Legendary film composer Bernard Herrmann was born in New York City on this day in 1911 . His original, innovative scores have brought some of the most important films of our time to life. After writing music for Orson Welles’ radio shows in the 1930s, including the infamous “War of the Worlds” broadcast, Herrmann went on to compose the score for Citizen Kane (1941). Herrmann produced nine scores for Alfred Hithcock, including The Birds (1963), Psycho (1960), North by Northwest (1959) and Vertigo. In 1942 he won the Academy Award for Best Music for The Devil and Daniel Webster. He died just hours after recording the score for Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976), for which he received an Oscar nomination.
Factoid: Bernard Herrmann’s posthumous Oscar nomination for Taxi Driver was not his final nod. He received a second nod in the same year for Brian De Palma’s Obsession but ultimately lost out to Jerry Goldsmith for his ominous Omen score.
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