Henry Mancini facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Henry Mancini
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Mancini c. 1970
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Enrico Nicola Mancini |
| Born | April 16, 1924 Maple Heights, Ohio |
| Died | June 14, 1994 (aged 70) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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| Instruments | Piano |
| Years active | 1946–1994 |
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Henry Mancini, born Enrico Nicola Mancini (April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994), was an American musician. He was a famous composer, conductor, arranger, pianist, and flautist. Many people consider him one of the best film composers ever.
Mancini won many awards for his music. He earned four Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, and twenty Grammy Awards. After he passed away, he also received a special Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.
He created music for many well-known movies and TV shows. These include the famous theme for the Peter Gunn TV series and the catchy "The Pink Panther Theme" from The Pink Panther films. He also wrote the beautiful song "Moon River" for the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. His album The Music from Peter Gunn was the first ever to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Mancini worked closely with film director Blake Edwards on many projects. He even had a number one hit song during the rock and roll era with his version of the "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet" in 1969.
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Henry Mancini's Early Life
Henry Mancini was born in Maple Heights, Ohio. He grew up in West Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, which is near Pittsburgh. His parents were immigrants from Italy. His father, Quintiliano "Quinto" Mancini, worked at a steel company. He was also a musician in his free time.
When Henry was eight years old, he started learning to play the piccolo. He once said that hearing the music in the 1935 film The Crusades made him want to write music for movies. His father had wanted him to become a teacher instead.
Later, Henry studied piano and how to arrange music for orchestras. He learned from Max Adkins, a concert pianist in Pittsburgh. Henry not only arranged music for local bands but also for the famous bandleader Benny Goodman. Henry loved arranging music more than performing it. He enjoyed figuring out how other composers put together their musical pieces.
After finishing Aliquippa Senior High School in 1942, Mancini went to the Carnegie Institute of Technology. Later that year, he moved to the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. He passed his audition by playing a Beethoven sonata and improvising on "Night and Day" by Cole Porter. In his first year at Juilliard, he could only study piano.
In 1943, when he was 18, Mancini joined the United States Army Air Forces. He met musicians who were being recruited by Glenn Miller. Thanks to Miller's suggestion, Mancini first joined the 28th Air Force Band. He was later sent to France with the 1306th Engineers Brigade. In 1945, he helped free people from the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in Austria.
Mancini's Music Career
After leaving the army, Mancini started his music career in 1946. He became a pianist and arranger for the Glenn Miller Orchestra, which was then led by Tex Beneke. After World War II, he continued to learn more about composing and arranging music. He studied with composers like Ernst Krenek and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.
In 1952, Mancini joined the music department at Universal-International. Over the next six years, he wrote music for more than 100 movies. Some of these included Creature from the Black Lagoon, This Island Earth, and The Glenn Miller Story. He even received his first Academy Award nomination for The Glenn Miller Story. During this time, he also wrote some popular songs.
Mancini left Universal-International in 1958 to work on his own. Soon after, he wrote the music for the TV series Peter Gunn. This was the start of a long partnership with writer and producer Blake Edwards. They worked together on 30 films over 35 years. Henry Mancini was one of the first composers to add jazz elements to film and TV music.
Mancini's music for Blake Edwards' films included Breakfast at Tiffany's (with "Moon River") and Days of Wine and Roses (with its title song). He also scored all the Pink Panther movies, The Great Race, The Party, 10, and Victor Victoria. He also worked with director Stanley Donen on films like Charade.
Mancini also wrote music for many TV movies. These included The Thorn Birds. He created themes for many TV shows too, such as Mr. Lucky, NBC Mystery Movie, and What's Happening!!. In the mid-1980s, four TV series used his themes: Newhart, Hotel, Remington Steele, and Ripley's Believe It or Not. He even composed the "Viewer Mail" theme for Late Night with David Letterman.
Mancini's songs were very popular on easy listening radio stations from the 1960s to the 1980s. His music was seen as bright and confident. Many artists recorded his songs, including Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, and Perry Como. Mancini also had his own TV show called The Mancini Generation in 1972–73.
Mancini recorded over 90 albums, covering styles from big band to pop. Eight of his albums sold enough copies to be certified gold. He had a long contract with RCA Victor, releasing 60 albums. While he wrote a lot for film and TV, he also recorded his own music for albums. Later in his career, he often performed as a piano soloist.
Mancini was also a concert performer. He conducted over 600 symphony performances during his life. He led many of the world's top orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops. He performed for the British Royal Family several times. He also toured with singers like Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams. In 1987, he conducted a charity concert in London for Children In Need.
Mancini's Cameo Appearances
Henry Mancini sometimes appeared in TV shows and movies himself. Shortly before he passed away in 1994, he had a small voice role in the TV show Frasier. He played a character named Al, who called into Dr. Frasier Crane's radio show. After his part, Frasier's show played "Moon River."
Mancini also appeared as a pianist in the 1967 movie Gunn. This movie was based on the Peter Gunn TV series, for which he had composed the music.
In the 1966 Pink Panther cartoon Pink, Plunk, Plink, the Pink Panther took over an orchestra and conducted Mancini's theme song. At the end, Mancini himself was shown in the audience, applauding. He also made a brief appearance in the opening of the 1993 film Son of the Pink Panther.
Death and Legacy
Henry Mancini passed away from pancreatic cancer in Los Angeles on June 14, 1994. At the time, he was working on a Broadway musical version of Victor/Victoria, but he never saw it performed on stage. He was survived by his wife of 43 years, singer Virginia "Ginny" O'Connor, and their three children. Ginny passed away in 2021.
Henry and Ginny met when they were both part of the Tex Beneke orchestra after World War II. Ginny Mancini helped start the Society of Singers in 1948. This group helps professional singers with their health and well-being.
One of Mancini's twin daughters, Monica Mancini, is a professional singer. Her sister, Felice, runs The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation. This foundation helps provide musical instruments to schools. His son, Christopher, works in music publishing in Los Angeles.
Henry Mancini created a scholarship at UCLA for music students. Some of his music and papers are kept in the music library at UCLA and the Library of Congress.
In 1996, the Henry Mancini Institute was founded to help young music professionals. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Foundation also gives out an annual "Henry Mancini Music Scholarship."
In 2005, the Henry Mancini Arts Academy opened in Midland, Pennsylvania. This is close to Mancini's hometown of Aliquippa. It offers performing arts classes for children and adults.
The American Film Institute has recognized Mancini's work. His song "Moon River" was ranked number 4 on their list of greatest songs. "Days of Wine and Roses" was number 39. His music for The Pink Panther was ranked number 20 on their list of greatest film scores.
Awards and Honors
Henry Mancini was nominated for 72 Grammy Awards and won 20 of them. He was nominated for 18 Academy Awards and won four. He also won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for two Emmy Awards.
In 1961, Mancini won two Academy Awards for Breakfast at Tiffany's. One was for "Moon River" as Best Original Song. The other was for Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. In 1962, he won Best Original Song again for "Days of Wine and Roses." He won Best Original Score once more in 1982 for the movie Victor/Victoria.
In 1989, Mancini received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement.
In 1997, after his death, Mancini was given an honorary music degree from Berklee College of Music.
On April 13, 2004, the United States Postal Service honored Mancini with a special postage stamp. The stamp shows Mancini conducting, with a list of some of his famous movie and TV themes.
See also
In Spanish: Henry Mancini para niños
