
Michel Legrand
Biography
Michel Jean Legrand (24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many songs. His scores for the films of French New Wave director Jacques Demy, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), earned Legrand his first Academy Award nominations. Legrand won his first Oscar for the song "The Windmills of Your Mind" from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968).
Legrand was born in Paris to his father, Raymond Legrand, who was himself a conductor and composer, and his mother, Marcelle Ter-Mikaëlian, who was the sister of conductor Jacques Hélian. Raymond and Marcelle were married in 1929. His maternal grandfather was Armenian.
Legrand composed more than two hundred film and television scores. He won three Oscars and five Grammys. He studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris from age 11, working with, among others, Nadia Boulanger and graduated with top honors as both a composer and a pianist. He burst upon the international music scene at 22 when his album I Love Paris (album) became a surprise hit. He established his name in the United States by working with such jazz stars as Miles Davis and Stan Getz. His sister Christiane Legrand was a member of The Swingle Singers and his niece Victoria Legrand is a member of the dream pop band Beach House.
Legrand composed music for Jacques Demy's films The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), and appeared and performed in Agnès Varda's Cléo from 5 to 7 (1961). He also composed music for Joseph Losey's Eva (1962), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) (which features "The Windmills of Your Mind"), Ice Station Zebra (1968), The Picasso Summer (1969), The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun (1970), The Go-Between (1971), Summer of '42 (1971), Clint Eastwood's Breezy (1973), The Three Musketeers (1973), Orson Welles's last-completed film F for Fake (1974) and would later compose the score for Welles's posthumously-released movie The Other Side of the Wind (2018). He also composed the score for Yentl (1983), as well as the film score for Louis Malle's film Atlantic City (1980). His instrumental version of the theme from Brian's Song charted 56th in 1972 on the Billboard's pop chart.
Legrand died of sepsis, during the night of 25–26 January 2019, at the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, where he had been hospitalized for two weeks for a pulmonary infection. His funeral was held in Paris at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral on 1 February 2019. He was interred at the Père Lachaise Cemetery. He remained active until his death and had concerts scheduled to take place in the spring.
In 1997, Legrand composed the score for the musical Le Passe-muraille, with a book by Didier Van Cauwelaert. It premiered on Broadway in 2002 as Amour and was translated into English by Jeremy Sams and was directed by James Lapine. This musical was his Broadway debut and he was nominated for a Tony Award in 2003 for Best Score. Later he recorded Legrand Affair with Melissa Errico, a 100-piece symphony orchestra that included songs with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. ...
Source: Article "Michel Legrand" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Acting (23 movies)

Hommage à Michel Legrand et Jacques Demy au festival Sœurs Jumelles
2021

Her Last Christmas
1952

Dans les pas de Jean-Paul Rappeneau
2022

The World of Jacques Demy
1995

The Young Girls Turn 25
1993

A Final Cut for Orson: 40 Years in the Making
2018

Callas Assoluta
2007

Cléo from 5 to 7
1962

L’Or et le plomb
1966

Frankie Laine: An American Dreamer
2006

A Time for Loving
1972

Love Lasts Three Years
2011

The Beaches of Agnès
2008

Michel Legrand, sans demi-mesure
2018

La La La
2018

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
1964

Once Upon a Time... The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
2008

Françoise Dorléac, une promesse
2018

Once Upon a Time Michel Legrand
2024

Behind the screens : Les demoiselles de Rochefort
1966

La chanson 'Lola'
2008

Michel Legrand and the Cinema
2011

Quincy Jones - Music Man
2025
Directing (1 movie)
| Title | Year | Job | 
|---|---|---|
| Lovers' Net | 1955 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Tricyclist | 1957 | Original Music Composer | 
| America as Seen by a Frenchman | 1960 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Door Slams | 1960 | Original Music Composer | 
| The French Game | 1960 | Original Music Composer | 
| Fiancés on the Bridge | 1961 | Original Music Composer | 
| Lola | 1961 | Original Music Composer | 
| It Means That Much to Me | 1961 | Original Music Composer | 
| A Woman Is a Woman | 1961 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Counterfeiters of Paris | 1961 | Original Music Composer | 
| Lust | 1962 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Seven Deadly Sins | 1962 | Original Music Composer | 
| La Paresse | 1962 | Original Music Composer | 
| Cléo from 5 to 7 | 1962 | Original Music Composer | 
| Vivre Sa Vie | 1962 | Original Music Composer | 
| Eva | 1962 | Original Music Composer | 
| Bay of Angels | 1963 | Original Music Composer | 
| Love Is a Ball | 1963 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Lovely Month of May | 1963 | Original Music Composer | 
| Maigret Sees Red | 1963 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Umbrellas of Cherbourg | 1964 | Original Music Composer | 
| Agent 38-24-36 | 1964 | Original Music Composer | 
| Band of Outsiders | 1964 | Original Music Composer | 
| Le Grand Escroc | 1964 | Original Music Composer | 
| The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers | 1964 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Spy Who Went Into Hell | 1965 | Original Music Composer | 
| A Matter of Resistance | 1966 | Original Music Composer | 
| Funny Money | 1966 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean | 1966 | Original Music Composer | 
| Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? | 1966 | Original Music Composer | 
| 1999 A.D. | 1967 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Young Girls of Rochefort | 1967 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Oldest Profession | 1967 | Original Music Composer | 
| La Chinoise | 1967 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Man in the Buick | 1968 | Original Music Composer | 
| How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life | 1968 | Original Music Composer | 
| Sweet November | 1968 | Original Music Composer | 
| Ice Station Zebra | 1968 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Thomas Crown Affair | 1968 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Swimming Pool | 1969 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Picasso Summer | 1969 | Original Music Composer | 
| To Catch a Pebble | 1970 | Original Music Composer | 
| Wuthering Heights | 1970 | Original Music Composer | 
| Pieces of Dreams | 1970 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun | 1970 | Original Music Composer | 
| Donkey Skin | 1970 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Married Couple of the Year Two | 1971 | Original Music Composer | 
| Summer of '42 | 1971 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Go-Between | 1971 | Original Music Composer | 
| Le Mans | 1971 | Original Music Composer | 
| Touch and Go | 1971 | Original Music Composer | 
| A Little Sun in Cold Water | 1971 | Original Music Composer | 
| Brian's Song | 1971 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Old Maid | 1972 | Original Music Composer | 
| A Time for Loving | 1972 | Original Music Composer | 
| Hearth Fires | 1972 | Original Music Composer | 
| One Is a Lonely Number | 1972 | Original Music Composer | 
| Portnoy's Complaint | 1972 | Original Music Composer | 
| Lady Sings the Blues | 1972 | Original Music Composer | 
| Not Dumb, the Bird | 1972 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Outside Man | 1972 | Original Music Composer | 
| Bequest to the Nation | 1973 | Original Music Composer | 
| Impossible Object | 1973 | Original Music Composer | 
| 40 Carats | 1973 | Original Music Composer | 
| Cops and Robbers | 1973 | Original Music Composer | 
| A Doll's House | 1973 | Original Music Composer | 
| F for Fake | 1973 | Original Music Composer | 
| A Slightly Pregnant Man | 1973 | Original Music Composer | 
| Breezy | 1973 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Three Musketeers | 1973 | Original Music Composer | 
| It's Good to Be Alive | 1974 | Original Music Composer | 
| Our Time | 1974 | Original Music Composer | 
| Cage Without a Key | 1975 | Original Music Composer | 
| Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York | 1975 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Smurfs and the Magic Flute | 1975 | Original Music Composer | 
| La Décharge | 1976 | Original Music Composer | 
| Gable and Lombard | 1976 | Original Music Composer | 
| Ode to Billy Joe | 1976 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Other Side of Midnight | 1977 | Original Music Composer | 
| One Can Say It Without Getting Angry | 1978 | Original Music Composer | 
| Roads to the South | 1978 | Original Music Composer | 
| Lady Oscar | 1979 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Mountain Men | 1980 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Hunter | 1980 | Original Music Composer | 
| Atlantic City | 1980 | Original Music Composer | 
| Falling in Love Again | 1980 | Original Music Composer | 
| Your Ticket Is No Longer Valid | 1981 | Original Music Composer | 
| Bankers Also Have Souls | 1982 | Original Music Composer | 
| A Woman Called Golda | 1982 | Original Music Composer | 
| Best Friends | 1982 | Original Music Composer | 
| Revenge of the Humanoids | 1983 | Original Music Composer | 
| Never Say Never Again | 1983 | Original Music Composer | 
| A Love in Germany | 1983 | Original Music Composer | 
| Yentl | 1983 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Jesse Owens Story | 1984 | Original Music Composer | 
| Paroles et musique | 1984 | Original Music Composer | 
| Zoom the White Dolphin | 1985 | Original Music Composer | 
| Going and Coming Back | 1985 | Original Music Composer | 
| Promises to Keep | 1985 | Original Music Composer | 
| As Summers Die | 1986 | Original Music Composer | 
| You've Got Beautiful Stairs, You Know... | 1986 | Original Music Composer | 
| Spiral | 1987 | Original Music Composer | 
| Switching Channels | 1988 | Original Music Composer | 
| Un coupable | 1988 | Original Music Composer | 
| Five Days in June | 1989 | Writer | 
| The Jeweller's Shop | 1989 | Original Music Composer | 
| Eternity | 1990 | Original Music Composer | 
| Dingo | 1991 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Young Girls Turn 25 | 1993 | Original Music Composer | 
| Prêt-à-Porter | 1994 | Original Music Composer | 
| Les Miserables | 1995 | Original Music Composer | 
| The World of Jacques Demy | 1995 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Ring | 1996 | Original Music Composer | 
| Madeline | 1998 | Original Music Composer | 
| Season's Beatings | 1999 | Original Music Composer | 
| Cavalcade | 2005 | Original Music Composer | 
| Disco | 2008 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Guardians | 2017 | Original Music Composer | 
| J'ai perdu Albert | 2018 | Original Music Composer | 
| The Other Side of the Wind | 2018 | Original Music Composer | 
| Michel Legrand, enchanted music | 2022 | Original Music Composer | 
| Michel Legrand, la musique enchantée | 2022 | Original Music Composer | 
| Le cinéma de Michel Legrand | 2022 | Original Music Composer | 
