Results for Francis Lai
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Artist:

Francis Lai

Born:
Apr 26, 1932

  • Genre: Soundtrack
  • Active: '60s - '90s
  • Instrument: Composer

Biography

Best remembered for his Oscar-winning scores to A Man and a Woman and Love Story, composer Francis Lai was born April 26, 1932, in Nice, France. After studying piano as a child, he later discovered jazz and during the 1950s followed friend and singer Claude Goaty to Paris, eventually settling in Montmartre. At the local Taverne d'Attilio, Lai met Bernard Dimey, with whom he collaborated on well over 100 songs; a brief stint in Michel Magne's orchestra preceded his tenure as accompanist for Edith Piaf, for whom Lai also composed a number of songs as well. He made his film debut in 1964 with the score to Roger Vadim's remake of Max Ophuls' classic La Ronde, and two years later composed the music for Jean-Luc Godard's Masculin/Feminin; however, it was his work on Claude Lelouch's 1966 hit A Man and a Woman which elevated Lai to international renown, and in addition to earning an Academy Award, he notched a perennial easy listening favorite with the picture's Brazilian-inflected title tune. He won a second Oscar for the 1970 Arthur Hiller blockbuster Love Story, and the film's theme, "Where Do I Begin?," also became a Top 40 hit for Andy Williams, Henry Mancini, and even Lai himself. Although the composer never again reached the same commercial heights, he continued working regularly in the cinema, often in conjunction with director Lelouch, and composed a number of instrumental favorites, including "Today It's You," "Happy New Year," and "Love in the Rain." ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

Representative Songs:

"Theme from Love Story," "Bilitis," "African Summer"

Representative Albums:

A Man and a Woman/Live for Life, The Very Best of Francis Lai: A Man & A Woman, A Man and a Woman (Un Homme et une Femme)

Similar Artists:

François de Roubaix, Georges Garvarentz, Michel Legrand

Followers:

The Mellowmen, Carlos Pingarilho, The Dears
 
 
Actor:

Francis Lai

  • Born: 1932 in Nice, France
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '60s-'90s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Romance
  • Career Highlights: Too Beautiful for You, A Man and a Woman, My Best Friend's Wedding
  • First Major Screen Credit: La Ronde (1964)

Biography

French composer Francis Lai's best known score was from Claude Lelouch's A Man and a Woman (1966). The score earned him an Oscar, as did his music for 1970's Love Story. He continues to score American, British, and French features, and in 1998, he earned a César nomination for his score for Hasards ou Coïncidences. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

 
Wikipedia: Francis Lai

Francis Lai (born April 26, 1932 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France) is a composer noted for his film scores.

While in his twenties, Francis Lai left home and went to Paris where he became part of the lively Montmartre music scene. In 1965 he met filmmaker Claude Lelouch and was hired to help write the score for the film, Un homme et une femme (A Man and A Woman). Released in 1966, the film was a major international success, earning a number of Academy Awards, and for the young Francis Lai, a Golden Globe Award nomination for "Best Original Score." This initial success brought more opportunities to work for the film industry both in his native France as well as in Great Britain and the United States. In 1969, he wrote the score for director René Clément's film, Rider On The Rain (Le Passager de la Pluie).

In 1970 Francis Lai won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for the film, Love Story. In the United States, the soundtrack album went to No. 2 in the Billboard album charts and the film's theme, "Where Do I Begin" was a hit single with lyrics by Carl Sigman for crooner, Andy Williams. The song would also be recorded successfully by Lai himself with a full orchestra and by Henry Mancini and Shirley Bassey. Francis Lai would also write the music for the 1978 "Love Story" sequel titled, Oliver's Story.

Lai has also had success with music written for soft erotic films like Emmanuelle (1974), Emmanuelle 2 (1975) and Bilitis (1977).

His composition Aujourd'hui C'est Toi is probably best known in the UK as the theme music for the long-running BBC television current affairs documentary series Panorama.

In a career spanning forty years, Francis Lai has also written music for television programs and alone or in collaboration with others, has composed music for more than one hundred films and has personally written more than six hundred songs.

Award wins:

Award nominations:

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

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Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Actor. Copyright © 2006 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Francis Lai".  Read more

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