Maurice Jarre

One of the most prolific film composers of the late 20th Century, Lyon-born Maurice Jarre had been crafting film underscores for a decade when he came to international prominence in 1962 with his Oscar-winning score for the sweeping David Lean-directed epic "Lawrence of Arabia".

Jarre studied percussion and composition at the Paris Conservatory under Arthur Honneger, Jacques de la Presle and Louis Aubert. Following military service in the French navy during WWII, he was tapped by Jean Louis Barrault to serve as orchestral composer and arranger for Barrault's theater company. When he left Barrault after four years, Jarre joined with Jean Vilar's recently formed Theatre National Populaire and honed his craft preparing incidental music for classical works by Moliere, Victor Hugo and Shakespeare. Shortly thereafter, the composer crossed over into films, debuting with the music for George Franju's short "Hotel des Invalides" (1952) and following up over the next six years with the scores for several shorts and documentaries, including "Toute la memoire du monde" (1956), directed by Alain Resnais, and "Le Bel Indifferent" (1957), helmed by Jacques Demy. Franju tapped the musician for the full-length feature "La Tete contre les murs/The Keepers" (1958) and Jarre's career began to take off in earnest. He wrote the rare horror score for "Eyes Without a Face/Les Yeux sans visages" (1959) and collaborated with Richard Fleischer on "Crack in the Mirror" (1960) and "The Big Gamble" (1961).

But it was his association with Lean that yielded Jarre's best-known work. Following the award-winning "Lawrence of Arabia", the two once again worked together on "Doctor Zhivago" (1965), which brought Jarre his second Academy Award and included the haunting, seemingly ubiquitous "Lara's Theme". After a five year absence, the duo reunited to collaborate on the uneven "Ryan's Daughter" (1970) and then enjoyed one last pairing with "A Passage to India" (1984), which earned Jarre his third Oscar.

In addition to his work with Lean, Jarre also has enjoyed successful teamings with John Huston (including the stirring music for 1975's "The Man Who Would Be King") and Peter Weir (five features to date, including the all electronic scores for 1982's "The Year of Living Dangerously" and 1985's "Witness"). As of 2000, he has amassed a career total of nine Academy Award nominations (eight for original score and one for Best Song for "Marmalade, Molasses and Honey" from 1972's "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean"). Among the numerous TV projects that have borne his creative stamp are the acclaimed miniseries "Jesus of Nazareth" (NBC, 1977), "Shogun" (NBC, 1980) and the small screen remake of "Samson and Delilah" (ABC, 1984).

In addition to his illustrious career as a film composer, Jarre has also written the scores for several ballets, symphonic pieces and other classical works. Additionally, he has appeared as conductor of some of the world's most renowned orchestras. After more than fifty years as a musician and composer, Jarre obviously has not lost his touch: filmgoers in 2000 were treated to two of his lilting scores in the films "Sunshine" and "I Dreamed of Africa".

• Also Credited As:
  Maurice Alexis Jarre
• Born:
  on 09/13/1924 in Lyon, France
• Job Titles:
  Composer, Conductor, Musical director

Family

• Daughter: Stephanie Jarre. mother, Dany Saval
• Father: Andre Jarre.
• Son: Jean-Michel Jarre. mother, France Pejot

Education

• Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique, Paris, France, composition and percussion

Milestones

• 1946 Served as a musician with Radiodiffusion Francaise
• 1952 Debut as motion picture score composer with the short "Hotel des Invalides"
• 1958 First full-length feature score, "The Keepers/La Tete contre les murs"
• 1959 Penned the score for the horror film "Eyes Without a Face"
• 1962 Composed the dramatic underscore for "The Longest Day"
• 1962 Initiated four-film collaboration with director David Lean with the sweeping score for the epic "Lawrence of Arabia"; received first Academy Award
• 1963 Picked up second Oscar nomination for the music for "Sundays and Cybele"
• 1965 Second film with Lean, "Doctor Zhivago"; received a Grammy and an Academy Award; score produced the haunting "Lara's Theme"
• 1966 Wrote the music for the race film "Grand Prix"
• 1968 Penned the scores for "Isadora", a film biography of dancer Isadora Duncan starring Vanessa Redgrave, and "Barbarella", the campy sci-fi comedy starring Jane Fonda
• 1969 Collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock to provide the underscore for "Topaz"
• 1970 Third film with Lean, "Ryan's Daughter"
• 1972 Picked up first (and to date, only) Oscar nomination in the Best Original Song category for "Marmalade, Molasses and Honey" from "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean", directed by John Huston; first of three collaborations with Huston
• 1973 Scored "The Mackintosh Man", directed by Huston
• 1974 Composed the music for the NBC TV-movie "Great Expectations"
• 1975 Final film with Huston, the stirring, "The Man Who Would Be King"
• 1976 Wrote the score for "The Last Tycoon", directed by Elia Kazan
• 1977 Earned an Academy Award nomination for the score for "Mohammad Messenger of God"
• 1977 Penned the music for the James Bond film "The Spy Who Loved Me"
• 1977 Provided the music for the NBC biblical miniseries "Jesus of Nazareth"
• 1979 Composed the score for the award-winning "The Tin Drum"
• 1980 Created the background music for the film "Resurrection"
• 1980 Wrote the underscore for the NBC miniseries "Shogun", adapted from James Clavell's novel
• 1982 Initial film with Peter Weir, "The Year of Living Dangerously"
• 1984 Final collaboration with Lean, "A Passage to India"; won third Academy Award
• 1984 Returned to the small screen with the music for the ABC remake of "Samson and Delilah"
• 1985 Received Oscar nomination for musical score for "Witness", directed by Weir
• 1985 Scored "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome"
• 1986 Hired by Weir to score "The Mosquito Coast"
• 1986 Penned the score for "Tai-Pan", also based on a James Clavell novel
• 1987 Wrote the background music for the box-office hits "No Way Out" and "Fatal Attraction"
• 1988 Crafted the score for the NBC miniseries "The Murder of Mary Phagan"
• 1988 Received Oscar nomination for music for "Gorillas in the Mist"
• 1989 Again collaborated with Weir on "Dead Poets Society"
• 1990 Earned ninth career Academy Award nomination for the score for "Ghost"
• 1992 Penned the music for "School Ties"
• 1993 Headlined the PBS special tribute to David Lean, "Lean by Jarre"
• 1993 Reteamed with Weir for "Fearless"
• 1994 Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• 1995 Garnered praise for his musical compositions for "A Walk in the Clouds"
• 1999 Scored the sweeping historical drama "Sunshine"; released theatrically in the USA in 2000
• 2000 Wrote the music for "I Dreamed of Africa"
• Served in the French navy during WWII
• Was director of music at Theatre National Populaire