Leslie Bricusse

A prolific songwriter, composer and lyricist, Leslie Bricusse broke into showbiz right out of Cambridge when Beatrice Lillie chose him to appear with her in her revue "An Evening with Beatrice Lillie" (1954). The London native had begun to write sketches and songs for Cambridge's famed Footlight Revues, eventually serving as the group's president in 1954. In his four-decade career, Bricusse collaborated with several prominent figures and wrote or co-wrote many songs that have entered the popular consciousness. His first major partnership was with Anthony Newley. The pair created two well-received stage productions, "Stop the World--I Want to Get Off" (1961) and "The Roar of the Greasepaint--The Smell of the Crowd" (1965). The duo created such well-known songs as the Grammy-winning "What Kind of Fool Am I?," "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)?," "The Candy Man" and the title song from the James Bond film "Goldfinger" (1964). Solo, Bricusse earned the first of his ten Academy Award nominations for the score for "Doctor Dolittle," earning the statue for his bouncy patter song "Talk to the Animals." Two years later, he worked with John Williams on the musicalization of "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" and since then, the pair collaborated on a number of movie theme songs, including "Somewhere in My Memory" from "Home Alone" (1990) and "When You're Alone" from "Hook" (1991). Additionally, Bricusse enjoyed a fruitful pairing with the late Henry Mancini on several Blake Edwards' films, including "Victor/Victoria" (1982), for which they earned a Best Song Score Oscar. (They later supplemented the film's soundtrack with new numbers for the 1995 stage adaptation.) In the1980s, Bricusse wrote an ill-fated musical about "Sherlock Holmes" (1989) and spent the better part of the time polishing a stage version of "Jekyll and Hyde." First begun in 1990, "Jekyll and Hyde" went through a number of incarnations, including a concept album, several stage productions, a second album and finally a touring production that opened on Broadway to mixed reviews but cheering audiences in 1997. Bricusse also co-wrote a handful of screenplays, including "Charley Moon" (1956) and "Bachelor of Hearts" (1958). The latter was co-scripted by his university chum Frederic Raphael. Leslie Bricusse died on October 19, 2021 at the age of 90.