Paul Misraki facts for kids

Photograph of Paul Misraki from 1948

Paul Misraki (born January 28, 1908 – died October 29, 1998) was a famous French composer. He wrote popular music and also created music for movies, known as film scores. Over 60 years, Paul Misraki composed music for 130 films. He worked with many well-known directors like Jean Renoir, Orson Welles, and Jean-Luc Godard. For his amazing work, he received a special honor called the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur.

Paul Misraki's Life and Movie Music

Paul Misraki was born in Constantinople, which is now Istanbul, Turkey. His family was French Jewish with Italian roots. From a young age, Paul showed a great talent for music. He moved to Paris to study classical music.

By the 1930s, he became a skilled jazz pianist and a writer of popular songs. Around this time, he started composing music for movies. His first known movie work was for Jean Renoir's film On purge bébé (1931).

Working in Hollywood During World War II

During World War II, when Germany occupied France, Misraki left the country, just like director Jean Renoir. After a short time in Argentina, Misraki went to Hollywood in the United States. There, he wrote the music for all of Renoir's American films.

Returning to France and Busy Years

After the war, Misraki went back to France. He was very busy in the 1950s, often composing music for six or more films each year. During this time, he worked on films like Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1954) and Orson Welles' Mr. Arkadin (1955).

In the 1960s, Misraki composed a bit less, usually 2–3 film scores a year. He still worked with top French directors. These included Jean-Luc Godard for Alphaville (1965) and Jean-Pierre Melville for Le Doulos (1963). He also scored several films for Claude Chabrol.

Misraki continued to compose music now and then during the last 20 years of his life. He wrote his last film score when he was 85 years old. By then, he mostly worked on music for television. He passed away peacefully in Paris at the age of 90.

Paul Misraki's Popular Songs

Paul Misraki first became famous as a composer and writer of lyrics for popular songs. His first big hit was in 1935, a song called "Tout va très bien madame la marquise [fr]." Throughout his career in France, America, and Argentina, he wrote many successful songs in French, English, and Spanish.

In 1998, when he was 90, Misraki worked with singer Raquel Bitton. She created an album called In a Jazzy Mood to honor his songs.

Paul Misraki's Other Interests

Besides music, Paul Misraki had many other interests. He was very curious about religion, Ufology (the study of UFOs), and the idea of extraterrestrial life (life beyond Earth).

Exploring Ancient Astronauts

Misraki was one of the first people to support the ancient astronaut hypothesis. This idea suggests that advanced beings from other planets visited Earth in ancient times. He published a book in 1962 called Les Extraterrestres in France. It was later released in English as Flying Saucers Through The Ages in 1965.

At first, he used the pen name Paul Thomas because he worried it might harm his music career. However, he later revealed his true identity. In his book, Misraki suggested that angels mentioned in the Bible were actually aliens. He also believed that the Bible and other old texts describe many flying saucer sightings. He thought that aliens had influenced human history. Misraki was also one of the first to suggest that ghostly sightings might be connected to UFOs.

A Ufologist named Jacques Vallée studied some of Misraki's ideas about UFOs. He visited Misraki in Paris in 1962 to talk about them. Vallée described Misraki as a "deeply reflective man" and a "religious scholar."

Misraki also supported the ideas of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, especially his theory of the omega point. Misraki wrote several papers about Teilhard de Chardin's work.

Selected Filmography