Dave Grusin

Arranger, Composer, Conductor

About

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Also Known As

David Grusin

Birth Place

Littleton, Colorado, USA

Born

June 26, 1934

Biography

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Prolific Hollywood film music composer who began as Andy Williams' accompanist and soon thereafter served as music director for his hit variety show in the 1960s. Grusin got to know the show's producers, Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin, who gave him his first chance to score for features with "Divorce, American Style" (1967). Grusin has subsequently contributed lively, smooth orchestrated mus...

Filmography

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The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)

The Pretty One (2013)

It's Complicated (2009)

It's Complicated (2009)

Bordertown (2007)

Photos & Videos

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Yakuza, The (1974) -- (Movie Clip) Get Rid Of Thinking

Yakuza, The (1974) -- (Movie Clip) Open, A Losing Number

Notes

GRP Records has been voted the Number 1 contemporary jazz label by BILLBOARD magazine two years in a row

Biography

Prolific Hollywood film music composer who began as Andy Williams' accompanist and soon thereafter served as music director for his hit variety show in the 1960s. Grusin got to know the show's producers, Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin, who gave him his first chance to score for features with "Divorce, American Style" (1967). Grusin has subsequently contributed lively, smooth orchestrated music to films by many of Hollywood's leading mainstream directors, including Mike Nichols ("The Graduate" 1967), Robert Mulligan ("The Pursuit of Happiness" 1971, "Clara's Heart" 1988), Mark Rydell ("On Golden Pond" 1981, "For the Boys" 1991), Herbert Ross ("The Goodbye Girl" 1977) and Martin Ritt ("The Front" 1976). He also worked with actor-directors Warren Beatty ("Heaven Can Wait" 1978, "Reds" 1981) and Robert Redford, winning an Oscar for the spirited, Latino-flavored score of Redford's "The Milagro Beanfield War" (1988).

Grusin's most notable collaboration with a director, however, has been with Sydney Pollack; he has provided music for most of Pollack's films since the mid-70s, winning Oscar nomination for "Tootsie" (1982), "Havana" (1990) and "The Firm" (1993). Grusin's fusion jazz-tinged scores have also highlighted a number of TV shows ("Good Times," "St. Elsewhere") and he has arranged albums by artists including Quincy Jones and Paul Simon. Grusin founded his own record label, GRP Records, with partner Larry Rosen in 1983; it has since become a major producer of contemporary jazz recordings and joined the extensive holdings of MCA in 1990.

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)

Music (Feature Film)

The Pretty One (2013)

It's Complicated (2009)

It's Complicated (2009)

Bordertown (2007)

Even Money (2006)

Ocean's Twelve (2004)

Ocean's Twelve (2004)

School of Rock (2003)

Dinner With Friends (2001)

Next Friday (2000)

Dancing in September (2000)

The Other Sister (1999)

Random Hearts (1999)

The Other Sister (1999)

Hope Floats (1998)

Hope Floats (1998)

In the Gloaming (1997)

Mulholland Falls (1996)

The Cure (1995)

The Firm (1993)

Wayne's World 2 (1993)

For the Boys (1991)

For the Boys (1991)

Look Who's Talking Too (1990)

The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)

The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)

The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)

A Dry White Season (1989)

The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)

Casual Sex? (1988)

Song Performer ("Bossa Baroque")

Tequila Sunrise (1988)

Clara's Heart (1988)

Casual Sex? (1988)

The Goonies (1985)

The Pope Of Greenwich Village (1984)

Scandalous (1984)

Racing With The Moon (1984)

The Little Drummer Girl (1984)

Scandalous (1984)

Falling in Love (1984)

Author! Author! (1982)

Author! Author! (1982)

All Night Long (1981)

On Golden Pond (1981)

Absence Of Malice (1981)

My Bodyguard (1980)

...And Justice For All (1979)

...And Justice For All (1979)

The Champ (1979)

The Electric Horseman (1979)

Mr. Billion (1977)

Bobby Deerfield (1977)

The Goodbye Girl (1977)

Fire Sale (1977)

Murder By Death (1976)

The Front (1976)

Three Days of the Condor (1975)

The Trial of Chaplain Jensen (1975)

The Nickel Ride (1975)

The Midnight Man (1974)

The Death Squad (1974)

The Yakuza (1974)

W. W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1974)

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)

The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972)

Family Rico (1972)

The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971)

The Pursuit of Happiness (1971)

A Howling in the Woods (1971)

The Forgotten Man (1971)

The Deadly Dream (1971)

Adam at 6 A.M. (1970)

Halls of Anger (1970)

Halls of Anger (1970)

Generation (1969)

The Mad Room (1969)

Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969)

A Man Called Gannon (1969)

A Man Called Gannon (1969)

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)

Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? (1968)

Music Composition

Music comp & Conductor

Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? (1968)

The Graduate (1967)

Additional Music

Waterhole #3 (1967)

Divorce American Style (1967)

Waterhole #3 (1967)

Scorpio Letters (1967)

Misc. Crew (Feature Film)

In the Gloaming (1997)

The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)

Cast (Special)

The Score (2002)

Renee Fleming @ the Penthouse (2001)

1992 Grammy Awards (1992)

The 32nd Annual Grammy Awards (1990)

Music (Special)

You Don't Look 40, Charlie Brown! (1990)

Three of a Kind (1989)

On the Edge (1987)

Colorado C.I. (1978)

The Oath: 33 Hours in the Life of God (1976)

The Oath: the Sad and Lonely Sundays (1976)

Amanda Fallon (1973)

Disney World: A Gala Opening (1971)

Misc. Crew (Special)

Renee Fleming @ the Penthouse (2001)

Life Events

1959

Was music director for Andy Williams' TV show

1967

First feature film as composer, "Divorce, American Style"

1975

First collaboration with producer Sydney Pollack, "The Yakuza"

1976

Formed music production company with Larry Rosen

1983

Formed record label, GRP Records Inc., with Rosen

1990

GRP Records acquired by MCA in March

Videos

Yakuza, The (1974) -- (Movie Clip) Get Rid Of Thinking Director and producer Sydney Pollack introduces the celebrated Japanese actor Ken Takakura, in only his second Hollywood picture and his first substantial role, as Kendo martial arts guru and underworld figure Tanaka Ken, visited in Kyoto by American private eye and WWII vet Harry Kilmer (Robert Mitchum), to whom he owes a profound family debt, in The Yakuza, 1974.

Yakuza, The (1974) -- (Movie Clip) Open, A Losing Number Stylish framing and staging in the opening, compromised maybe by dorky 1970's men's fashion which has, evidently, consumed Tokyo, with Kyosuke Machida as Japanese mob messenger Kato performing a rite (with Akiyama Masaru) in service of chieftan Tono (Eiji Okada), in Sydney Pollack's often-overlooked The Yakuza, 1974, starring Robert Mitchum and Ken Takakura.

Champ, The (1979) - (Original Trailer) A washed-up prizefighter (Jon Voight) struggles to keep his son (Ricky Schroder) in The Champ (1979), a remake of the 1931 drama.

Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here - (Re-issue Trailer) A rebellious Native American races to elude a bloodthirsty posse in Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969) starring Robert Blake and Robert Redford.

Reds -- (Original Trailer) Warren Beatty directed and co-starred, with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson in Reds, 1981, the story of John Reed, the American Communist who is buried in the Kremlin.

On Golden Pond - (Original Trailer) Best Actor and Best Actress awards went to Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn for On Golden Pond (1980).

Winning - (Original Trailer) A racecar driver (Paul Newman) risks his marriage in pursuit of speed and success. Co-starring Joanne Woodward.

Tootsie - (Original Trailer) Ten Academy Award nominations went to Tootsie (1982) in which an unemployed actor (Dustin Hoffman) masquerades as a woman to win a soap-opera role.

Heaven Can Wait (1978) - (Original Trailer) When a football player dies early, he gets a second chance in the body of a crooked industrialist in Heaven Can Wait (1978) starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie.

Goodbye Girl, The - (Original Trailer) Richard Dreyfuss won a Best Actor Oscar playing an aspiring actor who sublets an apartment from dancer Marsha Mason in Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl (1977).

Murder By Death - (Original Trailer) An all-star cast parodies famous detectives in the Neil Simon whodunit spoof Murder By Death (1976).

Milagro Beanfield War, The - (Teaser trailer) Ruben Blades and Sonia Braga star in Robert Redford's The Milagro Beanfield War (1988) about developers bested by a very lucky peasant.

Three Days of the Condor - (Original Trailer) A CIA researcher uncovers top secret information and finds himself marked for death in Three Days of the Condor (1975).

Family

Henri Grusin

Father

Watchmaker. Violinist who played chamber music before Grusin was born.

Rosabella Grushin

Mother

Pianist.

Don Grusin

Brother

Musician. Born on April 22, 1941.

Bibliography

Notes

GRP Records has been voted the Number 1 contemporary jazz label by BILLBOARD magazine two years in a row

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