LEGRAND, MICHEL

Contributed by: The James Bond Movie Encyclopedia by Steven Jay Rubin

(February 24, 1932–January 26, 2019): Three-time Academy Award–winning French film composer who contributed the score for Never Say Never Again, beating out up-and-coming American composer James Horner for the job.

A Parisian native, Legrand received his Oscars for The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Best Original Song for “The Windmills of Your Mind,” shared with lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman; Summer of ’42 (1972), Best Original Dramatic Score; and Yentl (1983), Best Original Song Score or Adaptation Score, shared again with Alan and Marilyn Bergman. The prolific Legrand received ten other Academy Award nominations, for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), three nominations; The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967); The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Best Original Score; The Happy Ending (1969); Pieces of Dreams (1970); Best Friends (1982); and Yentl (1983), Best Original Song for “The Way He Makes Me Feel” and “Papa, Can You Hear Me?,” with Alan and Marilyn Bergman. Legrand made his feature composing debut on director Henri Verneuil’s romantic drama The Lovers of Lisbon (1954).

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