Biography for
Randy Newman (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

28 November 1943, Los Angeles, California, USA

Birth Name

Randall Stuart Newman

Nickname

The New Man

Height

6' (1.83 m)

Spouse

Gretchen Preece	(1990 - present) 2 children
Roswitha Schmale	(16 June 1967 - 1985) (divorced) 3 children

Trade Mark

Use of melodious piano tunes (e.g. Monsters, Inc. (2001), Forrest Gump (1994))

Trivia

Educated at University of California.

Started career writing pop songs.

Cousin of composers Thomas Newman, Joey Newman, Maria Newman and David Newman

Nephew of composers Alfred Newman, Emil Newman and Lionel Newman

Son of Irving Newman, a Hollywood physician and occasional songwriter.

Suffered from Epstein-Barr Syndrome 1987-89.

Was born in Los Angeles, California. A week after his birth, Randy's family moved to New Orleans, Louisiana (his mother's hometown). At age 11, he moved with his family back to Los Angeles.

On February 12, 2002, he broke the all-time record for most Oscar nominations without any wins (the previous record was 15; Newman got two nominations for Monsters, Inc. (2001) and made it to 16). (This record has been surpassed. As of March 2011, sound re-recording mixer Kevin O'Connell has 20 nominations but not a single Oscar.).

In March of 2002, Newman finally won his first Academy Award for writing the Best Song in Monsters, Inc. (2001). In his acceptance speech, he thanked the music branch of the academy for giving him all those chances "to be humiliated."

Beside being a composer of film music and pop/rock songs, Newman is also is a singer and piano player. Many popular musicians made his songs more famous by doing their own versions: Joe Cocker sang "Guilty", Tom Jones sang "You Can Leave Your Hat On", Three Dog Night covered "Mama Told me Not to Come", etc.

As a teenager, he was invited by a girl to a country club cotillion, but was subsequently asked not to come by the girl's father, who told him that no Jews were allowed. After hanging up the phone, Newman had to go and ask his father what a Jew was.

Mentioned in the song, "Life Is a Rock But the Radio Rolled Me", by Reunion.

His song "I Love L.A." is played by the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium after every home game victory. It was also played after the Dodgers lost in the final 2004 Playoff game against the Saint Louis Cardinals, prompting many of the Dodger fans who remained in the park to sing along while a year's worth of highlights were shown.

Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.

ABC-TV's promo jingle "You'll Love It!" used during the 1985-1986 season, was derived from his song "I Love L.A.".

His 1958 junior-high graduation photo (from Paul Revere Junior High School in Brentwood, California) may be viewed at http://www.unihiw61.com/html/revere58.html.

Cousin of Tim Newman.

Personal Quotes

My music has a high irritation factor. I've always tried to say something. Eccentric lyrics about eccentric people. Often it was a joke. But I would plead guilty on the grounds that I prefer eccentricity to the bland.

On the Bush administration: The US and the world just didn't deserve these people. They're a good deal worse. They don't even know the rules.

[on the underestimated value of compact discs and record stores, eclipsed by MP3's and the Internet] Did you ever try to autograph an I-Pod? I tried, once...which, for me, was plenty.

Thank God for the potholes on memory lane.