music Show, London, 1978.

Lyrics, Over the Rainbow, London, 1978.

Book, lyrics, and music, Sherlock Holmes—The Musical, Cambridge Theatre, London, 1989.

Adaptor of score (with Henry Mancini), Victor/Victoria (based on his music for the film), Marquis Theatre, New York City, 1995–1997.

Book and score, Dr. Dolittle, Broadway production, 1997.

Book and lyrics (composed by Frank Wildhorn), Jekyll & Hyde, Alley Theatre, Houston, TX, 1990, then Plymouth Theatre, New York City, 1997–2001.

Screenplays:

(With John Cresswell; including song "Out of Town") Charley Moon (musical), British Lion, 1956.

(With Frederick Raphael) Bachelor of Hearts, Rank, 1958.

(With Vivian A. Cox) The Swinging Maiden (also known as The Iron Maiden ), Columbia, 1963.

The Very Edge, 1963.

Three Hats for Lisa, Seven Hills/Warner Bros./Pathe, 1965.

Adaptor, Stop the World—I Want to Get Off (based on the stage play), Warner Bros., 1966.

Dr. Dolittle, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1967.

Scrooge, Waterbury/National General, 1970.

(With others) Sunday Lovers (also known as An Englishman's Home, Les seducteurs, and I seduttori della domenica ), United Artists, 1980.

Bullseye!, 1990.

Film Music:

(With Talbot Rothwell and Eric Rogers) Three Hats for Lisa, Seven Hills/Warner Bros./Pathe, 1965.

Adaptor of score, Stop the World—I Want to Get Off (based on the stage play), Warner Bros., 1966.

Lyrics and score, including song "Talk to the Animals," Dr. Dolittle, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1967.

Lyrics and music (with John Williams), Goodbye Mr. Chips, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1969.

(With Ian Fraser and Herbert W. Spencer) Book, lyrics, and music, including song "Thank You Very Much," Scrooge, Waterbury/National General, 1970.

(With Anthony Newley and Walter Scharf) Lyrics and music, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Paramount, 1971.

Adaptor of libretto, lyrics (with Newley), and music, Sammy Stops the World (also known as Stop the World—I Want to Get Off ), Ed Rood Sr./Special Events Entertainment, 1978.

Lyrics (composed by Henry Mancini), Victor/Victoria, United Artists, 1982.

The Land before Time IV: Journey through the Mists, 1996.

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch, Curtco/Patrick Curtis and RCR Productions, 1997.

(As Leslie Brecusse) Talegaver til boern—10 aars jubilaeum, CMC Records, 2003.

Songs Featured in Films:

"Take It from Me," We Joined the Navy, 1962.

(With Anthony Newley) Lyrics for title song, Goldfinger, United Artists, 1964.

Lyrics for title song, Penelope, 1966.

(With Jerry Goldsmith) Title song, In Like Flint, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1967.

(With others) "I Like the Look," Gunn, Paramount, 1967.

Lyrics for title song, You Only Live Twice (also known as Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice ), United Artists, 1967.

Lyrics and music for title song, A Guide for the Married Man, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1967.

Salt and Pepper, 1968.

Title song, Sweet November, 1968.

"Can You Read My Mind," Superman (also known as Superman: The Movie ), Warner Bros., 1978.

"Move 'em Out," Revenge of the Pink Panther, United Artists, 1978.

"The Precious Moment," The Sea Wolves: The Last Charge of the Calcutta Light Horse (also known as The Sea Wolves ), Paramount, 1980.

"Every Christmas Eve," "Making Toys," "Patch! Natch," and "Thank You Santa," Santa Claus (also known as Santa Claus: The Movie ), TriStar, 1985.

Lyrics, "Life in a Looking Glass" (composed by Henry Mancini), That's Life!, Sony Pictures Releasing, 1986.

Lyrics, "Somewhere in My Memory" (composed by John Williams), Home Alone, 1990.

Lyrics, "Pick 'em Up," "We Don't Wanna Grow Up," and "When You're Alone" (composed by Williams), Hook, TriStar, 1991.

"Christmas Star" and "Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas," Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (also known as Home Alone II ), Twentieth Century–Fox, 1992.

"Feeling Good," Point of No Return, Warner Bros., 1993.

"Clouseau's Anthem," Blake Edwards' Son of the Pink Panther, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1993.

Various songs, Tom & Jerry: The Movie, Miramax, 1993.

"Talking 'bout My Baby," 40 Days and 40 Nights, Miramax, 2001.

"If I Ruled the World" and other songs, Bruce Almighty, Universal, 2003.

Television Music; Specials:

Peter Pan, NBC, 1976.

Lyrics and music, Babes in Toyland, 1986.

Adaptor, Stop the World, I Want to Get Off! (based on his earlier work), Arts and Entertainment, 1996.

Lyrics, "Crazy World" and "Two for the Road," Monica Mancini ... On Record, PBS, 1998.

Book and lyrics, Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical, multiple networks, 2001.

Television Music; Series:

Theme song lyrics, Hart To Hart, 1979.

Theme song (with Alison Tipton), I'm a Big Girl Now, ABC, 1980.

Television Music; Other:

With Love, Sophia, 1967.

ADAPTATIONS

Bricusse's original stage and film music has been featured in other films, including The Fabulous Baker Boys, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1989; The Taking of Beverly Hills, Sony Pictures Releasing, 1991; Vegas Vacation, Warner Bros., 1997; and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, New Line Cinema, 1999. His film lyrics have been featured in numerous television specials, such as Evening at Pops, PBS, 1988; Julie Andrews: Back on Broadway, PBS, 1995; and Roger Williams: Pop Goes the Ivories, PBS, 1999; and in broadcasts of several Academy Awards presentations. His songs have been featured in stage productions, including Crazy World: The Songs of Leslie Bricusse (cabaret revue), Theatre at Don't Tell Mama, New York City, 2001, 2002; Lyrics & Lyricists: The British Invasion, Theatre at the 92nd Street Y, New York City, 2002; and Jeremy Ebenstein, Theatre at Miss Elle's, New York City, 2003. Bricusse's songs have been recorded by many performing artists and included in various cast and soundtrack albums.