Biography for
Jack Nitzsche More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

22 April 1937, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Date of Death

25 August 2000, Hollywood, California, USA (heart attack related to bronchial infection)

Birth Name

Bernard Alfred Nitzsche

Nickname

Specs

Spouse

Buffy Sainte-Marie	(19 March 1982 - 25 August 2000) (his death)
Gracia Ann May	(27 February 1959 - ?) (divorced) 1 child

Trivia

Father of Jack M. Nietzsche Jr.

He was born in Chicago but was raised on a Michigan farm near the town of Newaygo.

Co-wrote (with Sonny Bono) the song "Needles and Pins" for The Searchers which gave him his start in show business.

He was born exactly the same day as Jack Nicholson who starred in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) for which he wrote the music.

Recorded "The Lonely Surfer" in 1963.

Was first choice for writing the score for The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974). He declined.

Was the musical arranger and orchestrator for many of Phil Spector's classic "Wall of Sound" recordings, in the 1960s.

Composer, keyboardist and arranger. Started as a copyist with Specialty Records, after dropping out of music school in 1955.

Had a long-standing problem with drugs and a reputation for erratic behaviour. He was sentenced to three years probation in 1979 for breaking and entering, following a dispute with his girlfriend, the actress Carrie Snodgress.