MOVIE MUSIC UK

Composer David Raksin died on August 9, 2004, in Los Angeles, after a short illness. He was 92.

Raksin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in August 1912. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania and the Curtis Institute of Music, and later with Isadore Freed in New York and Arnold Schoenberg in Los Angeles. He worked as an arranger for Charlie Chaplin on the score for Modern Times in 1936 when he was just 24 years old, and soon after began a long career as a composer for studio films.

With a career spanning more than six decades, Raksin composed music for over 100 films and numerous television programs, earning a reputation for melodic sophistication and dramatic sensitivity. His theme for the 1944 classic Laura is often cited as one of the most memorable in film history, and became a popular standard, with lyrics later added by Johnny Mercer. Raksin’s theme song for the 1953 film The Bad and the Beautiful (also called “Love is For the Very Young”) was also a hit.

Rakin’s other major composing credits include Forever Amber (1947), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), Force of Evil (1948), Whirlpool (1950), The Magnificent Yankee (1950), Across the Wide Missouri (1951), The Big Combo (1955), Bigger Than Life (1956), Separate Tables (1958), and Two Weeks in Another Town (1962), among many others. He received two Academy Award nominations and numerous honors for his work, which was admired for its lyrical beauty, harmonic depth, and keen dramatic sense. One of his last major scores was for the critically acclaimed nuclear holocaust-themed TV drama The Day After in 1983.

A champion of film music as a serious art form, Raksin was instrumental in founding the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and served as its governor for 19 years. He also co-founded the Film Music Society (formerly the Society for the Preservation of Film Music) in 1972. He was also a passionate educator, teaching composition and film scoring at the University of Southern California and UCLA well into his 80s.

Raksin is survived by his children and grandchildren. His son Alex is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial writer for the Los Angeles Times.