David Raksin, Oscar-nominated composer, dies at 92

LOS ANGELES (The Movies Website) - David Raksin, the legendary composer of the classic scores for Laura and The Bad and the Beautiful died of heart failure on Monday 9th August 2004. He was 92 and had been in failing health for the past several weeks.

Raksin, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 4th August 1912, studied under Arnold Schoenberg and was one of the great Golden Age composers who began his movie career in 1935, when he went to Hollywood to assist Charlie Chaplin with the music for 'Modern Times.'
Together with colleagues such as Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Alfred Newman and Franz Waxman, Raksin played a substantial role in the creation of the Hollywood sound and approach to film scoring.

He subsequently scored over 100 films, working with such esteemed directors as Otto Preminger (including 'Laura' and 'Forever Amber'), John Sturges (including 'The Magnificent Yankee' and 'It's a Big Country'), Vincente Minnelli ('The Bad and the Beautiful' and 'Two Weeks in Another Town,' Michael Curtiz (Marked Woman), George Cukor (Pat and Mike), Frank Capra (Prelude to War) and William Wyler (Carrie). Raksin was Academy Award nominated for his scores for Forever Amber and Separate Tables.

A handful of Raksin's scores have been released on CD, including Laura, The Bad and the Beautiful and Forever Amber.
David Raksin is survived by a son, a daughter and three grandchildren.