(born
May 29 ,
1953 in
Los Angeles, California ) is an American
Musician who led the rock band
Oingo Boingo as
Singer /
Songwriter from
1976 until its breakup in
1995 , and has composed
Film Scores extensively since
1985 's ''
Pee-wee's Big Adventure ''. He has been nominated for three
Academy Award s and won a
Grammy Award for
Tim Burton's ''
Batman '' and an
Emmy Award for his ''
Desperate Housewives '' theme. He also composed the Simpsons theme song.
Elfman grew up in a racially mixed community (he is Jewish (Russian and Polish)) in the and
Franz Waxman .
After dropping out of high school, he followed his brother
Richard to
France , where he played his violin on the street and performed with
Le Grand Magic Circus , an
Avant-garde musical theater group. Violin in tow, Elfman next journeyed to
Africa where he traveled through
Ghana ,
Mali , and
Upper Volta , absorbing new musical styles (including
Highlife , which would eventually influence his own music). He contracted
Malaria during his one-year stay and was often sick. Eventually Elfman returned home to the U.S., where Richard was forming a new musical theater group,
The Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo . The group performed the music for Richard's debut feature film, ''
Forbidden Zone ''. Danny Elfman composed his first score the film and acted / sang the role of
Satan . By the time the movie was completed, The Mystic Knights had shortened their name to
Oingo Boingo and become a recording and touring rock group.
In 1985, Tim Burton and as one of the most thrilling experiences of his life . From that moment on, he was hooked on film scoring. Elfman has spoken of the affinity he developed right away with Burton, and he has gone on to score all but two of his major studio films (
Ed Wood , scored by
Howard Shore , and
Sweeney Todd , a musical with music and lyrics by
Stephen Sondheim ).
To date Elfman has scored the following Burton films:
Burton has said of Elfman: "We don't even have to talk about the music. We don't even have to intellectualize – which is good for both of us, we're both similar that way. We're very lucky to connect" (Breskin, 1997).
Burton has made five films without Elfman: ''Luau'', an experimental
Independent Film Burton made with his friends in 1982 (the film contains no original music); ''
Vincent '' and ''
Frankenweenie '', both of which predated the Burton / Elfman collaboration (featuring music by
Ken Hilton &
Michael Convertino and
David Newman respectively); ''Ed Wood'', which was produced during the rift between Elfman and Burton; and Burton's upcoming adaptation of ''
Sweeney Todd '', which will use the original musical numbers and underscore by
Stephen Sondheim .
Elfman’s film scores can be described as dark and brooding, lush and romantic, wild and manic - reflecting the many composers and styles which have influenced him over the years.
He recalls that the first time he became aware of film music was in his youth during a screening of ''
The Day The Earth Stood Still '' (
Robert Wise , 1951). The music was by
Bernard Herrmann , and that, he has said, was where his love of film music began (Russell and Young, 2000). Elfman purposefully nodded towards Herrmann's The Day the Earth Stood Still score in Tim Burton's
Sci-fi spoof ''
Mars Attacks! ''
Other film composers have also proven to be influential, such as
Nino Rota and
Erich Wolfgang Korngold , the former in Elfman's playful music for ''
Pee-wee's Big Adventure '', the latter in his much grander work, ''
Batman ''. Sometimes his music has a distinctly
Russian feel, inspired by the likes of
Prokofiev ,
Stravinsky and
Tchaikovsky ’s
Ballet Music , while his frequent use of
Choir s reflects his love of choral music by the likes of
Mozart and
Carl Orff .
Jazz and
Rock influences from his earlier career are evident in such films as ''
Chicago '' and ''
To Die For ''.
When asked during a 2007 phone-in interview on
XETRA-FM if he ever had any notions of performing in an
Oingo Boingo reunion, Elfman immediately rejected the idea and stated that in the last few years with the band he had begun to develop significant and irreversible
Hearing Damage as a result of his continuous exposure to the high noise levels involved in performing in a
Rock band. He went on to say that he believes his hearing damage is partially due to a
Genetic predisposition to hearing loss, and that he will never return to the stage for fear of worsening the condition.
In addition to his work with
Tim Burton , Elfman has written scores for dozens of other films including:
- '' Forbidden Zone '' ( Richard Elfman , 1980)
- '' Back To School '', ( Alan Metter , 1986 )
- '' Wisdom '' ( Emilio Estevez , Robert Wise , 1986)
- '' Big Top Pee-wee '' ( Randal Kleiser , 1988)
- '' Midnight Run '' ( Martin Brest , 1988 )
- '' Scrooged '' ( Richard Donner , 1988)
- '' Darkman '' ( Sam Raimi , 1990)
- '' Dick Tracy '' ( Warren Beatty , 1990)
- '' Nightbreed '' ( Clive Barker , 1990)
- '' Army Of Darkness '' ( Sam Raimi , 1993) (theme)
- '' Sommersby '' ( Jon Amiel , 1993)
- '' Black Beauty '' ( Caroline Thompson , 1994)
- '' Dolores Claiborne '' ( Taylor Hackford , 1995)
- '' Dead Presidents '' ( Hughes Brothers , 1995)
- '' To Die For '' ( Gus Van Sant , 1995 )
- '' The Frighteners '' ( Peter Jackson , 1996)
- '' Freeway '' ( Matthew Bright , 1996)
- '''' ( Brian De Palma , 1996)
- '' Good Will Hunting '' ( Gus Van Sant , 1997 )
- '' Men In Black '' ( Barry Sonnenfeld , 1997)
- '' A Simple Plan '' ( Sam Raimi , 1998)
- '' Proof Of Life '' ( Taylor Hackford , 1999)
- '' Chicago '' ( Rob Marshall , 2002 ) (The instrumental pieces "After Midnight" and "Roxie's Suite")
- '' Spider-Man '' ( Sam Raimi , 2002)
- '' Red Dragon '' ( Brett Ratner , 2002)
- '' Hulk '' ( Ang Lee , 2003 )
- '' Spider-Man 2 '' ( Sam Raimi , 2004)
- '' Deep Sea 3D '' ( Howard Hall , 2006 )
- '' Nacho Libre '' ( Jared Hess , 2006) (Ramses Suite)
- '' Charlotte's Web '' ( Gary Winick , 2006)
- '' Meet The Robinsons '' ( Steve Anderson , 2007)
- '' The Kingdom '' ( Peter Berg , 2007)
He has also written the theme music for several
Television Series , including:
He also composed the opening title theme of the 2004 video game ''
Fable ''
Elfman has recently started working in the classical world, beginning with
Serenada Schizophrana for the
American Composers Orchestra . It was conducted by
John Mauceri on its recording and by Steven Sloane at its premiere at
Carnegie Hall in
New York City on
23 February ,
2005 . After its premiere, it was recorded in studio and released onto
SACD on
3 October ,
2006 . The meeting with Mauceri proved fruitful as the composer was encouraged then to write a new concert piece for Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Elfman composed an "overture to a nonexistent musical" and called the piece "The Overeager Overture."
- Grammy Award s
- ---WINNER: Best Instrumental Composition: ''The Batman Theme'' from '' Batman '' (1989)
- ---Nominated for Best Album of Original Instrumental Background Score for a Motion Picture: '' Batman '' (1989)
- ---Nominated for Best Instrumental Composition for a Motion Picture: '' Dick Tracy '' (1990)
- ---Nominated for Best Instrumental Composition for a Motion Picture: '' Edward Scissorhands '' (1990)
- ---Nominated for Best Musical Album for Children: '' The Nightmare Before Christmas '' (1993)
- ---Nominated for Best Instrumental Composition for a Motion Picture: '' Men In Black '' (1997)
- ---Nominated for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture: '' Planet Of The Apes '' (2001)
- ---Nominated for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture: '' Spider-Man '' (2002)
- ---Nominated for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture: '' Big Fish '' (2003)
- ---Nominated for Best Song for a Motion Picture: "Wonka’s Welcome Song" from '' Charlie And The Chocolate Factory '' (2005)
