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Leslie Bricusse, 1931-2021
Composer, lyricist and playwright Leslie Bricusse died at his home in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, on October 19, 2021, at the age of 90.
One of the most successful British songwriters of the twentieth century, Bricusse enjoyed a career spanning more than six decades across cinema, Broadway and the West End. He won two Academy Awards and a Grammy, and wrote or co-wrote such enduring film songs as “Goldfinger,” “You Only Live Twice,” “Talk to the Animals,” “Pure Imagination” and “The Candy Man.”
Leslie Charles Bricusse was born in London on January 29, 1931, and studied at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he became president of the Footlights Revue Club and founded the Musical Comedy Club. His first student productions transferred to the West End, and after initially performing as well as writing, Bricusse increasingly concentrated on songwriting.
His most important early partnership was with Anthony Newley. Together they created the stage musicals Stop the World – I Want to Get Off and The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd, producing standards including “What Kind of Fool Am I?”, “Once in a Lifetime,” “Who Can I Turn To?” and “Feeling Good.” Their work quickly attracted Hollywood’s attention, and Bricusse developed a parallel career writing songs specifically for films. Read more…
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