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Leslie Charles Bricusse was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music an…
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Leslie Charles Bricusse ( BRIK-əss; 29 January 1931 – 19 October 2021) was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films Doctor Dolittle; Goodbye, Mr.
Leslie Charles Bricusse was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films Doctor Dolittle; Goodbye, Mr. Chips; Scrooge; Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory; Tom and Jerry: The Movie; the titular James Bond film songs "Goldfinger" and "You Only Live Twice"; "Can You Read My Mind? " from Superman; and "Le Jazz Hot!" from Victor/Victoria.
Leslie Charles Bricusse ( BRIK-əss; 29 January 1931 – 19 October 2021) was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films Doctor Dolittle; Goodbye, Mr. Chips; Scrooge; Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory; Tom and Jerry: The Movie; the titular James Bond film songs "Goldfinger" and "You Only Live Twice"; "Can You Read My Mind? (Love Theme from Superman)" (with John Williams) from Superman; and "Le Jazz Hot!" (with Henry Mancini) from Victor/Victoria.
Bricusse was born in Southfields, London on 29 January 1931, the son of Annie Mary (née Mills) and Cedric Bricusse, who already had a daughter. His paternal grandfather was Belgian, whilst his mother's father came from Belfast in Northern Ireland. His father was employed by Kelmsley Newspapers for most of his working life. When Bricusse was two years old, his parents relocated to Pinner, Middlesex, and he was educated at University College School, Hampstead.
After completing a two-year period of National Service with the Royal Army Service Corps, he studied Modern and Medieval Languages at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He was secretary of Footlights in 1952–53, and president the following year. He also formed the Cambridge University Musical Comedy Club, and wrote the lyrics for its first production, Lady at the Wheel, in 1953. It was during his college drama career that Bricusse began working for Beatrice Lillie. After later starring in her stage show An Evening with Beatrice Lillie for a year, he decided to concentrate on writing rather than performing.
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Working solely as a lyricist, he collaborated with composer Cyril Ornadel on Pickwick (1963), based on Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers, a successful vehicle for Harry Secombe. His later collaborators included Henry Mancini (Victor/Victoria in 1982 and Tom and Jerry: The Movie in 1992) and John Williams (Home Alone in 1990 and Hook in 1991).
Bricusse composed the music and lyrics for the songs in the 1967 film Doctor Dolittle, which co-starred Newley, and also wrote its screenplay. Although the movie flopped at the box-office, "Talk to the Animals" earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Song. He also composed the songs for the film Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969).
Sammy Davis Jr. had hits with two songs by Bricusse, "What Kind of Fool Am I?" (1962), from Stop the World - I Want to Get Off, and "The Candy Man" (1972), from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. In the United States, the latter release topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for three weeks, and was the singer's biggest hit.
Other recording artists who recorded successful versions of his songs include Nina Simone ("Feeling Good"), Matt Monro and Frank Sinatra ("My Kind of Girl"), Shirley Bassey ("Goldfinger"), Harry Secombe ("If I Ruled the World"), Nancy Sinatra ("You Only Live Twice"), The Turtles ("A Guide for the Married Man"), Maureen McGovern ("Can You Read My Mind"), and Diana Krall ("When I Look in Your Eyes").
Bricusse partnered with George Tipton to write the opening theme of the American television sitcom It's a Living.
Pure Imagination: The World of Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse, devised and directed by Bruce Kimmel, opened at the Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice, California, on 7 December 2013. In 2015, it went to the St James Theatre, London.
Bricusse was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1989. On 29 October 2001, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for "services to the film industry and the theatre" from Queen Elizabeth II at a Buckingham Palace investiture ceremony.
In 2015, he released a memoir entitled Pure Imagination: A Sorta-Biography, with a foreword by Elton John.
Bricusse lived in California and in London, in an apartment overlooking the River Thames. He married actress Yvonne "Evie" Romain on 18 October 1958 at St James's Church, Marylebone. The couple's son, Adam Cedric (born 4 April 1964), pursued a career as an artist after studying fine art at Merton College, Oxford.
Bricusse died in his sleep in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, on 19 October 2021, aged 90. In 2024, his wife donated his papers, including 225 notebooks, to the Library of Congress.
