NEW YORK (UPS press release) - One of the most successful music composers in the history of television and film will take center stage in spring 2004 when the U.S.
Postal Service issues a new commemorative stamp saluting Henry Mancini.
The Henry Mancini stamp will be unveiled on the evening of Aug. 16, 2003, in conjunction with the Henry Mancini Institute's 2003 Mancini Musicale at UCLA's Royce Hall in Los Angeles, Calif.
Scheduled to participate in the stamp unveiling ceremony are Ginny Mancini, Henry Mancini's wife; Quincy Jones; Clint Eastwood; and Postmaster General John E. Potter. Craig Kilborn will host the event, and Diana Krall and Arturo Sandoval will perform. Eastwood will receive an award for distinguished service to American music.
"Henry Mancini's influence on the music industry has never been stronger, and this stamp is a special way to pay tribute to his enduring genius," said Potter.
Also a popular pianist and concert conductor, Mancini left a rich legacy of catchy TV themes, hit songs and unforgettable film scores, such as "Peter Gunn," "Moon River" and "The Pink Panther." He won many awards, including 20 Grammys and four Oscars, and his albums have sold more than 30 million copies.
"Henry would never have imagined the magnitude of the influence he has had in the world of music. This stamp represents that impact, and his family is justifiably proud," said Ginny Mancini.
Henry Mancini was born April 16, 1924, in Cleveland, Ohio, and named Enrico by his Italian immigrant parents. In the late 1920s, the Mancinis moved to Pennsylvania when Henry's father found work at a steel mill in the Pittsburgh area. Henry learned to play the piccolo from his father, took formal flute and piano lessons, and began writing music arrangements on his own. The fall before his 18th birthday he entered New York's Juilliard School of Music on a scholarship.
At 18, Mancini was drafted into the Army Air Corps and assigned to a military band led by Norman Leyden. After World War II ended, Mancini went back to New York, where Leyden, then chief arranger for the reorganized Glenn Miller Orchestra (Miller had died in the war), recommended him for a job. The orchestra's new leader, Tex Beneke, hired him as a pianist. In 1947, Mancini married Ginny O'Connor, a singer with the band, and moved to Burbank, Calif., where he found various jobs performing, composing and arranging music.
In 1952 Mancini wrote music for "Lost in Alaska," an Abbott and Costello film, which led to more work, including arrangements for "The Glenn Miller Story" (1954).
One of his earliest complete scores was written in 1957 for "Man Afraid." The next year he scored Orson Welles's "Touch of Evil" and wrote music for Peter Gunn, a TV drama produced and directed by Blake Edwards. Mancini's first record album, "The Music from Peter Gunn," sold more than a million copies, a first for a jazz album. It won two Grammys - Best Arrangement and Album of the Year - and made Mancini a recording star.
From the 1950s to the early 1990s, Henry Mancini wrote complete scores for more than 70 films, many of which showed how expressive the jazz form could be. He collaborated with Blake Edwards on several movies, notably "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961), "The Pink Panther" (1964), "The Great Race" (1965) and "10" (1979). With other directors, he worked on various films including "Charade" (1963) and "Wait Until Dark" (1967), among others. Mancini also wrote themes for "Mr. Lucky," "Newhart," "Remington Steele," "Hotel" and other TV shows.
Mancini died on June 14, 1994. Each year, in his honor, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers presents the Henry Mancini Award to someone following in his footsteps - another talented individual who has made outstanding achievements and contributions to the music of film and television.
Mancini's legacy also continues through the work of the Henry Mancini Institute. Based in Los Angeles, this nonprofit organization was established in 1997 by the late composer/arranger Jack Elliott to honor Mancini and nurture the future of music. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Patrick Williams, the HMI provides comprehensive professional training for emerging musicians, along with a range of community outreach programs. For further information, visit www.manciniinstitute.org.
Stamp artist Victor Stabin's painting shows Mancini conducting as the titles of some of his most popular film and television projects appear to scroll over a screen behind him. The Pink Panther in the lower left is a further reminder of one of Mancini's popular works.
