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IMDbPro

Bernard Herrmann(1911-1975)

  • Music Department
  • Composer
  • Actor
IMDbProStarmeter
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Bernard Herrmann
The man behind the low woodwinds that open Citizen Kane (1941), the shrieking violins of Psycho (1960), and the plaintive saxophone of Taxi Driver (1976) was one of the most original and distinctive composers ever to work in film. He started early, winning a composition prize at the age of 13 and founding his own orchestra at the age of 20. After writing scores for Orson Welles's radio shows in the 1930s (including the notorious 1938 "The War of the Worlds" broadcast), he was the obvious choice to score Welles's film debut, Citizen Kane (1941), and, subsequently, The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), although he removed his name from the latter after additional music was added without his (or Welles's) consent when the film was mutilated by a panic-stricken studio. Herrmann was a prolific film composer, producing some of his most memorable work for Alfred Hitchcock, for whom he wrote nine scores. A notorious perfectionist and demanding (he once said that most directors didn't have a clue about music, and he blithely ignored their instructions--like Hitchcock's suggestion that Psycho (1960) have a jazz score and no music in the shower scene). He ended his partnership with Hitchcock after the latter rejected his score for Torn Curtain (1966) on studio advice. He was also an early experimenter in the sounds used in film scores, most famously The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), scored for two theremins, pianos, and a horn section; and was a consultant on the electronic sounds created by Oskar Sala on the mixtrautonium for The Birds (1963). His last score was for Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976) and died just hours after recording it. He also wrote an opera, "Wuthering Heights", and a cantata, "Moby Dick".
BornJune 29, 1911
DiedDecember 24, 1975(64)
BornJune 29, 1911
DiedDecember 24, 1975(64)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Won 1 Oscar

Photos7

Bernard Herrmann
Henry Fonda and Bernard Herrmann in The Wrong Man (1956)
Henry Fonda and Bernard Herrmann in The Wrong Man (1956)
Orson Welles, Bernard Herrmann, CITIZEN KANE, RKO, 1941, **I.V.
Bernard Herrmann
Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann

Known for

Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver (1976)
Taxi Driver
8.2
  • Music Department(uncredited)
  • 1976
Vertigo (1958)
Vertigo
8.3
  • Music Department(uncredited)
  • 1958
Anthony Perkins, John Gavin, Janet Leigh, and Heather Dawn May in Psycho (1960)
Psycho
8.5
  • Music Department(uncredited)
  • 1960
Orson Welles, Agnes Moorehead, and Dorothy Comingore in Citizen Kane (1941)
Citizen Kane
8.3
  • Music Department
  • 1941

Credits

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IMDbPro

Music Department

  • History of World Cinema
    • Pre-production
  • Mike Marvin and Thomas Haskell in The Marriage Zone (2022)
    The Marriage Zone
  • Quebranto (2022)
    Quebranto
  • Dansk films bedste
  • Psycho 60 (2020)
    Psycho 60
  • Ashley Shaw in Matthew Bourne's the Red Shoes (2020)
    Matthew Bourne's the Red Shoes
  • Box (2020)
    Box
  • Repairment
  • Robert Bloch, Tom Holland, Debra Lamb, Chris R. Notarile, Chris Bostrom, and Tom Patrick Propofsky in Mother (2020)
    Mother
  • Trailer Nation (2018)
    Trailer Nation
    • (as Bernard Herrman)
  • Ivan Prokopovich in Forward to the past on Oviaz Street on Groundhog Day (2018)
    Forward to the past on Oviaz Street on Groundhog Day
  • The Empty Screen or the Metaphysics of Movies
  • Meat (2017)
    Meat
  • Taxi Driver-Suvilahti (2016)
    Taxi Driver-Suvilahti
  • Aidan Duffy in Citizen Vader (2014)
    Citizen Vader
  • Jacob Mirallegro, Caleb Kerr, Taj O'Barr, and Elijah Mirallegro in Horror Movie Adventure Part II: Dead by Dawn (2014)
    Horror Movie Adventure Part II: Dead by Dawn

Composer

  • Bernard Herrmann, Harry Bates, Edmund H. North, Matthew Thomas Stallings, Emmanuel Mendes-Chumacerio, Chris R. Notarile, Edward Kasper, Shannon McDermott, Gabe Rios, Tom Patrick Propofsky, Ryan Kendrick, James Fielding, Lindsey Bean, Phillip Chance, and Lexsy McKowen in Gort (2021)
    Gort
  • Ashley Shaw in Matthew Bourne's the Red Shoes (2020)
    Matthew Bourne's the Red Shoes
  • Box
  • The Man in the Silo (2016)
    The Man in the Silo
  • The Poster (2009)
    The Poster
  • Back to Room 666 (2008)
    Back to Room 666
  • Concerto Macabre: The Films of John Brahm
  • All About 'the Birds' (2000)
    All About 'the Birds'
  • Anne Heche in Psycho (1998)
    Psycho
  • Täppas i Moskva (1993)
    Täppas i Moskva
  • It Lives Again (1978)
    It Lives Again
  • Geneviève Bujold and Cliff Robertson in Obsession (1976)
    Obsession
    • (music)
  • Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver (1976)
    Taxi Driver
  • The Ups and Downs of a Handyman (1975)
    The Ups and Downs of a Handyman
  • It's Alive (1974)
    It's Alive

Actor

  • Henry Fonda and Vera Miles in The Wrong Man (1956)
    The Wrong Man
    • (uncredited)
  • Doris Day and James Stewart in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
    The Man Who Knew Too Much

Personal details

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    • Bernard Herrmann Society
    • The Bernard Herrmann Estate
    • June 29, 1911
    • New York City, New York, USA
    • December 24, 1975
    • North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA(heart attack)
    • Norma ShepherdNovember 27, 1967 - December 24, 1975 (his death)
  • Other works
    Unused score: Torn Curtain (1966).
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Biographical Movies
    • 2 Print Biographies
    • 2 Portrayals
    • 2 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Alfred Hitchcock was so pleased by Herrmann's music for Psycho (1960) that he doubled his contracted fee for the score.
  • Quotes
    Your views are as narrow as your tie.
    • Often worked with Alfred Hitchcock
    • Psycho
      (1960)
      $34,500

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