Elmer Bernstein was educated at the Walden School and New York
University. He served in the US Army Air Corps in World War II, writing scores for the service radio unit. He also wrote and arranged musical numbers for
Glenn Miller's Army Air Force Band. A
prolific and respected film music composer, he was a protégé of
Aaron Copland, who studied music with
Roger Sessions and
Stefan Wolpe. Bernstein
worked in various artistic endeavors, including painting and the
theatre and also performed as an actor and dancer. Among his early
composition work were scores for United Nations radio programs and
television and industrial documentaries. His original scores for films
range over an enormous variety of styles, with his groundbreaking jazz
score for
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955),
light musical comedies such as his Oscar-winning
Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
score, and perhaps his most familiar score, for the western
The Magnificent Seven (1960). Between 1963 and 1969, Bernstein served as vice president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
A few years before before his death, he acquired something of a cult
status among fans of English football when his familiar main theme for
The Great Escape (1963) was
adopted by them and hummed and played, lustily, during matches.
From Noon Till Three(1976)as Songwriter
The Rat Race(1960)as Member of the Red Peppers
Anwar Speight's Serpents(2023)
Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic(2004)
Far from Heaven(2002)
Taking the Wheel(2002)
Story of...(1962)
To Cast a Skyward Gaze: Making the Case for John Guillermin(2025)
Mockingbird(2025)
Spanish Noir(2023)
Ghostbusters: Afterlife(2021)
The Court Jester(1955)
AM HQ Weekend(2015)
Family Guy(1999)
Stranger Things(2016)
Weekend Recharge(2015)
The Residence(2025)
The Ten Commandments: 6-Part Documentary(2004)as Self
9th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards(2003)as Self
This Is Your Life(1955)as Self
The Best of Hollywood(1999)as Self - Interviewee
The Ten Commandments: Making Miracles(2011)as Self
The 77th Annual Academy Awards(2005)as Self - Memorial Tribute
The 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards(2004)as Self - In Memoriam
