Leonard Bernstein

Composer, Conductor

About

Birth Place

Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA

Born

August 25, 1918

Died

October 14, 1990

Cause of Death

Heart Attack And Progressive Lung Failure

Biography

Brilliant, protean musical composer whose ouptut ranged from symphonies and the ballet "Fancy Free" (1943) to hit Broadway musicals "On the Town" (1944) and "West Side Story" (1957). Bernstein's film work was occasional but distinguished, notably his "On the Town" (1949), "On the Waterfront" (1954) and "West Side Story" (1961)....

Filmography

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982)

Performer

A Journey to Jerusalem (1968)

Conductor

Satchmo the Great (1957)

West Side Story (Remake) (2020)

Photos & Videos

View All

West Side Story (1961) -- (Movie Clip) America

West Side Story (1961) -- (Movie Clip) Tonight

Family & Companions

Felicia Bernstein

Wife

Actor. Born in Chile; married 1951; separated; died of cancer 1978.

Bibliography

"Leonard Bernstein: The Last Ten Years"

Thomas R Seiler, Abbeville Press (2000)

"Bernstein: A Biography"

Joan Peyser (1987)

"The Private World of Leonard Bernstein"

John Gruen (1968)

"The Joy of Music"

Leonard Bernstein (1959)

Notes

"I don't want to spend my life, as Toscanini did, studying and restudying the same 50 pieces of music. It would bore me to death. I want to conduct. I want to play the piano. I want to write for Hollywood. I want to write symphonic music. I want to keep on trying to be, in the full sense of that wonderful word, a musician. I also want to teach. I want to write books and poetry. And I think I can still do justice to them all." --From The New York Times

Elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1982.

Biography

Filmography

Life Events

1940

Worked at Harms-Remick music publishing company, writing popular arrangements under pseudonym, Lenny Amber (Bernstein in English) (date approximate)

1942

Composed first symphony, "Jeremiah" (Symphony No. 1)

1942

Hired by Artur Rodzinski as assistant conductor of New York Philharmonic

1943

Substituted for Bruno Walter as conductor of New York Philharmonic concert on November 14

1944

Composed first ballet score, "Fancy Free"

1944

Scored first Broadway musical, "On the Town

1947

Made principal conductor of New York Philharmonic

1949

First film credit (song composer), "On the Town"

1953

Was first American-born conductor to be engaged by La Scala in Milan, Italy

1954

First original film score, "On the Waterfront"

1957

Made co-director of New York Philharmonic (with Dimitri Mitropoulos)

1958

First American-born director of New York Philharmonic

1973

As Charles Eliot Norton Professor of History at Harvard, lectured on linguistics as applied to musical analysis

1993

Honored with the renaming of 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue as Leonard Bernstein Place

Videos

West Side Story (1961) -- (Movie Clip) America The show-stopping number for Rita Morena in her Academy Award-winning role as Puerto Rican Anita, George Chakiris similarly honored as her boyfriend Bernardo, the song by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, in West Side Story, 1961.

West Side Story (1961) -- (Movie Clip) Tonight Enraptured on the night of their meeting, Tony (Richard Beymer) and Maria (Natalie Wood) on the fire escapes, director Robert Wise mingling the Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim song with Ernest Lehman's script, singing voices by Marni Nixon and Jimmy Bryant, in West Side Story, 1961.

On the Town (1949) -- (Movie Clip) New York, New York (Open) Gabey (Gene Kelly), Chip (Frank Sinatra) and Ozzie (Jules Munshin) launch their shore leave with Comden & Green's "New York, New York" in the first musical shot on location, directed by Kelly and Stanley Donen, On the Town, 1949.

On the Town (1949) -- (Movie Clip) My Place! Cabbie Hildy (Betty Garrett) has advice for tourist Chip (Frank Sinatra) delivered through the song "Come Up to My Place" by Leonard Bernstein, Beddy Comden and Adolph Green, in On the Town, 1949.

Humor In Music (1959) -- (TV Clip) What Makes Music Funny? Opening New York Philharmonic conductor Leonard Bernstein’s sixth episode, broadcast on CBS on February 28, 1959, from Carnegie Hall, from the “Young People’s Concerts” series, with Bernstein’s primarily ad-libbed oration, in Humor In Music, 1959.

What Does Music Mean? (1958) -- (TV Clip) Lone Ranger Song Opening the first broadcast in the famous CBS “Young People’s Concerts” series, from January 18, 1958, featuring Leonard Bernstein, the new conductor of the New York Philharmonic, with his own extemporaneous commentary and a performance of Rossini’s William Tell Overture, from What Does Music Mean?, 1958.

West Side Story (1961) -- (Movie Clip) Gee, Officer Krupke! Russ Tamblyn as Riff, leader of the Polish-American "Jets," entertains his buddies with the popular novelty number by Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein, William Bramley his subject, Jerome Robbins choregoraphy in West Side Story, 1961.

West Side Story (1961) -- (Movie Clip) I Feel Pretty Immediately following the intermission, Marni Nixon's voice for Natalie Wood as "Maria," the hit song by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, from West Side Story, 1961.

Trailer

On The Waterfront - (Original Trailer) Eight Academy Awards went to On The Waterfront (1954) about a stevedore (Marlon Brando) thinking of informing on the mob.

On the Town - (Original Trailer) Three sailors wreck havoc during a whirlwind 24-hour shore leave in New York City in On the Town (1949) starring Gene Kelly & Frank Sinatra.

Family

Samuel Bernstein

Father

Beauty supply salesman.

Jennie Bernstein

Mother

Shirley Bernstein

Sister

Agent. Died on May 20, 1998 at age 74.

Burton Bernstein

Brother

Author.

Alexander Bernstein

Son

Teacher.

Jamie Thomas

Daughter

Rock musician.

Nina Bernstein

Daughter

Actor, caterer.

Companions

Felicia Bernstein

Wife

Actor. Born in Chile; married 1951; separated; died of cancer 1978.

Bibliography

"Leonard Bernstein: The Last Ten Years"

Thomas R Seiler, Abbeville Press (2000)

"Bernstein: A Biography"

Joan Peyser (1987)

"The Private World of Leonard Bernstein"

John Gruen (1968)

"The Joy of Music"

Leonard Bernstein (1959)

"Family Matters"

Burton Bernstein

Notes

"I don't want to spend my life, as Toscanini did, studying and restudying the same 50 pieces of music. It would bore me to death. I want to conduct. I want to play the piano. I want to write for Hollywood. I want to write symphonic music. I want to keep on trying to be, in the full sense of that wonderful word, a musician. I also want to teach. I want to write books and poetry. And I think I can still do justice to them all." --From The New York Times

Elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1982.

About

Biography

Filmography

Photos & Videos

Family & Companions

Bibliography

Notes

Biography

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

Music (Feature Film)

Cast (Special)

Music (Special)

Misc. Crew (Special)

Life Events

1940

1942

1942

1943

1944

1944

1947

1949

1953

1954

1957

1958

1973

1993

Videos

Movie Clip

Trailer

Family

Companions

Bibliography

Notes

TCM Emails